BIZ KID: Steven Haggerty

BUSINESS: Salut World

AGE: 18

WEBSITE: www.salutworld.com

TWITTER: @Stevenhaggerty

Steven Haggerty is the mastermind behind Salut World. Salut World is a hub for the other Salut companies — Salut Designs and Salut Hosting. Salut World is a perfect one-stop shop for all your website needs. Steven has designed websites since he was twelve using Dreamweaver. When he turned fifteen, he decided to take his hobby and turn it into a business.

Steven chose the name Salut World for his company because in French, Salut means “Hello” so it translates to “Hello World.” Websites connect people from anywhere in the world so his business name is very appropriate.

A musician knows all about music. An architect knows about buildings and structure. Steven knows all about websites. He loves to take on projects where the customer wants a “more daring and radical design” as he puts it. He says that websites have advanced so much that instead of the old boring HTML, he uses the newer PHP and CSS.  He currently works solo but has other resources to call upon if needed. Steven is looking for a young sales person for the hosting side of his business. So if you’re interested, contact him.

Steven is a big dreamer in that he is looking to expand into real estate which he would purchase and rent out. He is also looking into yachting which is a big source of income in southern France where he lives. In addition to those plans, he is always open to helping with other projects and likes to keep things exciting.

People are choosing lots of different options for their education here in the United States as well as in other countries. Some stay with traditional schools, others choose home school and some do it on their own like Steven did by taking the GCSE which is somewhat similar to our GED. Although he stopped school two years ago when he was only sixteen to focus on his business, he hasn’t regretted his decision. It’s important to know that he is not telling others to do the same because he thought long and hard about the decision before he made it.

“I would love to be like Richard Branson, [Founder of the Virgin Group]” Steven says. “He has inspired me a lot since reading his autobiography.  Steven believes that people need to take risks in business.  He added, “If you don’t take a risk, nothing will happen in life!”

Steven isn’t all about business though. As he says, he still does the “usual 18-year-old stuff” like going to the beach, although some of his friends say he has a hard time turning off his business brain.

For more information on BIZKID 2 BIZKID or if you know of a young entrepreneur that you would like to see featured please visit Pencil Bugs.

Note: At the time I interviewed Steven for this article, he was still seventeen which qualified him as a BizKid for my blog.