The skills that make a great entrepreneur are good life skills in general. Don’t wait too long to teach your kids a little about business, which is an opportunity to practice responsibility, hard work, patience, teamwork (when applicable), and possibly even marketing.
Why is it good to instill a sense of entrepreneurship in your children? There are many reasons, but it helps arm them with an invaluable skill set, increases their sense of self-worth, and can help them understand how they play a role in our economy.
Our economy will always need entrepreneurs. This article from Forbes even discusses how the new generation of entrepreneurs is set to reshape the economy of the United States!
Entrepreneur or Employee?
Now, there’s a bit of a difference between having a paper route and running your own lemonade stand. Both can instill the value of hard work, earning your money, and having responsibilities. But running your own lemonade stand can require more problem-solving, budgeting, creative thinking, and teamwork if there’s a friend or sibling in the mix.
But there’s more than just a lemonade stand to work with. What’s most important is to give kids the space to work with something they love — food, animals, computers, and art can all be turned into ways to make money. It doesn’t have to be a lemonade stand.
Computer/Technology Setup
Believe it or not, the days where your kids are more advanced in technology are rapidly approaching, or they’ve already passed you up! Maybe your child can’t set up IT at a business, but they can certainly show you (or other folks in the neighborhood) how to reset your Wi-Fi router, recover lost information, and even provide basic tutorials for smartphones, tablets, and computers. You can help your kids develop fair rates and do a little marketing on Facebook or with flyers and posters in your neighborhood.
Pet Sitting/Dog Walking
For animal-loving kids, this might be a good job during the summertime. They’ll enjoy the outdoors on walks (so you know they’re not just eating junk food on the couch), learn about having responsibility for another living being, and most importantly, they’ll love what they do because dogs, cats, and pets are awesome.
Refreshments/Snacks/Baked Goods Stand
Everyone thinks “lemonade stands” when they consider helping their child with a small business. Who can resist a cute little face behind a DIY stand selling lemonade? Does your little entrepreneur want to sell lemonade from a conventional lemonade stand? What if they like to bake? Sell baked goods! Maybe they have a SodaStream and want to make sodas or fancy themselves the master of fruit salad. Either way, you can empower your child with the ability to choose what to sell and watch their passion take off.
Tip: You can help their business by making them stand out with catchy signs and posters.
Tutor
If your kid is an educator at heart, they might want to flex their knowledge by helping others learn. As a tutor, there’s more freedom to make your own schedule and rates — perfect for the summer.
Bonus: Through the act of teaching, your kid can harbor that knowledge even more and enhance their leadership ability.
Artist/T-Shirt Design/Greeting Cards
Is your child artistically inclined? Good! You can teach them how to monetize their creative skills and passion. It could be designing T-shirts and greeting cards or painting those rocks people hide all over the country.
There are plenty of supplies to support various artistic endeavors.
Above all, teaching kids they can love what they do and make a living doing it is one of the most valuable lessons they’ll learn.
How I Made Money in Middle School
It’s similar to the idea above — monetizing your creative abilities. When I was in sixth grade at a new middle school, my passion circled around reading and writing, so I wrote poems in a little binder for myself. One day, a friend asked to read one and suggested I sell my work for $2 each but let the customer pick the topic. Within two months, I had written a poem about everyone in my grade — I made some new friends and realized I had a gift. Now, I still enjoy writing today!
If your kid likes to write, you can nourish that trait with nice pens, notebooks, and folders. Small gestures can go a long way.
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