Are you looking for the next big idea to help you to jumpstart a business or perhaps an exciting innovation to improve an existing venture? Search no more. Instead, arrange a sit down with Akiva Lipshitz, a Teaneck resident and budding entrepreneur. And by the way, don’t be put off by the fact that he is only 13 years old.

Akiva’s interest in starting a business began when he was a 4^th grader and by the next year he had filled an entire notebook with entrepreneurial ideas. Not too long after that, he came up with the prospect of developing electro-chromic textiles, fabrics which could change colors electrically. When his father arranged for him to meet with some venture capitalists, he wisely understood that he did not as yet have the resources and connections to realize his idea. “I learned early on,” Akiva confided, “that it is most important to talk to others about your ideas. You never know where these discussions might lead.” The concept for Akiva’s Business Club was born.

Akiva, an 8^th grader at Yeshivat Noam, recently formed The Entrepreneur, a business club that meets weekly in school. Surprisingly, many youngsters intrigued by the opportunity to let their imaginations soar, joined the weekly group to voice their creative ideas. The group studies the accomplishments of successful businessmen to gain an understanding of what makes their ideas work. Akiva hopes to invite an array of interesting speakers to share their stories with his peers, so that they can gain an understanding of what it really takes to realize their dreams.

Akiva would also like to broaden his development base and to reach a broader market of young, engaged entrepreneurial candidates. He invites interested youngsters to check out his website Thinkrey.tumbler.com or to write to him at aclscientist_gmail.com.so that he can arrange group videoconferences, look through all their proposals and find possible partners for their companies. Akiva also encourages students to set up other similar clubs in their school as a first step to sharing and developing ideas.

Akiva credits his parents for supporting and encouraging his ideas. The oldest of four children, he recognizes each of his siblings’ talents and potential in pursuing their own interests. Akiva is also an avid chess player and world traveler. Summers in the Lipshitz family are spent learning about other cultures during family trips to China (where he went to surf camp in Hong Kong), and in other interesting locales. Most importantly, Akiva has mastered an important truth about success in life: that it is of primary importance to use whatever resources one has to improve his or her ideas. At a young age, he recognizes that we can all add to our success by seeking solutions to problems that we face, whether in business or in life.

Keep your eye on this young man, It is obvious that we are going to hear much more about Akiva Lipshitz in the near future.

By Estelle Glass