Enterprise and business education helps kids make their wildest dreams a reality.

YEESS! They Did! Kid Business Owners Take First Steps

Youth entrepreneur education success stories! Yes, it’s a mouthful! But business education for children can dramatically change lives. While teaching kids about branding, budgets, and customer service, some organizations, like Lemonade Day, go the extra step further and assist these new entrepreneurs in creating their first business. If you think you have a tiny tycoon in the making, follow these steps to put them on the path to business success.

Nurture Interest

You lead a horse to water but you can’t make him think. That’s the phrase, right? In any case, kids have an independent streak that needs to be guided to positive activities and experiences. Entrepreneurship is an excellent outlet for children because it provides a method to achieve a long term goal. Studies have routinely shown that girls and boys alike tend to idolize athletes, actors, and others who attained high levels of fame and wealth. A basic business education introduced as early as possible can teach children that wealth accumulation is possible with hard work and planning.

Plan and Prepare for Business Success

At Lemonade Day, we teach kids the fundamentals of enterprise by helping them create their own lemonade stands. However, attempts at youth enterprise shouldn’t be limited to offering one product. Kids can engage with business in a variety of ways and have demonstrated remarkable creativity in developing their own unique approach. Lemonade is a simple product that kids can afford, understand, and produce independently. Future business leaders can also offer services. Newspaper delivery, lawn mowing, and pet sitting are popular options for kids. Whatever the business is focused around, it’s important to play to the strengths and skills of the child. This leads to a greater likelihood of success and persistence during failure or frustration.

With a product or service in mind, a mentor can then help their youth entrepreneur devise a comprehensive business plan that can be executed in steps over a short period of time. A business plan should include everything from location and budget to advertising and scheduling need. Plenty of resources for crafting a business plan can be found online and are pretty easy to follow.

Continuing Entrepreneurship

Getting to work might be the easiest part of the process for ambitious and activated young entrepreneurs. The difficulty tends to be in the planning and maintaining interest after the money has been counted. Many of the activities to which children are exposed tend to be one off. Entrepreneurship should not be one of these activities. Starting a business helps youth achieve more in school and their personal lives. The benefits are endless and worth pursuing for long term success.

Visit LemonadeDay.org for more information about youth entrepreneurship and starting a lemonade stand with your child, sibling, relative, or anyone you want to help achieve big dreams.