Dear Price,

Let me start by saying that Donald Trump himself couldn't convince me to give up a homemade cookie for a tuna sandwich. If your student is so successful in her lunchroom negotiations, she might have a great business future ahead of her.

But she'll have to do some research first. Let's go back to that famous entrepreneur Donald Trump.  He once said, "Your mind can build castles -- just make sure the foundations are in place first." In other words, having an idea for a business is one thing, but making it succeed is another. Those cookie-winning powers of persuasion won't be any good without a solid plan.

Choices Explorer's Starting a Business section gets students on the right path. We have dozens of ideas for starting a business, conveniently organized by career cluster. Each article features profiles of successful independent businesses, with a focus on tips for success. We also feature a collection of general articles on starting a business.

Successful entrepreneurs agree that starting a business requires a lot of passion -- the key ingredient in their recipe for success is a love for what they do. Just ask Debbi Fields, founder of her own cookie company. She turned a love of baking into a $450 million-a-year business! By showing your student so many different business possibilities on Choices Explorer, you might just get her started cooking up her own business ideas.