Small Biz

Daniel Uribe

Lazer Bearings (www.lazerbearings.com)

Torrance, Calif.
Age: 18
Business started: 2007
Initial investment: $2,000
Education: Studying at El Camino Community College

Uribe moved from Colombia to the U.S. when he was 10. He didn't have many friends and he couldn't go that far from home on a bike because he had to lock it up. So skateboarding became his major passion in life—and a way to get around with no hassle.

In the 10th grade, he began selling painted skateboards to his friends in class. When his ceramics teacher told him about the NFTE course being offered through the International Social Entrepreneurship Assn., he decided to take it.

Uribe came up with Lazer Bearings, a wholesale and retail company that sells high-performance, low-cost ceramic silicon nitrate ceramic bearings for skateboarding and inline skating that are lighter, faster, and harder than other bearings.

To gain experience about what aspects of the bearings he needed to customize for skateboarding and inline skating, Uribe contacted manufacturers about making them to his specifications. "I was able to do a lot of my research on the Internet," says Uribe, "only because no one I was talking to knew how old I was."