Business School for Kids is a great place to introduce your child to entrepreneurship.
Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship is one of the key competencies for lifelong learning. Any experience of running their own business will help your children practice what they learnt at school and develop new skills, such as creativity and communication. They will certainly develop a better understanding of the world around them and most probably start valuing money more. Even if your child will not become the next Elon Musk, this experience will help them to find a job as today employers often seek an entrepreneurial mindset in their graduate recruits.
Not all children are natural-born entrepreneurs: some require a little bit of inspiration, others may lack motivation and most of them require help from their parents.
Inspiration.
Here is my selection of successful “Kidpreneurs” to awaken entrepreneurial vibes in your child.
- 10-year old Jack who started with a lemonade stand and made it to “Shark Tank”. Jack started by earning $400 to buy his Lego set. He is running a successful company inspiring children entrepreneurs.
2. 9-year old Katelane is a CEO of “Freetoes” a toeless socks company
3. 10-year old Felix runs his own cookies company offering employment to his family and donating part of his profits to charities of his choice.
You can find more inspiring child entrepreneurship stories in our collection of videos on Youtube.
Motivation.
The fastest way to motivate your child to start a business venture is to provide them with an urgent need which requires finances. Is your child asking for a new phone, game console or a trip to Disneyland? Suggest them to earn this money in stead of promising to buy it for her birthday.
Learning.
If you are thinking of a more structured approach, some books can be of great help.
Here is my favorite book for 8-11 year olds. This is a fun story about a girl opening her car wash. The book helps you to discuss many important business concepts and even practice profit calculations. To help you with your teaching process I prepared a parent’s manual for this book, which you can download here.
This book contains a long list of ideas for young entrepreneurs all including the prices they can charge and tips on how to start. A must to have for every parent!
The following book is an extensive entrepreneurship manual for teenagers or even grown-ups. Not recommended for children younger than 13 years old.
Written in April 2020 by Lena Perepelova