Tom Swanson is regularly involved in thousand-dollar business deals – at the age of 16. The young entrepreneur was just 12-years-old when he decided it was time to move on from mowing lawns and into the world of online business. Now, four years on, he has made quite a step forward from the few hundred dollars he would make each summer cutting grass in his old neighborhood of Charlotte, North Carolina. After turning 12, the youthful businessman decided to start selling products including eBooks and guides on eBay, earning himself around $50 a month. However, eBay soon stung Tom, after he purchased a web hosting company for $100. “This was a huge purchase for me. The saying that you learn from your mistakes is a great saying and certainly applied in this case, because I failed miserably in the business and lost 2 months of income, which was a very big deal at the time,” said Tom. The eBay listing for the website was convincing and well designed - a type of promotional website that sells products to millions of internet users worldwide. The young man thought he was going to make millions with the site he purchased, but the business collapsed. Tom, now 16 and living in Frisco, Texas, said: “I learned a big lesson which was the first impression your customer gets when they see your product is the one thing that drives your profits. “eBay did, however, provide me with the start in my web development career. After my web hosting company failed miserably I started to read up on the industry. I thought it was a great industry that could put some money in my pocket, while giving me something to do as a hobby.” For the next two years the young entrepreneur built and sold websites making a few hundred dollars “At the age of 15, I really got a hold of the industry and started to really feel that I was part of it. This is when I started flipping websites online. People all over the country are flipping real estate and I do the same exact thing, just with websites. I call it online real estate,” he said. “What I do is buy small websites, develop them to be something big, and then sell them for very high prices. Real estate professionals today have a 30% increase in the house value, but my websites have a 300% increase in value. It’s like real estate on steroids.” After years of success in the industry, Tom has now created a blog to educate people and pass on some tips and tricks learnt along the way, and to keep those interested updated on his projects and life. The blog can be found at www.startanonlinebusiness.net.