Steps to teach your kids entrepreneurship
Successful entrepreneurs are glorified and even envied and rightly so. They take great risks to establish businesses. The journey to success for an entrepreneur is usually filled with ups and downs. It’s a learning period through which the entrepreneur gathers experience. Kids entrepreneurs get a head start on that journey and it’s never too early to get them started.
If you would like to teach your kids to start their own business, the steps outlined in this article will help you.
Step 1: Teach them financial literacy
If your kids are old enough to get allowances, then they are ready for some financial education. As early as possible, a child should know how people get money. They should also learn how best to spend and keep the money. Introduce them to the concepts of work, trading, investing, budgeting and saving.
You really can’t depend on the school to be the only place your child learns about money. The easy way to teach your kids is to let them in on the household’s finances. By watching you, they will learn the value of money and financial planning.
Step 2: Motivate your children
A kid that’s motivated to start entrepreneurship will definitely enjoy the journey more than one who feels forced. To help your kids develop an interest in entrepreneurship, fuel their minds with books and games. Games like monopoly teach real estate investing and a google search will reveal a multitude of entrepreneurship books and games for kids.
You can also leverage entrepreneurship movies and advertisements to teach your children about entrepreneurship. Analyze all these materials you expose them to with them. Bringing your kids to work is a good idea as well. They will have questions to which you can provide answers.
Step 3: Teach them to see opportunities
We work to earn money to meet our needs and we can teach our kids to do so from an early age. Rather than simply paying for every toy or trip your kids ask for, give them the responsibility of paying themselves. That way, you push them to think of entrepreneurship ideas
Kids encounter certain discomforts, like decaying teeth caused by candy or bedtime stories they can’t relate to. When they complain to you, it’s an opportunity to get them to brainstorm on possible solutions. For example, candies that are better for their teeth and writing their own children’s book. Children are imaginative, with a little guidance they can think of amazing and creative solutions.
Step 4: Help them start a business
If your kid comes up with a profitable business idea, they will need your help. Apart from encouragement, you will provide resources like connections, money and labor. Of course, to make it a real investment, you should get your money back when the business starts making profits.
Sometimes the idea your child has is beyond your financial capabilities. That shouldn’t stop their ideas from coming to fruition. Teach them to scale down to a more affordable business model and work their way up.
Step 5: Help your child set effective goals
While setting up a business, an entrepreneur should have business goals clearly written down. These goals serve as milestones that indicate growth. Your child may not understand how to set goals for their business. They need you to teach them what S.M.A.R.T goals are and how it applies to their lemonade stand.
Ensure your kids are an integral part of this goal-setting process, it will help them see the big picture. Also, make sure that they consult the document before making big business decisions. That’s why the goal document should not be too far out of reach
Step 6: Encourage them to keep learning
No matter how skilled and knowledgeable you are about entrepreneurship, you don’t know it all. That’s why you should encourage your child entrepreneur to seek knowledge. Children can gain knowledge in entrepreneurship from a mentor, online classes, entrepreneurship programs and so on.
Step 7: Teach them to build interpersonal relationships
Building good relationships with customers and suppliers may be difficult for child entrepreneurs. That may be due to shyness or knowledge gaps. You as a parent will probably have to step in a lot of times.
However, always make sure your child entrepreneur is part of the conversation. They will learn customer relations, sales and negotiation skills just from watching you. It is also a great way to help them build confidence.
Step 8: Teach them to give back
Being an entrepreneur starts with seeing a problem that needs to be solved. It should come to a full cycle by solving problems, not just the one that brings in profits. Teach your child entrepreneur to give back to society. They could give some money, products or time to people in need. That’s how they make the world a better place.
Step 9: Teach them to try again
Rarely does an entrepreneur escape failure in one form or another. Child entrepreneurs are not guaranteed smooth sailing because they are ‘just kids’. When your child faces a defeating situation, encourage them to get back on their feet and try again.
Conclusion
The best way to teach your child anything is to lead by example. So make some entrepreneurial attempts yourself if you are not an entrepreneur already. Kids who have entrepreneurship experience early enough grow into adult entrepreneurs with a wealth of expertise.