How To Make A Million Before You Graduate

In times like this, we tend to look to grizzled veterans for wisdom, perspective and, above all, hope. But few things fortify an entrepreneurial spirit more than preternatural success.

We found many of them, but will be presenting you with just two of them who managed to build million-dollar enterprises before the age of 20.

Some partnered with friends, siblings and mentors; others did the work on their own. All started their entrepreneurial careers by age 15, and one before he broke double digits. Their common thread: scary financial savvy and demon drive to transform ideas into reality.

Read It, Learn It, Live It

Ephren Taylor

Ephren Taylor II couldn’t afford a library of games for his Super Nintendo. So in 1994, Taylor, then age 12, decided to make his own. Everyday after school, he trekked to the local Borders in Overland Park, Kan., to read How To Make A Video Game In 21 Days, by Andre LaMothe. A few months later, he had coded his first game (the premise was to shoot bad guys who were trying to kidnap the president). He sold about 30 copies to his friends for $10 a pop.

That was just the beginning. At the seasoned age of 13, self-taught Taylor started designing Web sites. He hyped his services, under the banner Flame Software, on Internet chat boards. Tech brokers never questioned his age because he had the proper certifications and a rather deep phone voice.

Taylor initially charged just $200 per site, but he quickly upped the ante when he realized competitors were getting thousands for the same service. The contracts were typically handled by tech brokers, and customers sent Taylor checks in the mail. “When I got a $3,800 check [from an online retailer of vitamins and legal supplements], my parents thought I must be selling drugs,” he recalls.

Taylor crossed into seven-figure territory at age 16 by teaming up with friend Michael Stahl to build a job-posting Web site for high school and college kids called GoFerretGo.com. The duo didn’t have much to spare on advertising, so they spammed local and regional reporters with a press release announcing their new business. Word got out, and soon the site had attracted 30,000 visitors.

Again Taylor sold himself short, charging a paltry $38 per job posting, until he realized that Sprint (nyse: S - news - people ),Citigroup (nyse: C - news - people ) and Pizza Hut were willing to pay nearly 100 times that amount to find young talent. The youngsters eventually rented office space and even hired their former history teacher. The company eventually dissolved in the 2001 tech bust but at its height was valued at $3.5 million.

Now a hoary 26, Taylor runs an eponymous holding company that invests in socially responsible businesses, such as low-cost housing in urban Cleveland and Kansas City. He also serves as chief executive of City Capital (otcbb: CCCN.OB -news - people ), which invests in urban revitalization projects and oil wells. (His touch has been less than golden there: For the trailing 12 months ended last September, the company lost $2.9 million on sales of $305,000.) On top of all that, he delivers as many as 70 speeches a year, at $8,000 a pop. His rather ironic advice to entrepreneurs now: “Patience pays.”

Go With the Flow

While his fellow kid-preneurs were making a mint on the Internet, Fraser Doherty was doing things the old-fashioned way. In 2002, at the age of 14, Doherty started making jams from his grandmother’s recipes in his parents’ kitchen in Edinburgh, Scotland. Neighbors and church friends loved them. As word spread, Doherty started receiving orders faster than he could produce them at home, so he rented time at a 200-person food-processing factory several days a month.

By age 16, Doherty left school (with his parents’ blessing) to work on his jams full time. In early 2007, Waitrose, a high-end supermarket in the U.K., approached Doherty, hoping to sell his SuperJam products in their stores. Within months, there were SuperJam jars on the shelves of 184 Waitrose stores, hoisting Doherty and his business to new heights.

Doherty borrowed 5,000 pounds (about $9,000) from a bank to cover general expenses and more factory time to produce three flavors: Blueberry & Blackcurrant, Rhubarb & Ginger and Cranberry & Raspberry. (He has since added an Orange & Passion Fruit flavor, too.) Tesco (other-otc: TSCDY - news -people ) followed, adding Doherty’s products to 300 stores across the U.K.

Last year, SuperJam hit $1.2 million in sales, a 60% jump from 2007. Doherty’s roster of retailers now includes Asda Wal-Mart in the U.K., Morrisons and Tesco in Ireland. Doherty also launched a charitable project 2008 called the SuperJam Tea Parties. Since the program’s inception, SuperJam has hosted over 100 tea parties–with live music, dancing and drinks–in Scotland, England and Wales for elderly people who live alone or in nursing homes. This year, Doherty says SuperJam will hit the shelves of Sainsbury, one of the largest food retailers in the U.K. Based on a reasonable valuation multiple of one times revenue–jelly-maker J.M. Smucker trades between 1.0 and 1.4 times sales–Doherty’s 100% stake (now debt-free) is worth in the neighborhood of $1 million to $2 million.

Not bad for a 20-year-old. Doherty’s recommendation to other young entrepreneurs: “Have an attitude of adventure, and enjoy the journey.”

Do you have a dream or  something you are passionate about, go do it, don’t let your start stop you, beggin now!