Young Entrepreneurs – Get Your Kids Involved
One of the biggest perks of staying home full time with my kids is you have the ability to raise them up and teach them anything your little heart desires. You have the ability to read to them all day, you have the ability to show them the world, and mostly through your eyes. So do you want them to grow up and be successful? How about train them up to be business minded. Putting up a Koolaid stand might be a good start. But Success From the Nest came up with a good list of 5 businesses he started as a kid.
The original purpose of the list is to provide adults with childlike entrepreneurial jobs so they could rediscover the so-called “secrets of childhood”. But I thought the list might stimulate some more ideas. But getting your kids involved in these things will not only teach your children about how to conduct business but it will also keep you young and possibly unlock the Young Entrepreneur in yourself.
So I am going to list a few ideas but make sure to chime in and add to the list. What businesses did you start as a kid, or maybe you wanted to do something but never actually went through with it.
Koolaid - I set up a Koolaid stand and sold a 12 ounce cup for 25 cents. It was always a lot of fun and the dreams of making it rich from just sitting their handing out Koolaid to strangers on the street still ring in my head. There was a lot of hope, a lot of fun, and I wasn’t getting into trouble.
Selling Candy - I didn’t do this very often but I do remember buying candy at the store with my mom’s money and actually reselling it to friends in the neighborhood or at school. I only did this a few times but I thought I could become rich doing it. But would you want your kid doing that at school? Maybe not, so make sure you teach them stuff you approve of first. 
So I am going to leave it at that. What did you do as a kid, or do you have any ideas for teaching our kids to become young entrepreneurs?
Thanks for the link, Steve. My oldest daughter decided she wanted to make and sell jewelry and give the money to charity when he was 5. It was all her idea, and she got pretty good at it. She raised close to $700 one year during a Christmas craft fair. It was a great experience for her.
She told her class about it and they used it for a project to learn about business – they did marketing, supply procurement, management, operations, distribution – it was pretty cool. They gave the money to their school (it’s a charter school).
Kids are amazing – and it’s awesome when they get a chance to learn about business – and giving back to the community.
Lawncutting and yard clean-up once I was old enough. Made more money than any of my friends, which, in turn, made my old man very happy. I recieved no allowance, but he was more than generous with me because of my initiative. Also, it seemed to make me more desirable to the female population.
I agree that the Reward for Work lesson is one of the basics! It instills a sense of pride for a good well done, as well as, commitment to a task. Great Post, Thanks, Steve!