How To Teach Entrepreneurship To Kids
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1. Keep Them Wearing A Jersey
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Last Fall, my 3-year-old son and I were going to a soccer clinic for the 1st time. My son pulled out a thick sweat shirt to wear. The temperature was 80 deg. F that day, so I said, “You’ll need some soccer clothes today; It’s warm.” TIP: Marketing is half the battle. Teach your kids this lesson & they’re well on their way! Thanks To: Dino Herbert of For Leap’s Sake |
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2. Passion Is The Key
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: There are plenty of ways to teach your child to be entrepreneurial. What’s most important — more than any one particular skill — is that your child develop a passion for entrepreneurship. If you love something — if you’re passionate about it — then you’ll put in the work necessary to succeed. If you want your child to become a successful entrepreneur, my advice is to teach them about entrepreneurship in a way that is fun and interesting. Thanks To: Will Hamilton of FuzzyYellowBalls.com |
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3. The Tpe Rocks!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: “Get the child a copy of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, but make sure you black out all the swear words” Thanks To: Sally Shields of The Daughter-in-Law Rules |
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4. Having Fun Is The Secret!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: The secret to life is to have fun! Find something that you’re good at and try get better than everyone else at it and you are sure to succeed! Feeling good is key. Helping others is always one way to feel great, so if you don’t know where to start, start there! It’s important to put your worry about making money aside. There are no jobs waiting out there for you, so get great at something and someone will inevitably pay you lots of money to do it! Thanks To: Sally Shields of The Daughter-in-Law Rules |
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5. Knowledge Vs. Wisdom
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: The difference between knowledge and wisdom. I will share the one thing my entrepreneurial parents shared with me: Understand the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is the act of getting information acquired through education; whereas, wisdom is understanding how to apply it. Entrepreneurship requires continuous education (knowledge) in an ever-changing environment. You must apply wisdom to successfully take advantage of opportunities and resolve unfavorable situations. Thanks To: Bonyetta Brison Kitts of The Brison Group, Inc. |
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6. Constantly Create Solutions!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Anytime there is a small household problem that causes distress in your child’s life (i.e. cold wet feet from bad snow boots, soggy sandwiches at lunchtime), commend them for noticing a flaw that can be improved. Then (once the storm calms down!) sit and brainstorm solutions to that issue with your child. This will get your kids in the habit of constantly creating solutions. Perhaps someday one of these solutions can be monetized and made into a business Thanks To: Nicole Crimaldi of mscareergirl.com |
7. Sell Child’s Old Toys
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Have them do a garage sale to sell their own toys and keep the money they make. Let them: price, sell, setup and cashier their items. Thanks To: Eileen Roth of Everything in its Place |
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8. Entrepreneurs From Lemons
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Kids become Entrepreneurs from the heart & because they have passion. I loved the Lemonade Stand. Making the decorations, posting the sign perfectly on the stand, setting everything up. I had no idea I was making my own marketing materials. Used REAL Lemons – my USP. I never priced it, but I chatted, and made it an experince visiting my stand. I always had a profitable day and return customers. Find your child’s passion, help grow & nurture it, encourganing words and good role models are needed Thanks To: Kimberly Schick-Puddicombe of Moms, Dads and Kids |
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9. Get Them Involved!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Get them involved in your business on a regular basis. I have a residential real estate business with rental houses and apartment buildings. A few years ago I started getting my kids involved – looking at properties, attending meetings with prospective tenants, and helping me with light maintenance or repairs. Now my oldest (in the picture) wants to buy her own rental houses before she graduates from high school, and she picked our that last one that I bought. Thanks To: Dennis Fassett of The Cash Flow Mercenary |
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10. Ask: Why Do You Think…
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: I ask my 11-year old stepson questions about business and marketing all the time and let him provide the answers. He is getting really good. For example: Q: Why do you think family movies stay in the theaters longer? A: Because kids make their parents buy expensive popcorn, candy and soda. Thanks To: Thorsten Hoins of The Pollack PR Marketing Group |
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11. Author, Consultant
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Be an entrepreneur! Actions do speak louder than words and kids will do what they see more than what they are told. Our boys were raised with two self-employed parents and learned entrepreneurial skills by osmosis. Entrepreneurialship is a way of thinking and living; it’s a culture. When you own your own business, you alone are responsible for your success or failure. This feeling of personal responsibility is a valuable gift to give you our children. Thanks To: Chris Hamer of Parenting with Pets |
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12. Go Beyond The Lemonade Stand!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Take time to help kids get creative and find an idea they feel really passionate about – How many kids are passionate about lemonade?!? If kids build their first business around something they’re truly interested in, they’re more likely to stick with it, learn from it, and be successful at it. Think about helping them run a movie theater in your backyard, a talent show of neighborhood kids (selling tickets and snacks), or a technical support service to all the “old fogies” in their world. Thanks To: Kat Eden of Education.com |
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13. Teach By Example
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Kids learn and absorb a lot from parents who are entrepreneurs themselves or are entrepreneurial in their jobs/career. This happens especially if parents communicate and show their entrepreneurial attitudes and actions to their kids. It can help provide that “spark” to get children thinking and practicing entrepreneurial qualities. Thanks To: Paragi Mehta, RD of www.healthfulfilling.com |
14. Sell What Sells!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Only sell things that people actually want to buy. Some parents encourage their kids to sell whatever they want without thinking about the market. My 3rd grade daughter made and sold hip, hand-knit hats and homemade English toffee. She earned almost $250 in one day of sales (at church bazaar and at a boutique). Her original ideas (cookies, pictures she painted) probably wouldn’t have fared as well. We talked honestly about pricing, customers, and “hot” items. She was a success! Thanks To: Kim Stezala of Stezala Consulting |
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15. Aid Others To Abundance!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: People who are successful always help other people. When you discover something that works, teach it to someone else instead of keeping it to yourself. When you make money, give some away to charity or use it to help someone who is doing something to help themselves. You will learn about what you know as you teach … your wealth will grow when you share it. Aid others to abundance and you will have abundance yourself! Thanks To: Laurel Clark of School of Metaphysics |
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16. Give Your Toys Away
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Giving is a huge way to teach a child some good entrepreneuship skills at an early age. Start by showing them how to share their toys with others. My wife and I plan to show our son once he is older that every Christmas, he will need to give away some of the toys he has outgrown to less fortunate children. As he grows older, clothes, ideas and finances will replace the toys. Our son (and future children) will have a sense of giving that will add to their success as entrepreneurs. Thanks To: Edwin Soler of Libreria Berea |
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17. Let Them Do It Their Way!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Teach your kids to be independent! Let them make as many of their own decisions as possible. Encourage them to do their own fact gathering, referencing multiple sources, when making important decisions. Applaud their efforts to take well thought out risk and if things don’t work as expected, help them learn from the experience. Thanks To: Debbie Gianelli, CFP of Whole Family Financial Services |
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18. Teach Them Now To Take Charge!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: The most important thing can teach our young people today is to take the lead in their lives and seek to challenge others in theirs. Let’s invite them to look for another way instead of going with the flow; consider innovation and decision-making instead of “whatever” and indifference. Let’s give our young people real opportunities to have their leadership result in effective change for their families, schools or communities. Then look out…young entrepreneurs coming through! Thanks To: Robb Braun of The Leadership Source |
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19. Plan To Implement To Succeed!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Planning. The Tip I would offer is teach them the ability to plan. Entrepreneurs must plan. Plan around their idea. Plan to implement goals. Plan marketing. Plan sales. Plan a price around the value they are delivering to their audience. Would be entrepreneurs will continue to fail for the simple reason that they were never taught to plan. Even with the best ideas, if one does not plan first, then failing will follow. If you want to be an entrepreneur, then learn to plan and plan to succeed! Thanks To: Lisa Feeley of Got2Know |
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20. Real World Finances For Kids
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Have you ever considered who decided what the kids should learn at school and what purpose it serves? Thanks To: LeAura Alderson of My Trainer Fitness |
21. Encourage Kids Independence
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Encourage your children’s independence so they can gain confidence in their own choices and ideas. Thanks To: Rachell Coe of Rachell Coe |
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22. Teach Your Kid By Traveling
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Thanks To: Maria Berkestam of Extended World Travel |
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23. Hard Work, Little Sleep
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Working more that one job at a time while going to school and participating in after school activities teaches discipline needed in running a business. As an entrepreneur, you must be able to juggle many tasks and be willing to work long hours and weekends to be successful. If you have the work ethic of an employee, you will not be successful. My children all worked multiple jobs during the school year/summer and two of the three are entrepreneurs with their own company since they were 16. Thanks To: Barbara Venturi of Ambar Commercial Realty Group, LLC |
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24. Monkey See, Monkey Do
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Young kids love to help out. When possible I involve my 6 and 4 year old children in my business (unpacking boxes, putting on postage, stuffing envelopes, etc). While we do it we talk about what they are doing, what a big help it is and how great it is that mommy can be home with them each day because I have my own business. Over time the discussions will grow but I want them to see the benefits to having your own business and feel a part of it. Thanks To: Heather Ledeboer of Mom 4 Life |
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25. Always Have A Lemonade Stand
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: It’s never too early to start talking to and teaching your kids about being an entrepreneur. In fact they are born negotiators, sales people and they don’t take no personally. Kids are great because they do not have the knowledge of limitation. So they believe any and everything is possible. So if you encourage them to develop their ‘lemonade stand’ mentality when they are young and help to hone their skills, they will not only be success in business but in life. Thanks To: Gail Turner Brown of Small Business Network TV |
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26. Be Brave And Conquer!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: One of the most important things that parents can teach their children about being entrepreneurs is to NOT be afraid of their ideas and their dreams. If they want to start a lemonade stand, great. If they want to start a lemonade stand with a donut shop, find a way to help them make it happen. “No” is the biggest dream-killer there is. The world is ready to say “No” at every turn; it is our job as parents to say not only “yes!” but to help our children translate their dreams into reality! Thanks To: Doula Angelita of ResurgamBirthingWell8899 |
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27. It’s All In The Lemons
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: I let my son fail when he ran a lemonade stand. Then we talked about location, signage, supplies, charity, and delegation. By the end of the summer he had three neighborhood kids on the payroll, a self sustaining business, and he was making plans for the following summer to have a lemonade cart to walk the parks with. Sometimes the biggest lessons for kids in entrepreneurship is helping them realize what it means to run a business, let them fail, learn, and grow into their understanding. Thanks To: Jennifer Kettlewell of The Moxie Maven |
28. Show Me The Money
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: One tip on how parents cant start teaching their kids entrepreneurship is to have them run a lemonade stand or something like it. Have them buy their products and check their earnings against what they spent. Have them show you the money. Then open up a Savings Account, a Certificate of Deposit, or a Money Market account. Teach them to not put all their eggs in one basket. Thanks To: Sheila A Caruso of AVON / PRIVATE QUARTERS |
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29. Blossom
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: I think parents need to instill in their children that they are special and allow them to blossom.Parents should not burden children into becomming what they think is right but encourage their children to do whatever he/she likes and is good at.rnThis way,the child gets the confidence to standup on his own and be different.This I think will start the flare of Entrepreneurship. Thanks To: Vikas Bakthula of TBD |
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30. Keep It In The Family
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Talk to your children about your business and involve them in what you do. They can help with the pick-n-pack, the shipping or even the creative work. My youngest daughter loves to help “design dresses”. She’s only 7 but she’s quite good!! You can also encourage your children to think about things to sell. My daughters are continuously setting up shop to sell lemonade, original artwork, cookies. They even tried to sell me brownies that I made. Thanks To: Chief Princess of A Little Indulgence |
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31. Creating An Entrepreneur!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: My best advice to teach kids entrepreneurship is to teach by example. When I started my business from home, I involved my kids and they were brought up being used to mom having specific “work times” that they had to leave me alone to work. As they got older I had them do small jobs and paid them, gave them bonuses, and certificates just like at a “real” job. Also, when I would make a big paycheck from a client, I would include them in a celebration, a trip or all of us going out to dinner Thanks To: Michelle Dunn of American Credit & Collections Assoc |
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32. Make It An Adventure…
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Nurture their imagination and make a game out of coming up with fun, new business ideas. You could hold weekly or monthly treasure hunts in your home, yard or neighborhood and have a mini contest for the best business idea with the reward being a coveted toy or a sleepover with friends. You could even try setting a new theme every month – come up with ideas for the family dog that are fun and useful or ideas for toy storage or even bath toys – the possibilities are endless. Thanks To: Susan M. Baker of Escape Hatcher |
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33. Love
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: An entrepreneur must feel secure with himself/herself. If a person is confident, a person can manage the patience, flexibility,etc. necessary to take risks. Show/tell/give children love. They will not fear failure. Thanks To: Gwen Gardner of Simply Chickie |
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34. New Paradigm
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: As parents of six kids, my husband and I (both business owners) want our children to have myriad options in life. The best way to promote entrepreneurship to kids is to be an entrepreneur yourself and to involve your kids in your business ventures. Most people grow up in households where the family support model is of being en employee. They have no mental model for any other kind of income. Thanks To: Alison Moore Smith of Start Blogging Next Week |
35. Remember To Sell, Sell, Sell!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Nothing in business happens until someone sells something. The most successful entrepreneurs that I know are also excellent salespeople. I always try to teach my kids the process of buying and selling. When they buy something, there are companies making money from the “sale” (i.e. retailer, distributor, manufacturer). Discussing the “sale” with my kids ultimately leads to discussing other aspects of running a business. Thanks To: John Panico of Virtual Resources, LLC |
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36. Money, Money, Money
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Discuss and involve your children in your household finances. Let them know how mom and dad earn money, what it pays for and how it is spent. This will create a healthy respect for money instead of fearing it. I often wished my father talked to me about his business and the stock market. Perhaps I would have started my business earlier in life. Thanks To: Linda Nagamine of EZ Living Connection |
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37. The Entrepreneurial Fire
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: My entrepreneurial parents taught me from the earliest age to be an entrepreneur. My mother always instilled in me the belief that I could accomplish whatever I desired while my father introduced strict economic discipline. For example, when I was about 4 years old I longed for a bike and asked my father for one. He responded, “How are you going to buy it?” For months on our evening family walks I would collect cans and sell Otterpops to construction workers. Eventually I bought my own Thanks To: Trace Mayer of RunToGold.com |
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38. Kids Are Natural Entrepreneurs
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurship is all about problem solving with limited resources – kids love to figure things and -guess what – they rarely have much $. The answer is to encourage them to make their project out of whatever they’ve got around. They could sell any # of things to make $, not just lemonade. When my 12 year-old got into jewelry making, I pointed out to her that her wares might be interesting to others; why not try? So she set out a table in front of our house & VOILA! – the customers came. Thanks To: Alan Siege of Small Business Management Consultin |
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39. Get A Degree My Children
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: My twins are still too young to receive advice about entrepreneurship, they are only 17 months old, but I have already done some thinking about what I will say to Brendan & Lauren when the time is right. No matter what you do or accomplish in life, a solid education with a degree in something that you have some passion about is always going to be of immense value. Even if you never use that degree to pay the bills, the road to getting your degree will provide a lifetime of valuable tools. Thanks To: Eric Kates of MortgageLeads.com |
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40. Mini You Is Not You
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: No matter how much your child looks like you, they aren’t you. Let your child be their own person and choose their own path. The more you push your child into things they don’t enjoy, the more resistant they will become and the less they will respect you. Parents do know a lot, but sometimes they don’t know what the best career is for their child. Accept them for who they are. As long as your child goes after their dreams, they will succeed. Thanks To: Jennifer Vaaler of Vaaler, ink |
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41. Succeed By Learning To Fail
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Today there is a tendency for helicopter parents to “take care” of all their children’s problems. They want to make their lives easier. A big part of entrepreneurship is PROBLEM SOLVING. As parents, we need to let children figure things out for themselves at a much younger age. Sometimes this will mean letting them fail. This is starting to be a new concept in an age where everyone gets a trophy. Learning to fail and perserving, as well as problem solving, are things parents can instill Thanks To: Cindy Patterson Thompson of Entrepreneur Enterprises, LLC. |
42. Money Does Grow On Trees!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: What child doesn’t like money? They often think it grows on trees! Well, it does…sort of….paper is made from trees, money is made from paper…therefore….well, you get the picture!! Children,however, don’t understand the financial concepts of money nor do they understand how to have money make money. I believe that including children in basic financial issues at an early age will help them better manage money as adults in turn helping them become entrepreneurs themselves! Thanks To: Theresa Reitz of N/A |
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43. Think Like A Pioneer Woman!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: “What would Laura Ingalls do? You can figure it out” is what I would always tell my daughter Izzy.At a young age she started making all kinds of stuff out out things.When I wouldn’t buy her a backpack with wheels,she made one. She made a fake cell phone, computer, anything i wouldn’t buy her. She was constantly having to improvise, which is a great skill to teach kids. She just started making t-shirts with her drawings on them, each comes with 3 snap on skirts – introducing Dizzy Izzy Design Thanks To: Joyce Richards of Seemores, stick-on reading lenses |
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44. Do What You Love!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: I grew up being told “Work first, then play.” I beat the system by finding work that IS play for me – I truly love what I do. I want my son to experience that same feeling. We all are given many natural gifts, and it can be difficult to find “the one” (or ones) to take to the limit. If I had to predict what my 3-year-old would most enjoy as a career, it would be a zoo director, veterinarian or perhaps octopus trainer. Who cares, as long as he’s happy doing it! Thanks To: Denise McVey of S3 (advertising, marketing & PR) |
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45. Taking A Stand
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: In an effort to hedge the future of our youth’s success against massive eminent future challenges, Prepared 4 Life (www.prepared 4life.org) is going nationwide with their insanely successful initiative Lemonade Day. The Lemonade Day (www.lemonadeday.org) program is designed to teach children how to start, own and operate their own business – a lemonade stand, an iconic American symbol of entrepreneurship. This program is funded through corporate sponsors and provided free of charge to the youth. Thanks To: Cory Huddleston of Trendy Lemon |
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46. Send Your Child To College
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: So many local colleges and universities offer special courses to preteens and teens. For instance, the Fashion Institute of Technology offers Fashion Design and other fashion related courses for kids! Check out your local community colleges and art schools and see what they may offer for your child! Thanks To: Marissa Rizzuto of Fashion Boot Camp 101 |
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47. Business:the Compelling Reason
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Children need a compelling reason to do things. When your child says, “Mom, Dad, I really want a blah, blah, blah,” say, “Great, I want you to have that, too. How will you make the money to buy it?” It won’t take them long to start a little business to earn the money they need. When you hear them say, “Someone should make something that does blah, blah, blah,” foster their creativity by saying, “That’s a great idea! Let’s make one! Thanks To: Elisabeth Donati of Creative Wealth International |
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48. Share Your Screw-ups
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Tell your kids explicitly when there are problems. When they see you face problems, identify solutions and try them, fail, and try again, they will learn the key attitudes of success. They will also be less scared of failure- which makes it easier to “jump off the cliff” into entrepreneurialism Thanks To: Drew Hession-Kunz of i-Nalysis |
49. It Is Fun To Work For Your Kid
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: The way I have taught my children to be entrepreneurs is to work with them, following their ideas (not mine), and making sure that if they do not succeed, they don’t see it as failure. There are three outcomes to any venture, “success”, “failure”, and “did not succeed for reasons I had no control over”. I make sure that if we wind up in the third state we celebrate as much as if we had made an IPO. Positive re-enforcement goes a long way. Thanks To: David Pensak of retired |
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50. Learn From Your Mistakes
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: As entrepreneurs we fail over and over until we get it right. When kids are young the best thing you can do is to let them know it’s okay to fail but teach them to learn from their mistakes. Just like with sports, it’s okay to not win every game but it makes you want to be better for the next one! If kids can learn from what they do when they’re young they will be unstoppable entrepreneurs! Just encourage them to never give up and take the bumps in the road and use them as building blocks! Thanks To: Ashley Bodi of BusinessBeware.biz |
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51. Contact, Converse & Contribute
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Include the child. Let them listen to discussions & phone calls, observe & engage in some processes. Our sons saw us daily working in the office (home based), answered the business phone (proper coaching, of course), & performed simple tasks, i.e. data entry, filing, envelope stuffing, etc. They observed and learned firsthand the purpose of the business and what it took to put food on the table. Try dinners with colleagues, business trips, observe meetings, & go to trade events. Very effective. Thanks To: Vicki Lynne Morgan of Russmor Marketing Group |
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52. Pursue Your Passions And Joys!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: I was raised to do well in school, get a good (paying) job and to live my life. Joy and pleasure never entered into the picture. I am teaching my children to pursue their passions, to seek joy and to be a blessing to the world. We all have gifts to share and the meaning of life is to discover your gifts and then share them with the world. How cool it is to earn your living doing what you’re passionate about, which brings you immeasurable joy and at the same time blessing the world! Thanks To: Darline Turner-Lee of Mamas on Bedrest & Beyond |
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53. Yard Sale Food – With A Twist
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: My kids sell snacks and soft drinks at our neighborhood yard sales. The twist is – they must pay for the items they plan to sell (although I let them wait until the sale is over). After going to the grocery, they calculate their cost for each item. Then, they decide on a fair selling price to allow for profit. One parent told me it was cruel to make them pay. I don’t think it’s cruel. I think it’s Entrepreneurship 101. Plus, the kids not only learn a lot, they also have fun. Thanks To: Kelly Watkins of Expressive Concepts |
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54. Act On Small Ideas
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Whether it be a “toy sale” or lemonade stand, if your kid has a business idea, let them do it! Then, they can learn the challenges and rewards. My 9 year old had ideas for restaurants, a new kind of tire and other expensive but good ideas, I couldn’t do much…but when he came up with the idea of a website where all kids could be the movie critics, I thought, “That we can do!” and created KidsPickFlicks for $200; he’s now reviewed 300 movies and expanded to being a TV movie critic as well. Thanks To: Tara McNamara of KidsPickFlicks.com |
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55. Let Your Kids Take Risks!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Way too often parents fail to teach their kids how to take risks. A parent tries to shield his children from all the dangers out there. Taking chances is then considered a bad thing. For example which one would your mom advise you to do – “work in BigCorp” or “start your own business”? We all know that the good things in life are reserved for the bold ones. So parents – let your kids risk and fail, risk and succeed. You are doing them a favor. Thanks To: Slav Ivanov of Socially Apps |
56. Kids And Entrepreunership
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: It’s important to make your kids realize the value of money. I suggest putting their money to work in mutual funds that they can watch grow. Make sure they understand that they have control over their money. Additionally, keep their jobs mission oriented and self directed. Thanks To: Vinnie Brand of The Stress Factory Comedy Club |
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57. Go For It!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: I think the one thing that parents can teach their kids is to GO FOR IT! So often adults shut down the creativity of children. We should teach our kids that it’s ok to come up with ideas and try them out – selling lemonade, writing books, inventing toys, designing games, etc. Kids whose parents encourage creative thinking and expression today become the “out of the box” thinkers and doers of tomorrow. Thanks To: Dawn Veselka of Out of the Blue Delivered |
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58. Sell Dreams, Not Just Lemonade
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: When children work for others, tell the adults what you are saving your money to buy. Adults want to know that they are helping you reach your goal. Keep them posted on your progress-they are rooting for you to succeed! Thanks To: Scott Ertl of Progress Cards |
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59. Don’t Give A Tree, Plant One
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Teach them financial responsibility first, teach them that toilet paper doesn’t grow on trees and to use it wisely. Using it wisely and protecting it will teach them to look out for good opportunities and recognize the shitty ones. Experiment with them and give them hands on experience as soon as possible. It will make them feel good, catch the bug, want to earn more, and give them drive. They will control their money, not the money and boss controlling them, they will learn to be independent. Thanks To: Mike Schreurs of Roke Media |
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60. Let Kids Explore Their Ideas
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Give your kid the independence to explore his own ideas. So many times, as parents, we dictate and micromanage our kid’s activities that it prevents them from achieving the ownership they need to grow. Don’t be pessimistic about their ideas and let them develop them into a product or service they can be passionate and proud of. Youth entrepreneurship is about practicing these vital skill sets in a positive and supportive environment. Thanks To: Melissa Rose of Biz in a Boxx |
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61. Make A Hobby A Business!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Go into their world and find something that they like, then look at it from a business perspective and tell them how they could turn their favorite hobby into a business. If they like to ride bikes, explain to them how they can turn that into a business (i.e. creating handlebar stickers to sell to other bike riders or offer to wear shirts from a local business when you ride in exchange for a small fee). Thanks To: Sharon Lechter of Pay Your Family First |
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62. When Bills Become Helpful
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Want your kids to understand money? To appreciate it? Don’t use allowance as your child’s financial introduction. Have your six year old help you review the bills and write the checks (or send e-payments). They don’t have to know how much money you make, but they’ll learn finances faster knowing how you spend and what things cost. Thanks To: George Smart of Strategic Development Inc |
63. Sure, Try It!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Encourage your children to try a new way or a unique way to do something. Whether it be arts and crafts, cooking, or a game, say…”great idea”. Even if it doesn’t work out, praise the ingenuity and help them to learn from the failure. rnSome examples: building with dominoes, mixing different sauces for dipping, painting with glue or food mixtures. rnAllow them to come up with the ideas and join the adventure of discovery. This will build their confidence in entreprenuial behavior. Thanks To: Natalie robinson Garfield of The Sense Connection |
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64. Nothing Comes Easy
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: The number one thing I will teach my son, who is now two-years-old, about entrepreneurship is that nothing comes easy. If you want to go out and become an entrepreneur, you must work hard at it every day, and this must begin at an early age. Teaching your children to work hard, and not quit when the going gets tough, while rewarding them for their efforts, is one of the best things to instill in them to create the next generation of entrepreneurs who will contribute to this blog! Thanks To: Matt Shoup of Shoup Consulting |
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65. Let Your Kids Earn Fun Money.
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: When my son was young Pogs were popular, he and all is friends collected them. I found a wholesale supplier and ordered a few hundred with collector sleeves and tubes. I gave them to him and told him he could sell them to his friends and he could have the money from them. Which he did. So my advice would be for parents to find things that their kids have an interest in and find something related that they can show-and-sell. Thanks To: John Schulte of National Mail Order Association |
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66. Give Kids Goals Not Wishlists
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: One of the most valuable life skills that parents can teach kids is goal setting. Goals contribute to self-esteem, self-confidence, independence, and teach children that following a course of action leads to results. Even young children can learn SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely). Most importantly, teaching goal setting empowers youngsters in the belief that “I can do it!” Thanks To: Danielle Miller of Danielle Miller International LLC |
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67. Become An Invaluable Resource!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: My niece has the makings of a true entrepreneur because she knows the value of creating relationships. As an active kid, she belonged to a lot of clubs and groups in high school. On two separate occasions, she planned trips with a handful of kids who didn’t know each other … she was the only one they all knew. So before they all traveled together, she invited them all to lunch so they could get to know each other ahead of time. By becoming the connector, she was known as “someone to know.” Thanks To: Laura Orsini of Write | Market | Design.com |
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68. Engage, Learn And Discuss!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Children should be encouraged to engage in a great variety of activities, cultures and environments to find out what they love and value. As children engage in meaningful experiences they will learn confidence, failure and success, patience, endurance and risk taking. Through ongoing support, documenting events and meaningful conversations, parents can talk with their kids about how their strengths and talents can help others, meet needs and even change the world! Thanks To: Sara Lise Raff of Arts Ed Consultant |
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69. Monkey See…monkey Do!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Kids are little sponges…they absorb everything going on around them. So if you want to teach your kids about entrepreneurship, be an entrepreneur, and show them first hand what an exciting ride it can be! Let them see the hard work you put in, share your victories with them and show them the benefits of being entrepreneurial. Kids look up to their parents whether they’d like to admit it or not Thanks To: Kia Robertson of Today I Ate A Rainbow! |
Know that they are watching you…so live your passion and they will learn to do that to!
70. Ingenuity
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: The number one way that parents can teach their kids entrepreneurial skills is to actually support them to find a way to make money rather than telling them to get a job. If most parents are like mine, they teach us to go after a better job instead of creating one for ourselves. Even when I did start my own business, they tried to talk me out of it. “Never tell people how to do something. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with ingenuity” Thanks To: Jeffrey Cumro of Better Life Chiropractic & Wellness |
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71. The Teen Principle
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: The TEEN Principle is a great way to teach youth about entrepreneurship. T- Talent. Everyone has a gift. Look inside of you and find out what you do best . E- Energy. Whatever business you decide to start you have to have passion for it so you stay through the good and bad times. E- Execution. In life you either make something happen or react to what is happening. N- Nurture. Your business is your life. The more you know and invest in it the more you grow. Thanks To: Derrick Hayes of WOE Enterprises |
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72. Talk About What You Do
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: My ten-year old son is very interested in computers so I tell him what I do (I’m a writer and online marketer) and offer suggestions for what he could do if he wanted to start his own business, which he does. He’s already started researching products, affiliate marketing, web design and he’s reserved his domain name. He’s very excited about running his own business and I’m thrilled he’s taking the initiative to get it going at such a young age! Thanks To: Marcia Turner of Ghostwriter and author |
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73. Raising Ceos
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: After interviewing highly successful kid entrepreneurs from all over the world, the #1 thing I have found that helps kids be successful in business is when they have really close mentors who are ALREADY successful in business. Thanks To: Sarah Cook of Raising CEO Kids |
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74. Shopping’s Fun
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Play ‘let’s pretend’ games often. Get them to play the role of a ’shop keeper’ who is setting up a new shop. Encourage them to come up with new ideas of what the shop should sell that people would like to buy. It gets them thinking about what opportunities there are without being too formal. You want to stiulate the mind without being formulaic. Thanks To: Marc Lawn of The Business GP |
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75. Be The Change
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Be an example of entrepreneurship. Start and run a business. Let the kids see you and help out with age appropriate tasks. Thanks To: Shay Olivarria of Bigger Than Your Block |
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76. Listen To The Pitch
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: As a kid, I always got what I wanted. Not because I whined and pouted when I didn’t get my way, but because I was very good at presenting my parents with a perfectly logical reason why what I wanted was a good idea. It’s the same when entrepreneurs pitch their product to investors. The next time your children want a new toy, tell them to pitch you the idea: What problem does the toy solve? And what do you, the parent, get in return? Thanks To: Derek Peruo of Body By D-Rock |
77. To Be, To Not Be, Or To Question
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Teach children the value of questioning the status quo & the world around them. This encourages thinking out of the box; that there’s more than 1 answer to a problem; that someone else isn’t always right; and encourages the value of thought…their thoughts. And that one thought may change their world. Thanks To: Rae-Ann Ruszkowski of TBD |
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78. But It’s Only $100 Dollars
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: It’s something every kid says to his parents. It used to be a quarter, but inflation has made it much more. Why do our children say these things? It’s because they haven’t been taught how difficult it is to create something that people value enough to buy. Whether it’s washing dishes, mowing the lawn, or selling lemonade, our kids need to experience, albeit on a smaller scale, the cost of doing business. They need to understand that their allowance is just the seed capital. Thanks To: Bruce Hoag of Dr Bruce Hoag |
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79. Repeat And Ponder
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Every night our parents also shared their “experiences of the day” at the dinner table. Hearing how they encountered and dealt with situations helped me to think through problems. Often one situation would bring up another story and another. Positives and negatives were talked about, put into perspective, and addressed. What was discussed was pretty much considered private – not something to talk with everyone about – so respect and discretion were also subtlety taught. Thanks To: Monica Tombers of Just So! Jewelry |
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80. Start The Conversation!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Parents should frequently discuss money and risk taking at the dinning table with the kids as young as 4 years old. They should also talk about their favorite entrepreneurs, who after several failures became successful. Definitely, talk about the similarities between their life and the entrepreneur’s life. It is very important to impress upon the kids that being an entrepreneur is like any new activity they learn eg. swimming, biking etc. Thanks To: Malini Hoover of LELA Media Inc. |
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81. Play Life
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: I believe if you play the Game of Life with your kids, it can open their eyes to decision making and entrepreneurship. My 8-year-old son enjoys playing games like Stratego and Chess, but Life really teaches him that the choices he makes as far as college and career really make a difference. He wants to be like his dad, he says. He wants to have his own business when he grows up so he can be his own boss and hang around his kids more often. Thanks To: Jackie Hennessey of Hennessey PR Consulting |
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82. Be The Example
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: My philosophy for many aspects of parenting is to “be the example”. I think the best advice is to let your children see and hear about your business-the challenges and the successes. My children (I have a 13, 17 & 20 year old) say that they have no choice but to be great at business because they have learned so much from listening to me over the years. We’ll see, but I do hope they embark on this entrepreneurial adventure. Thanks To: Stacey Kammerman of KAMMS World Wide |
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83. Keep Things Practical
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: For parents one tip would be to teach there kids how to think and do things practically so that they can imagine beyond books or aim beyond degrees and certificates. Thanks To: Akash Sharma of Revenue Strategy Solutions Ltd. |
84. Teach Them To Invest
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Ask kids to save their pocket money and then invest it in your business. You can give them a share of profit each month which they can use to buy games or things they like. In this way you can teach them the correct methods of investing. Thanks To: Roger Smith of Brisbane Australia |
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85. Creativity Is Key
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Montessori schools have a remarkable teaching methodology that nurtures self-esteem, unleashes creativity, and develops leadership. Alumni from these schools include the founders of Google, Amazon and millions of other entrepreneurial companies. If a parent can’t send their child to one of these schools, they should learn about the system and create that environment in their homes. Children are naturally creative, It is often stifled by parents, teachers, and bosses. Set it free! Thanks To: Michael Sisti of Sisti & Others, Inc. |
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86. Money Makes Money
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: I come from a long line of Entrepreneurs. When I was small my grandma would send us money for our savings account “so we could be independent when we grew up”…I’m talking $25 here and there. But I saved it and it grew. My parents gave us a very small allowance that we worked for – chores,etc. I believe that understanding the “value” of a $1 is the most important concept to teach children so they can make it successfully in the world as an entrepreneur..or as anything they want to be. Thanks To: Sarah Shaw of Entreprenette |
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87. Examine The Passion
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: I have taught my 2 girls from the start they should learn how to make something out of nothing and most importantly, to follow their passion. My oldest daughter loved to write so I bought her a course on copywriting because she could work that from home and still be with her family which is another principle she learned while watching me in my business. Every child is gifted in one area and as parents we need to hone in on that gift and help our children turn that passion into $. Be the EXAMPLE. Thanks To: Karen Van Cleef of Vitality Products, Inc. |
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88. Leadership, Drive & Ambition
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Well, I am not a mother yet.. but as a kid I was around leadership, ambition, drive and was given the chance to do things on my own. I believe you must teach kids at a young age to be independent and to be a leader. It will become second nature to them and continue to be confident, which is KEY in success! Thanks To: Susan Vernicek of S&J Identity – Identity Magazine |
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89. Self-confidence Is Key
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Teaching kids to believe in themselves is invaluable. A positive self image lays the foundation for success in business and in life. According to Barry Moltz, what’s important (in business) is that you let go of the successes and failures, and just keep moving forward. I think the same is true when it comes to self image. The child that develops a healthy self image will keep moving forward and develop the resiliency to deal with the successes and failures in business and in life. Thanks To: Lori Fields of Real Beauty Is |
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90. Day Dreaming Is Prosperous Mom
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Has your child’s teacher complained that they are a day dreamer? Fabulous! When we have an active imagination we are exhibiting the strongest trait of a successful entrepreneur. Literally as soon as your child can communicate dreams and desires brain storm with them how they can make it happen. Never tell them no, ask them HOW. Thanks To: Brenda Direen of American Canvas |
91. Lemonades Stands
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: The best way to teach Entrepreneurship is to have your kid set up a lemonade/cookie/other stand. It is the best way for them to understand at an early age and a simple level many of the aspects associated with being an Entrepreneur. They need to buy product, they need to make sales to strangers, if they don’t sell they don’t make money. They get to decide how much to charge. If it is the wrong price they won’t make a profit. If they are successful they can feel confident they did it themselves. Thanks To: Michael Kraus of Sunhill Associates LLC |
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92. Resist The System
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: A kid in preschool is looking at 18 years of institutionalization, and that’s just for a Bachelor’s degree. Protect your kid’s entrepreneurial core by showing a healthy skepticism (and contempt, wherever merited) toward the System’s fatwas, edicts, and papal bulls, whatever their form. Thanks To: Michael Haaren of Rat Race Rebellion |
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93. Chores+budget=now She Gets It
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: My 12 year old daughter has done chores to earn extra spending money for some time, but she really didn’t get the value of money (or the need to budget) until we put a quarterly clothing budget in place. Now she scours the sales, Goodwill and eBay as fervently as her mother. She plans her purchases and pays close attention to her “account balance”. Knowing money doesn’t grow on trees and understanding how to operate on a budget are vital lessons for every future entrepreneur. Thanks To: Stephen Antisdel of Precept Partners, LLC |
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94. Take Your Kid Out!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Take your kid to an event and talk about the many ways people are making money. At a concert, people cash in from t-shirt design (design, production and sale), concession stands, creation of publicity (writing, designing and printing), temporary work to set up and break down. Thanks To: Bonnie Coffey of Bonnie Coffey & Associates, LLC |
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95. Teach Kids To Truly Connect
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: If you want to prime your kids to become successful adults, you should teach them how to truly connect with others. Help them to develop good relationship skills by showing them the art of really listening, putting others first and by showing them how to say kind words. There is nothing more important in lifelong success than the ability to relate powerfully to others. And it is never too early to begin teaching that valuable lesson to your children! Thanks To: Maribeth Kuzmeski of The Connectors |
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96. Kidpreneurship
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Thanks To: Marlene Caroselli of Principled Persuasion |
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97. Just Ask…how?!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Parents should teach their children to ask “how.”How is something possible? How is a rule a good rule? How can you become a good human being?Curiosity about ourselves, our surroundings, the world and life in general is the best gift that we can teach our kids to help them become entrepreneurs.Think about it. An entrepreneur has the ability to find an opportunity by analyzing a situation(by asking themselves how it works),see if there’s an opportunity by asking themselves how to make it possible. Thanks To: Jenn Lederer of AFST Management |
98. Teach Them To Sell
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: The skill which entrepreneur should have is the skill to sell . Give them some of your things like old cameras, books and ask them to sell it on ebay and other online stores. Once they start enjoying it, You can lend some money to them and help the, in launching their own startups Thanks To: Zway Yee of V8 Supercars |
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99. Aspire To Your Passion
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Let passion be your guide in business and in life. Without passion you can never put forth what you must to suceed as an entrepreneur. Iyanla Vanzant has said, “The process of living encourages you to leap and to fly, to run and to soar, to meander and to piddle, to embrace and to release. What you tell yourself about your ability to do one or all of these things at any given time determines how hard life will be for you.” Don’t waste your hard work…aspire to your passion! Thanks To: Karen Hobson of Start 2 Finish Writers Workshop |
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100. Finding The Passion Inside
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Parents need to take time to know their children in order to help them pursue directions that build on their special strengths. This involves paying attention to how your children demonstrate innate abilities. Each of my three children has a magical grasp of a different area and that’s their passion. The more they discover and understand how they can use their unique gifts, the more secure and capable they will feel. That’s key. Thanks To: Gloria Justice of Smith Justice Group |
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101. Profits And Lemonade!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Teach them how to handle finances, personal and business. We did this with the first lemonade stand. We ‘loaned’ them start-up capital. Once the sale was over, taught them ‘net’ and ‘gross.’ They had to pay us back and were left with their ‘profit.’ They definitely weren’t crazy about that idea at first but still at young ages (10 and 13), our two boys know how the system works. And, they had to pay us back in full, with some savings, when they ‘posted a loss.’ They now work Thanks To: Dayna Steele of Steele Media Services |
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102. Tell Stories
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Tell your kids stories. Tell them about successful entrepreneurs who were once failures. Tell them about guys like Wayne Huizenga, who turned one garbage truck into a Billion dollar business. Stories inspire. And to be a great entrepreneur, you must be inspired. Thanks To: Chris Frank of Ignition Tutoring |
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103. Keep Your Creativity!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: It is important not to limit children. Don’t constantly pressure them to become doctors and lawyers let them decide and encourage creativity! Let them know that you are an entrepreneur and you are damn good at it! Let them follow in your footsteps and see that success can come from being your own boss! Thanks To: Zanade Mann of Online & Off Marketing and PR |
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104. Courage
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Teach them to think independently, act with responsibility and follow their heart! Thanks To: Jerry Pollio of CMT Creative Marketing |
105. Easy Does It On The Errors
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: When a child makes a mistake, after offering comfort, ask, “If you care to share, what did you learn from that? What might you have done differently?” Listen to the child’s answers without judgment or instruction. Entrepreneurs need to know not only how to learn from their mistakes, but how to be conscious of the trial and error process, and to feel safe and open with experimentation. Parents model that practice by being open to their own children’s errors as opportunities for learning. Thanks To: Anne Giles Clelland of Handshake Media, Inc. |
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106. Teach Them Young And Often!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Teaching your children right from the start about entrepreneurship is essential if you aspire to have your kids learn how to be successful without leaning on corporate America to provide meaningful employment. My tip – show your children (assuming you are an entrepreneur) how you run your business, work hard, and that while it is OK to work for a “big company” it is not a predetermined career path and “just like daddy” you can run your own business and carve out your own destiny! Thanks To: Jim DeBetta of DeBetta Enterprises |
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107. Open A Lemonade Stand
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Most youngsters would like to run a lemonade stand at some point to earn a little money. You can use this as a teaching opportunity by explain about marketing, products, costs, pricing, profits, customer service, customer satisfaction, and whatever else is unclear to your youngsters. Be sure to look on the Internet with your youngsters to see what others have done to help develop research skills. The Ultimate Competitive Advantage has a detailed example of innovation with a lemonade stand. Thanks To: Donald Mitchell of The 400 Year Project |
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108. Don’t Teach! Awaken And Engag
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Being the best teen entrepreneur coach ever w/ teens under my direct care who have grossed over $100k/mo, I know this category inside & out Thanks To: Shonika Proctor of Teen Renegade CEO’s |
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109. I Teach By Example Daily
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: When my young kids enter my office, I stop to explain what I’m doing. Mommy’s trying to sell gLovies to a store like ToysRUs–they can relate to that. My 3 yr-old helps with samples. My 7 yr-old ALWAYS has an opinion when creating marketing materials. My 5 yr-old loves to know what I’m tweeting or blogging about. All three of my kids love to listen to my radio show each week. They even appear on TV with me! Thanks To: Josephine Geraci of My Mom Knows Best, Inc. |
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110. Teach By Example
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: I own a Professional Wedding Consultant business in San Diego, so when my 12 year old realized she could make money for college by designing favors for my clients, she immedietly began working on a website and setting up a display area in my Showroom. Since last December “Favors to You” signed four new clients and the website should be live by the end of the month. My clients and fellow coordinators are excited for Shayne and support her as she works her way to a creating a “sweet” success. Thanks To: Sharon Cole of A Dream Wedding by Sharon Cole |
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111. Risk, Failure Not A Roadblock
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Teach children that risk and failure should not be feared. They are just steps and necessities in the process of building anything. Road blocks, they be not…but opportunities to innovate. Weigh them, cushion them with knowledge, then decide how to use them to get where you want to go. Thanks To: Laura Wellington of The Giddy Gander Company |
112. Teach Your Child About Money
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: The most important thing entrepreneurs should teach their children about is MONEY. Don’t just have your child ask you for money anytime they want. Have them work for it. They will appreciate it much more. Teach them to save and also give back. Buy a piggy bank for your children or take them to open their own bank accounts. Teach them the value of work. Let the kids participate in the family’s money decisions. It will open their minds to the energy that money is. Thanks To: Sandra Baptist of Inst. of Learning for Fab Biz Women |
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113. Mommy & Daddy Capital
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Many times we sit around the dinner table discussing ideas the kids have to make money. Some far out and some definitely “DO”-able. Taking the steps to help your child develop a business or the” belief” they can needs a little backing from the “MOMMY BANK” choose to invest in your children. A little capital injection and a short trip to the dollar store can get a bake sale or lemonade stand off the ground. Later lessons can show them the “cost of doing business” Thanks To: Jennifer Busch of All Cash Practice |
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114. Making Money And Being Green
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Go through your home together with the kids including their stuff and gather up the numerous things that you no longer need or want. Organize a garage sale and have your kids be in on every detail. Let them clean, display and make decisions. You are a supervisor only, they do the work. Work out financial details in advance. Do not give them the stuff AND the money!! Let’s teach kids to appreciate what they have, the value of non-retail-shopping and to recycle and keep money in their community! Thanks To: Aryana Jaret of Recycled Elegance |
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115. Show Don’t Tell
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Parents should spend a lot less time telling children about entrepreneurship and spending more time showing them how it’s done. This can be as simple as letting the child help out at the school bake sale, or the always fun lemonade stand. If you own your own business, let the child follow you around for a week in the summer time. It’s a lot easier to tell a child about entrepreneurship but you can’t forget the benefits of showing the child entrepreneurship. Thanks To: Marc Anderson of TalktoCanada Corp |
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116. Young Millionaires
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Focus on the five core fundamentals which are not taught in school: Thanks To: William R. Patterson of BaronSeries.com Business Coach |
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117. Let Them Take Some Risks!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: If kids are encouraged to try anything they want to, they will learn to believe in themselves and their capabilities. It’s up to the parents to be the cheer leaders and the mentors. Thanks To: Jan Schwartz of Education and Training Solutions |
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118. Paycheque Is In The Passion
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Teach your children to pursue their passions with everything they have…all that they are! When they live what they are passionate about, they are more likely to turn that passion into a lifestyle and that lifestyle into a career. When we teach our children they can do and be anything, they reward themsleves with choosing a life filled with Entrepreneurship. Thanks To: Natalie Hjelsvold of Professional Best Friend Life Coach |
119. Lemonade Stand Entrepreneur
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: The best way to teach entrepreneurship is to have your child run a business such as a lemonade stand. Have your child compute the cost of the lemons, the sugar, the cups and other incidentals. At the end of the day, count up the dollars and change and have your child figure out the net profit. Discuss what factors increase sales such as selling on a summer day, pricing, sign advertising, lemonade stand location and skill in engaging customers. A lemonade stand is Entrepreneurship 101. Thanks To: Eugenia Francis of TeaCHildMath |
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120. Dream Big, Then Take Action
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Parents should be their kids’ biggest cheerleaders, and should encourage them to set the bar high, to have big dreams. Teach kids that belief in themselves and what they are capable of doing is the #1 key to success. Even if they don’t always get over that particular bar, that is not failure. Success is found in the process of setting goals, and then striving hard to attain them. Dream big, then as Nike says, “Just Do It!” Thanks To: Phil Morley of News Release Pro |
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121. Be An Adult But Don’t Grow Up
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Don’t take away a child’s confidence and belief that they can do, be and have whatever they want in life. As children they believe this until they begin to be told to: Thats when they begin to lose that complete belief in themselves and their creativity and entrepreneurial spirit is squashed. Encourage them to think big, act big and never lose their inner child. Thanks To: Carol Dodsley of Choose Changes |
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122. Earn And Spend Their Own Money
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Help kids find ways to earn their own money and let them spend some of it on items of their choosing. They will learn the value of money and will come up with creative ways to earn it in order to get the things they want the most. Thanks To: Cristina Martin Greysman of Vuzit |
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123. Grow Your Own Jr Tpe!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Skip “Take Your Daughter to Work Day” once a year & make it a weekly or monthly thing. Kids learn by observing & exposing them to your business is a great way to show them how to act. I take it one step further & include every event where it’s appropriate to bring my daughter: Toastmasters, trade shows, business mixers, charity events. I have her do her elevator pitch & exchange cards. It’s great practice! Check out my training thus far: www.funexercise.net Thanks To: Julie Fogg of Active Port |
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124. Learn From Their Mistakes
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Kids need to be taught that the only failure is the one that stops you. Learning is an ongoing process which is based upon analyzing what went wrong and what went right. Learn to not attach those mistakes to their self worth but to look at them simply as opportunities to improve. Thanks To: Phil Weaver of Break Pal – Workplace Wellness |
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125. Stay Out Of Their Way!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Parents, if you want to foster the entrepreneur inside your child, than you must stay of their way! Yes, keep them safe, teach good values, etc. Be careful when it comes to discouraging your child from learning about or participating in something they are interested in. Children have a natural ability to be creative thinkers and to know what makes them happy. However, well meaning adults often put their two cents in and discourage this process. Encourage, support and listen! Thanks To: Debra Medina of Spa Time Baby |
126. Pretend There Is No Box!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: The most important thing is not to teach kids to “think outside the box” as we traditionally do. Instead, we need to teach kids that there IS no box. Who constructed the box, anyway? It’s important to let them think for themselves and allow them to have their ideas without our judging and commenting on them. Kids have so much pressure in the school system, and with friends to conform and do it the right way. We need to teach them that there is no “right” way — new ideas are great! Thanks To: Beverly Flaxington of The Collaborative |
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127. Find An Ally!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: I often seen parents force feeding entrepreneurship and success principles to their children. The modern teen wants autonomy and ownership. The best way to properly teach entrepreneurship is to align with a young, fun organization that teaches the skills you want your teen to learn. Teens are more likely to take advice from a third party, and the tension of arguments and generation gaps dissipates. Enlist allies in your quest to raise a great person! Thanks To: Lisa Bell of Inspired Girls International |
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128. Sleep Is A Luxury
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Teach kids early that sleep is overrated and that working through the night on something your passionate about is a good thing! Thanks To: Julie Lenzer Kirk of The ParentPreneur Edge |
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129. Patience In The Now Generation
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Our children see it all in front of them daily on MTV and the internet. The young and rich actors and entrepreneurs seem to have it all e so should we! Truth is, for 98% of us, it takes time and patience. In most cases good things really do take time. So practice patience and be willing to spend the time to lay the foundation that allows for slow and steady growth for the long haul. If you look at long term success as your goal rather than short term profits you’ll make intelligent decisions Thanks To: Craig Wolfe of CelebriDucks |
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130. Soccer Practice
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: One way to teach kids entrepreneurship is to relate the risks and rewards of starting a business to the risks and rewards that they face in everyday life. When I was a boy I played soccer, and one of the lessons on the field that my father taught me was that statistically, you miss all of the shots that you do not take. This lesson stuck with me through my growth. Ultimately it was this lesson of learning to take risks in order to reap rewards that inspired me to start my own business. Thanks To: Stephan Nicoleau of Critical Value Advisors |
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131. Put Them In Charge
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: My Daughter was extremely successful and launched her own lemonade stand for the local food bank. Thanks To: Ariane Griffiths of Emma’s Lemons |
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132. Chase Your Dreams
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Chase your dreams without fear. Chase your dreams when times are tough. Chase your dreams when you’re tired. Chase your dreams when you experience defeat. Never, Ever Give Up. Always Chase Your Dreams. Thanks To: Walt Goshert of BTZWeb |
133. Do As I Do, Not As I Say
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: The only way to teach your kids to be good entrepreneurs is to be a good entrepreneur yourself. Thanks To: Robert Ashton of a |
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134. Monitor The Money
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Of all the things my parents taught me about self-employment, #1 winner is — Learn how money is made and know exactly how it’s coming/going in your business. I must add to that: learn to multitask without being scattered! You must have both vision and detail focus. Thanks To: Kate Nasser of The People-Skills Coach, CAS, Inc. |
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135. Never Too Early To Start
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: As kids are growing up, they sometimes jump from one idea of interest to another. They are testing their own levels of skills and competition while seeking approval from an audience. Thanks To: Carolyn Bartz of WITH PEN IN HAND |
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136. The Value Of Money
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Before you teach them entrepreneurship, teach them the value of money, how it’s earned and how to best save and spend it. For every dollar they earn, put some in savings, invest some, give some to charity and then they can spend the rest. Then, start encouraging them to think of unique ways to make money, so they have more for each bucket. Help them get started and then watch how excited they get when their hard work is rewarded. Thanks To: Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk of BBR Marketing |
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137. The Lemonade Stand Lives On!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Having a front yard lemonade stand is still a good idea with the internet. It gets children creativity in gear and communicating with others. This or something like it is something to encourage. Children get creative, deal with money, engage in sales, marketing and customer service, deal with money – oh; I said that. With parents support of something like this venture. children know earlier rather than later that this kind of venture is or isn’t for them. Will that be sweetened or unsweetened? Thanks To: Patricia Weber of Business Coach for Introverts & Shy |
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138. Owner – Member
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: I own an engineering and surveying firm in Colorado. We have two children, ages 5 (daughter) and 10(son). We include them, between their schooling, in the daily operation of our business. This includes involvement in the financial, bid processes, and general work. We believe that this will provide them a better opportunity for their future and for those around them. To us, its this crutial part of raising children that seems to be missing in some American families today. Thanks To: John Littlehorn of Littlehorn Engineering, LLC |
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139. Teach Them About Money
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: I think all parents should make sure their children learn about how to manage money. My daughter Lisa who is 37 was recently promoted to President of a very prestigious LA Firm and when she was hired as the first women Senior VP the first thing she did is take a course to learn how to read a financial statement as that is what affects the companies bottom line. If you can manage money and know about investments and the bottom line you can achieve success as an entrepreneur. Thanks To: Robbie Motter of Robbie Motter dba Contacts Unlimite |
140. Curious And Collaborative
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: If you teach your child to be curious and to be helpful, they will have the skills to succeed. Curiosity leads to continued learning which is a requirement for adaptation in our fast changing world and enables people to learn out to work well with people from different backgrounds. Collaboration is a requirement for working across the world or across the room. Thanks To: Kate Putnam of Package Machinery Co Inc |
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141. Sell Something They Created
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Have your child sell something they created.This may sound elementary, but kids don’t see monetary value in their creations. Kids are taught to do chores for money (time = money = employee). But do they understand that doing something they love can make money? Thanks To: Cristin Frank of Farmer Pad |
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142. Nothing Is Impossible
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: It’s important for kids to see us both succeed and fail. How we handle our failures, even more than how we handle our successes, teaches them perseverance, determination and grit. I want my kids to know that every dream hits speed bumps at time, but they can do anything they set their mind to. Thanks To: Jill Hart of CWAHM.com Christian Work @ Home Mom |
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143. Life Isn’t Fair
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Be realistic with your children from an early age in order to instill true entrepreneurial ideals in them. He may be awarded a 10th place soccer trophy now, but no one will give him that kind of break later on. Teach your kids that they aren’t entitled, special or guaranteed any level of success in this world. Explain how hard they will need to work in order to become self-sufficient. Teach them how to work hard. Treat them like adults and never sugar coat the realities behind entrepreneurship. Thanks To: Scott Gerber of Gerber Entertainment |
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144. Statistics Can Lie
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: A future successful entrepreneur would be well-served to learn at a young age that not everything on the Internet, in newspapers, etc. is true. Much information is slanted in favor of the bias of the person delivering that information. An ability to do research (so easy thanks to Google) for other opinions/fact/statistics is very important. And this includes the knowledge that statistics can lie. Most people only cite statistics that prove their point – which may not be your point. Thanks To: Phyllis Zimbler Miller of Miller Mosaic Power Marketing |
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145. Calculated Risks Are Ok!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Just like in sports, entrepreneurs constantly take risks and it’s what you should be doing! Evaluate the situation from various sides of the field, then take action. Don’t linger over what happens next, just move on to the next play. Thanks To: Christine Scioli of Zan Media |
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146. No Debt Means Money To Invest.
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: The ONE thing that parents should teach their children now, so they grow up to be good entrepreneurs is to avoid debt. If you don’t have any debt, you have cash to invest in yourself and your business ideas. And, it teaches children to rely on their own abilities to generate income, if they are taught not to borrow. Thanks To: Kathy Lee of Miessence |
147. Tomorrow’s Leaders
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Parents need to teach their children about money. Instead of giving them everything, teach your children how to prioritize and make better choices. Talk to them about the meaning of credit; how to invest in different modalities; and the benefits of saving, and benefit of not spending all. Explain occasional exceptions to rules; talk about corporate greed vs. donations to worthwhile causes. This would help to avoid future meltdowns and inspire entrepreneurship as the strategies translate well. Thanks To: Elinor Stutz of Smooth Sale, LLC |
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148. Tough Love Lessons
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Robert Kiyosaki described it best in “Rich Dad, Poor Dad.” Teaching children about entrepreneurship while they are really young is the best way to do it. Have them work hard for very little money. Teach them that employers will only pay you enough so that you don’t quit. Teach them by doing, and then clearly communicate the lesson to them. Continue doing this until they truly understand. In addition, show them the benefits of entrepreneurship like the intrinsic rewards and financial freedom. Thanks To: Mark Hall of Input Ladder |
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149. Only One Tip, Really?
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: The number one tip I have taught my boys is to be very independent and lead by example. You can and will not succeed as an entrepreneur without those skills. If I may (add one more), I have also taught them that no one is going to take care of them so you must ALWAYS look out for number 1. Number 1 is YOU. Thanks To: Cindy Tollen of Sudz N Bubbles, Ltd. |
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150. Instill Confidence!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurs have to have confidence. Parents can instill this confidence in their children by constantly praising their children on their strong points and encouraging them to follow their dreams. Thanks To: Jordan Farkas of Mr. Small Claims Court |
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151. If You Say It, Back It Up
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: One of the best things you can teach kids now is the importance of following through on what they say they’re going to do. There’s nothing worse in business than empty promises and unreliable people. If you gain the reputation of being as good as your word, there’s almost nothing you can’t achieve in business. Thanks To: Colleen O’Donnell Pierce of Breaking Gravity LLC |
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152. Financial Education Or Death
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: The most important gift for your kids is a financial education. It’s something that we currently don’t teach our kids in school. If you want your children to be financially independent, you should educate yourself & then educate your kids. Start by reading Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad and from there, move onto some of his other books like Conspiracy of the Rich. It’s critical that you provide yourself & your kids a financial education if you want to survive in the new economy. Thanks To: Ryan Taft of Catalyst Marketers |
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153. Start Early!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Parents who want their kids to be good entrepreneurs must start early. As soon as they are old enough for a newspaper route (age 14), they can go out and earn money for the things they want. Babysitting for the neighbors, mowing lawns, shoveling snow, raking leaves. They will realize the value of a dollar very quickly, and how hard you have to work to earn it! That’s when the gears started turning for me, and it planted the seeds for my own business that now gives me the flexibility I want! Thanks To: Michael Ayalon of Petwebdesigner.com |
154. Struggle Without Suffering
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: It’s my view that like grapes used to produce fine wine, kids should be made to struggle but not suffer. When the grounds too fertile the roots will be shallow and the grapes too sweet. Similarly if you make life for your kids too easy they’ll seek a comfortable life and resist the challenges of entrepreneurship. Thanks To: Peter Harrison of GlobalLogic Inc. |
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155. Bring Them To Work With You!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: If you own your own business, start bringing them into work and teach them what you do on a daily basis. They’ll begin to learn everything from how to run and manage a business, opening and closing operations, customer service and so much more. That’s how my parents taught me! Thanks To: Nic Soto of Public Relations Depot |
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156. Remember The 1st Bike Ride
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: There are so many lessons we can teach; how to handle money, treating others with respect, learn all you can about your craft, but for me the most important is teach your children to be brave, take risks and believe they can achieve goals. Like the 1st bike ride on a 2 wheeler, It takes work and perseverance and they may get knocked down many times. If they really want to succeed encourage them to take the risk and keep going; the success is worth it. Thanks To: Harriet Cohen of Training Solutions |
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157. You Get To Create Your Life
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: When you take the kids to small businesses, when possible, engage the owner in a brief conversation that your child participates in. Ask the biz owner what they love about their business and how they got started. Ask your child if s/he has any questions to ask. These stories will stick in their minds and will open the child’s eyes to all the many business possibilities. Thanks To: Ann Ronan of Authentic Life Institute |
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158. Teach Kids To Be Freaks
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Dave Rendall has a theory that apparent flaws are clues to true strengths. “I have a lot of weaknesses…. hyperactive… resistant to authority…. I didn’t overcome my problems….I discovered that my apparent flaws were clues to my true strengths.… I became a professor, speaker and consultant. Now, the hyperactive guy, who can’t sit down or stay quiet, gets paid to stand up and talk….The guy who doesn’t like authority runs his own business.” Thanks To: Joseph Joel Sherman of Business Tribes |
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159. Mind Over Everything
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: My parents raised me to be an entrepreneur. I am now 25; they sent me to college and upon graduating recruited me to join our family business and since then I have started projects of my own. Growing up a few of my parents more popular phrases of wisdom were “think happy thoughts” (that was one from my mom) and “attitude is everything” (great one via dad). They taught me from an early age that our thoughts have power over what we do and who we are. Thanks To: Jennifer Donogh of Ovaleye Web Solutions |
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160. Teach Kids Character Traits
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: I believe focusing on establishing good character traits in children is key in all areas, including empowering them to be future entrepreneurs. Character traits like: diligence, honesty, integrity, obedience, generosity, joyfulness, flexibility, endurance, self-control, thoroughness, dependability, patience, wisdom, discernment, faith, discretion, creativity, enthusiasm, resourcefulness, etc. Thanks To: Dr. Laura Aridgides of OrganizeNOW |
161. Open Up Business In Their Room
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: When I was 10, I opened up “Pam’s Place.” I made a sign, scotch taped it to the door and opened the top half of my door. I was open for business, selling pencils & homemade bookmarks. My specialty, I soon found, was glitter. One day I tried to sell my dad a pencil. He wouldn’t buy. “Why is it special? I’ll go to Walgreen’s.” I scurried back to my room. I glued on colorful stars & glitter. I came back to ‘resell’ my dad. “Now that’s a pencil!” he said, giving 10 cents. Thanks To: Pamela Hawley of UniversalGiving |
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162. Encourage Experimentation
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Too often formal education focuses merely on “getting the right answer” rather than the process used to get the answer. Thus, many students go through our school system with an irrational aversion to risk. To be a successful entrepreneur you’ve got to tolerate, if not embrace, uncertainty and risk. Often the best solutions to a problem become apparent only after repeated trial and error. One of the best gifts parents can give their kids is to teach them to take calculated risks. Thanks To: Scott Swanay of Fantasy Baseball Sherpa |
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163. Best/worst Part Of The Day
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Every night at dinner we have everyone talk about the best part of their day and the worst part. My wife and I often talk about our business which is not only a fun way to look at it through the eyes of a 6 and 8 year old (”…that person should have treated you more kindly…”) but it gives them honest insight into the joys and struggles of being an entrepreneur. We also always share with them when we support the community as that is one of our joys of owning a business. Thanks To: Michael Barnett of Romp n’ Roll Kids Gym |
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164. Tell Me What You Think Of…
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Include & engage your child in some aspect of your business. Listen to their ideas and ask their opinion about something. Children are incredibly imaginative, eager and perhaps above all, HONEST! My 9 yr. old daughter has been avidly interested in my business since the beginning. She feels free to give her opinions and puts a lot of thought into how I can or should market our products or create something new. One of our product was actually inspired by her. Thanks To: Lee Reizian Holmes of Art By Chocolate LLC |
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165. Don’t Squelch!!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Well, my oldest son is 8 and is already an entrepeneur! He saves his Halloween candy and sells it at our annual garage sale, along with popcorn, hot dogs and sno cones. He already has a name for his future business too: The Electric Squad. He’s going to “invent stuff”. How did this happen? My husband and I both have businesses, so he’s grown up around it. I tell him he can be whatever he wants and do whatever he wants…so feed their creativity, don’t squelch it!!! Thanks To: Jocelyn Wiebe of AmeriPlan |
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166. Business Education For Kids
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Something lacking in the traditional K-12 education system is subjects in managing money and starting a business. This is when parents need to be supplementing their child’s education with attending business conferences, allowing them to start their own business – lemonade stand, selling cookies or blogging for money. Letting children learn from mistakes so they are not afraid of failure. Giving them access to books, shows like Shark Tank, Dragon’s Den to learn from these business people. Thanks To: Theresa Gould of RobnT Business Solutions |
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167. Even Kids Can Make A List
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: The best thing for parents, and grandparents for that matter, to encourage kids to become entrepreneurs is to help them make a list of what they are good at and what they love to do and how they can make money from the things on that list. You can even help them create a mindmap of their lists and brainstorm for ideas on how to make each idea work. Thanks To: Michelle Hill of Winning Proof |
168. School Fndraiser=valuable Less
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: school fundraiser=valuable lesson Thanks To: Alicia O’Connell-Cohen of Kate’s Cookie Jar |
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169. Teach Good Work Ethics
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: How many of us have worked with those with a bad work ethic? Those with bad attitudes and the “It’s not my job or my company, so why should I care?” attitudes? Bottom line…teach your kids good work ethics. Let them learn the value of money by working for it (is giving allowances for chores out-of-style?) It will serve them well down the line and then they can shake their head at their own soon-to-be-fired employees who just don’t seem to give a damn! Thanks To: Karen Moehr of Moehr and Associates |
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170. Growing The Next Bill Gates
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Parents can do much to nurture entrepreneurship. Thanks To: Mary Beth Izard of Acheve Consulting Inc. |
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171. Empower Your Kids To Succeed
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Tip 1: Start by helping the kids explore what they really love to do. Are they artistic? Do they love to build things in Legos®? Do they love sports? Successful entrepreneurs follow their passions. Steve Jobs, the CEO of Pixar Animation Studios and Apple and a successful entrepreneur who struggled many times in his career, once said of the tough times: “I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love.” Thanks To: Jennifer Bouani of Bouje Publishing |
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172. Build A Stand… Spark A Dream
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Lemonade Day 2010 is a free, community event for introducing entrepreneurship to youth. Through the simple act of building/running a lemonade stand, participants enjoy a sense of self-worth and empowerment while learning the value of earning a dollar in a fun way. The program encourages youth to save a little, spend a little, give a little, teaching valuable principles that will help mold them into future business-minded, socially responsible leaders. Lemonade Day is May 2 in 10+ major cities. Thanks To: Michael Holthouse of Lemonade Day, by Prepared 4 Life |
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173. Money Must Be Earned!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Don’t lecture but create experiences that teach lessons. When I was a kid, my dad put a chart on the wall. On it he had broken down the household chores & attached a dollar value to each one. Whoever did the chore, put their initials by it & at the end of the week he tallied up our “payday.” My youngest sister, for the first time in her life, discovered the joy of housework and the joy of earning her own money. She regularly out-performed her two older sisters and always got the biggest payday. Thanks To: Martin Hurlburt of The Advice Collection for Parents |
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174. Meet, Greet And Respect
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Begin introducing kids to local entrepreneurs early in life. Encourage them to meet and befriend to local area business owners. Let children see from an early age how pride of ownership and community contribution are part of the life of an entrepreneur. Make it clear to your kids that being a business owner is a valid choice for a career and you will be as proud of their business ideas as you are of A’s in school or athletic achievements. Thanks To: Karen Southall Watts of Karen Southall Watts (ask_karen) |
175. Don’t Judge The Idea
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: When my daughter is in her creative mode, she comes up with what I’d term as silly or hair-brained ideas. I can’t imagine anyone would be fall for and buy what she has invented sometimes. I have to step back, trust her and that she knows her target audience. I’m viewing it through my eyes, and not those of an 8-year-old. Last idea: $.25 to ask your parent a question you don’t want to and then explain the answer. She had 5 takers. They all asked for the $.25 from their parents. Thanks To: Susan Finch of Dino Manners |
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176. Let Them Be In Charge!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: I helped my daughter start a website as a way to sell the 4 books that she has published. One thing I have learned is that this is really her business and she needs to make the decisions. While we use decision making as learning opportunities; she lets me know if I am pushing her in a direction she does not want to go in – I let her make the decisions; even if I don’t always agree. Thanks To: Dave Morris of New Year Publishing |
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177. Kids Business=great Business!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: As the mother of an enterprising “greenpreneur”, and entrepreneur myself, I understand the value in recognizing this talent in your child. My best tip would be to find the time for your child to express themselves and find their path. It’s important to encourage and keep them motivated with new and exciting challenges while teaching them the reality of business ownership. Most importantly, share and teach about the true rewards and benefits that come with being a visionary and entrepreneur Thanks To: Danelle Hoffer of CynerGreen |
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178. Have Fun!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: My daughter has been selling decorated flip flops since 2nd grade. She is now in 7th grade and still has her own website. She supports her favorite charities this way and it boosts her self esteem. The thing I repeat to her is, “Don’t do it if it’s not fun.” Learn to do what you love and what you are passionate about, and it will never feel like work. Thanks To: Raffi Darrow of RDesign |
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179. Who Wouldn’t Like Free Money?
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Don’t give allowances. Free money is a nice thought but if parents give kids an allowance without teaching them the value of working for what they earn, we end up with more people with the “what’s in it for me” mentality. Give kids age-appropriate chores but teach them that sometimes in life, you have to do things even if you’re not getting paid, simply because it’s the right thing to do. Kids will learn to appreciate more if they are taught good work ethics and that there’s no free money Thanks To: Nancy O’Neill – mother of Jason of Pencil Bugs Plus |
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180. Follow Your Heart
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: The 1 tip that my parents gave me when I was younger that has stuck with me until this day was to make sure that I do what I love and to always follow my heart. I’ve played competitive soccer for 16 years, and I’m a Division I College Soccer player as well. I recently stopped loving the game and left the team to follow my heart and do what I love. I am a 20 year old entrepreneur, and I get paid every single day for promoting companies and giving away their products/services in contests. Thanks To: Giancarlo Massaro of Any Lucky Day |
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181. President
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Parents have to support their kids in their early business endeavors and find good role models for them. Without either, their children will fail. Thanks To: Brandon Mendelson of Earth’s Temporary Solution |
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182. Don’t Bury Them In Toys
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Don’t shower your kids in stuff. Make sure that there’s always something they want that you don’t just give them, and allow them the opportunity to earn it. Do this as soon as they can speak and sufficiently understand the concepts. This one tip teaches property ownership, savings, entrepreneurship and thrift. The fact that you *can* afford to give our child anything they want, does not mean that you *should*, as it may deprive your progeny of these critical lessons. Thanks To: Tom O’Neill of Libertas Capital Holdings |
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183. Teach Your Kids To Sell
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: My #1 tip for teaching a child about entrepreneurship is teaching them the power of being a good salesperson. The better you are at sales, the more success you will have at everything in life, especially entrepreneurship. I would do sales role playing with the child such as, give me your top 3 reasons why I should buy “X” and help the child understand what end benefits are and how to persuade. Get the child comfortable interacting with people and giving a sales pitch to close a deal. Thanks To: Peter Geisheker of The Geisheker Group Marketing Firm |
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184. Imitation Is Not Just Flattery
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: No matter the topic, kids learn best by imitation and especially from other kids, even if they are older. So, the best way to instill an entrepreneurial spirit in your child is to point out other great examples of young entrepreneurs, be it a girl scout selling cookies, the neighborhood kid cutting lawns for money, a corner lemonade stand, etc. By expressing admiration for the activity and highlighting the benefits (e.g., the ability to get that video game) this lesson will be learned well. Thanks To: JR Rodrigues of Job Hunt Express |
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185. First Things First
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: You can’t teach entrepreneurship until kids know how to manage money well. You can start teaching kids how to manage money, in an age appropriate manner, starting as young as 5. Once the beginning money management skills and habits are in place, then we can start to teach kids about how to EARN money – via entrepreneurial methods. Thanks To: Denise LaBuda of Money Wizdom |
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186. Child’s Passion Is Key
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Help your child find a passion he/she possesses and discover a way to make it a business. One of my sons loves pets and so he started a pet sitting and a pet treats business. Another son enjoys baking. He has periodic bake sales available to all family, friends, and colleagues. He gives you 2 weeks to order and everyone picks up the food on the same day. Passion is the key! You want your child to LOVE the experience. Thanks To: Mike Domitrz of The Date Safe Project Inc |
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187. To Learn About $$$ Must Earn!
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: When kids approach parents for money, this is an excellent learning opportunity for budding entrepreneurs to earn $$$$. Thanks To: Maryann Lowry of Create A New Season Family Coaching |
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188. Turn Chores Into Paid Projects
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: Make them earn everything. Chores should be required for all kids such as cleaning their room. Offer them more “complex” chores and pay them for it. Tell them to come up with a way to sort mail when it arrives to the house and you’ll pay them for their idea and execution. That way, they can earn that money to buy that Playstation. Thanks To: Joey Rahimi of Joey Rahimi |
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189. Encourage Everything
Teach Children Entrepreneurship: When kids have ideas for making money, encourage them. Talk about “the marketplace”-friends, neighbors, school, family and how the idea fits w/the market. Upselling can start with rich brownies that make one crave the lemonade at a lemonade stand. Cover rules & costs because kids don’t thinka bout those. Help them figure out profits and let them spend some of the money on anything they want – great positive reinforcement for future endeavors. Some funds can “reinvest” for the next sale. Thanks To: Patricia Fragen of Strategic Office Solutions |
Compiled by Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur
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Tags: business, children, kids, learning, mike michalowicz, teach entrepreneurship, toilet paper entrepreneur, training
January 19th, 2010
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by TPEntrepreneur, LI Entrepreneurs. LI Entrepreneurs said: RT @TPEntrepreneur: A list of almost 200 tips on how to teach kids entrepreneurship http://bit.ly/TeachEntrepreneurship [...]
January 19th, 2010
This list is HUGE. I think this is one to print and digest over a few days… like a good book I could suggest.
January 19th, 2010
Ha, ha, great idea Mike (printing it out). Glad to see a lot of my entrepreneurial ‘collaborative partners’ on here.
I’m at #108 and I still say that entrepreneurship is a lot like life…..you must LIVE it in order to learn it! And that’s bc the most important things you learn generally can’t be ‘taught’.
Lots of great tips. I loved the tip about traveling the world with your kid.
cheers mate.
@teenbizcoach
January 19th, 2010
Great job Mike on compiling this huge list! It is exciting to see that so many people are passionate about teaching entrepreneurship!
January 19th, 2010
[...] http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/blog/how-to-teach-entrepreneurship-to-kids [...]
January 19th, 2010
Mike,
Well you’ve done it again! You continue to provide great value with everything you produce! This one is definitely a keeper! I now have a guidebook for my little ones to learn!
Keep up the good work!
http://www.dinoherbert.com
http://www.forleapsake.com/blog
“Passionate about helping people reach their entrepreneurial potential”
January 19th, 2010
Thanks for getting this on Mike, I have just read the first 30 up-till yet will complete it at the end of the day.
TPEs have awesome thoughts….Keep it up friends.
January 19th, 2010
Very cool and exciting to see all the responses.
America… and the World… needs kids to grow up and be Entrepreneurs.
#132
P.S.— Tweet this thing up. Give it a Stumble.
January 19th, 2010
As a homeschooling parent, I’m loving all of this!!!
January 19th, 2010
@Dino – THANK YOU!!!! I think these contributions have been amazing.
January 19th, 2010
@Walt – YES, the world needs this!!!! Educate and create entrepreneurs!!!!
January 20th, 2010
Wow! Tremendous input. Right on! As a Guerrilla Marketing Coach it’s incredible to see such entreprenurial spirit and strategic thinking.
January 23rd, 2010
[...] http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/blog/how-to-teach-entrepreneurship-to-kids [...]