Alabama Math Whiz, 9, Launches Web Business

April 5, 2011— -- Silicon Valley superstars, you'd better watch out. Your next big competitor might not be a college drop-out, but a grade school whiz kid.

Last month, nine-year-old Maggie Huang of Florence, Alabama, started her very own business. And it wasn't a lemonade stand or cookie table set up outside her house, but a Web start-up called SmartMaggie.com.

"It's about business stuff and you can post problems on it," she said. "[Visitors] can ask about a general business problem ? installing [Microsoft] Access questions and mathematics questions. Stuff like that."

Want some help tackling Microsoft Office's database software? Or building your own website? Or even answering basic math questions? Maybe Maggie can help.

So far, the young site hasn't attracted too much attention and, for now, Maggie said she'll answer questions for free. But she said she'll consider charging customers for services once the business takes off.

"I just, like, make websites and web design [and] create databases and then they pay me," she said.

Young Entrepreneur First Showed Math Skills at Age 3

Like your average fourth grader, Maggie said she likes to play soccer, watch the Disney channel and read (her favorite book is Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events"). But when it comes to math, the young entrepreneur is hardly average at all.

Yingping Huang, Maggie's father and associate professor of computer information systems at the University of North Alabama, said she first showed her talent as a toddler.

At three, he said, she figured out how to multiply 7 times 7 by counting it all out in her head.

"She amazed me," he said.

Since then, he's supplemented her school lessons with his own instruction, including some college-level math.

Local University Lets Fourth-Grader Join Advanced Program

The University of North Alabama even made a special exemption to allow Maggie to join an "early scholars" business software program reserved for middle and high school students. She is also expected to win second place in the international Math Kangaroo competition and is among the youngest certified Microsoft Office Specialists in the world, Huang said.

SmartMaggie.com was intended to be an extension of her education, he said.

"As she works on small projects, she will get a better understanding of the technology and all the applications of the technology," he said. "Learning by doing, that's the way to go."

So with some help from the local business development center, he said they helped Maggie launch SmartMaggie.com, LLC.

But, like many first-time small business owners, she struggled with the paperwork.

"The hard part is making the business, because when we filled in the papers we had to walk a lot," she said.

Now that the site is up and running, she said, "Most of it is actually pretty fun."

"[My friends] say my site is really cool and they're shocked about me, that I can accomplish these things," she said.

Maggie said she's not certain about her future career plans, but said she'll "probably" keep working with computers and math.

But if she decides to try her hand at tech start-ups, she's already learned one key lesson: "Making a business does take a lot of patience, because sometimes you don't get the work and you have to wait until something happens," Maggie said.