This 11-year-old started a trash business to save money for college

Most sixth graders probably haven't spent too much time thinking about high school, let alone college. But Micah Amezquita is not like most sixth graders. The 11-year-old recently started his own trash-can-toting business to make money so that he can start saving for college and become an aeronautical engineer.
His fledgling business, Curb Cans, provides the service of taking garbage and recycling bins to the curb and back again on trash day. Every Tuesday morning, Amezquita heads out in his neighborhood between 6:30 and 8 to take care of business before school.The aspiring entrepreneur received an outpouring of support online when his father, Saul, posted proudly about his son's efforts on LinkedIn. The post received more than 135,000 likes and more than 10,000 comments. There's "nothing more important than the installation of values," said one user. "Never too early to start," wrote another.

Amezquita learned about the importance of saving for college from his parents. "I also have a lot of things I'd like to do when I'm bigger, so I definitely have to go to college to do those things," he told CNBC in a Skype interview. He decided he wanted to be an aeronautical engineer after reading college-level books from his uncle, who works for UNC Charlotte. Curb Cans is a family effort. Amezquita's 9-year-old sister, Chloe, designed the logo. His mom, Erin, came up with the name. And his parents helped him launch the website, which reads: "I like working hard and making money. If you need a dependable person to take care of pulling your cans to the curb and back, I'd like your business." Amezquita charges a flat fee of a dollar a week, but like any start-up, acquiring customers is slow going. So far, Amezquita is making about $3 a week.

He was charging his earliest customers a quarter per can per week, but he has since raised the price. Amezquita's father is impressed with his son's entrepreneurial spirit. "I'm really proud of him," he said in a Skype interview with CNBC. "He's such a hard worker. I'm proud of him that he's decided to take things into his own hands and save his money and work towards his dream." And despite the potentially dirty job of lugging trash cans to the curb rain or shine, Amezquita has a can-do attitude. "I like the job!" he said. "There's nothing I don't like about it."