Business plan: fail, fail, win.

• Author: Eind, Giovanni
• Position: Voices

BRONX, N.Y.--"You're not good enough to run a business," my friends tell me. They say that I am always trying to do something else, that I never have my head straight on one thing. But I'm just trying to come up with a business that works. I want to be financially secure for when I get out of college and start my own life.

I wasn't always interested in business. When I was younger, I was into art. I loved painting and drawing. My art teacher told me that he could sell my paintings to other teachers. I made some money, and that inspired me to start my own business.

I began reading about successful businessmen, from Donald Trump and his real-estate empire, to Jay-Z and his record and fashion labels. I hope that one of these days my name will be alongside theirs.

But trying to run my own business has been very hard. I have tried a number of things, like running a car wash in my backyard. I charged $5 for cars, $7 for vans. I thought it was successful--until my parents' water bill came.

I also started a gaming center. I took my computer, my sister's computer, my parents' computers, and my brother's computer, and I set up all of them in my bedroom. Then I had the neighborhood kids and people from school come to my house and play on the computers--for $5 an hour.

That worked all right, but I thought I could make more money by repairing computers. I don't know much about...