December 15th, 2021
David Peachment
What Kids Can Learn from Entrepreneurship
What do you think of when you consider the word “entrepreneur”? Do you think of a 20 something guy named Kyle who’s trying to make it big on Instagram? Or do you perhaps picture a small business owner that’s trying to carve out her own living? Whatever you consider, kid entrepreneurs probably aren’t at the top of your list. But they exist! Kids that, during non-school hours, start their own small business. Mowing lawns, shovelling snow, babysitting, creating a YouTube channel, developing websites, and the list goes on. The options are endless for a child to start a business and become a little entrepreneur. But why should they? I hope to detail a few reasons for being an entrepreneur that will help a kid grow in some crazy unexpected ways! I myself was a bit of an entrepreneur growing up. I always tried out new ideas, products, and services to develop. Going through the process taught me some incredibly valuable skills.
Resilience
The first skill that I want to touch on is resilience. Being a small business owner is hard. Very hard. Rejection, disappointment, critiques, and hard work will all be faced. Through the process of trying to perfect a product or service, kids will develop in themselves resilience and a strong work ethic. Life will throw many disappointments and hardships their way. Being able to push through the hard times and learning the skill of resilience will carry them forward very far in their journey.
Critical Thinking
Another essential skill learned is critical thinking. To create something that people will want, ideas will have to be tested and solutions implemented. Getting a product or service just right takes lots of reiteration, testing, and figuring out how to overcome roadblocks in development. This all contributes to improving critical thinking skills in a child. If they are faced with issues of how to deliver, setting prices, hours, and any medley of other problems, they’ll need to figure out solutions. After engaging in entrepreneurial activities, a kid will develop a strong ability to think critically!
Confidence
A fantastic (and unexpected) outcome of entrepreneurship for kids is the confidence they get. Successfully selling a product will give them a huge boost to how they believe in their own abilities. Finishing a service job creates feelings of accomplishment and gives them a new sense of what’s possible. With those feelings, they will believe in themselves, their abilities, skills, and knowledge so much more than previously! I know I was flying high when I set up a toy bowling alley at the age of 6 where other kids would pay 10 cents to bowl. Naturally, it didn’t last that long, but it pushed me to try again with another venture. It gave me the confidence that starting my own mini business could indeed be done. And it has carried me forward in confidence!
Technical Skills
Finally, kids will gain an abundance of technical skills throughout the process of entrepreneurship. No matter what field they go into, they will learn new and valuable skills and/or improve upon the skills they already have. For example, are they starting a YouTube channel? They’ll learn about video editing, development, marketing, and so much more! Are they starting a door-to-door lawn mowing business? They’ll learn sales, business administration and scheduling, equipment handling and expenses, and even more as well. Do they want to develop a new product? Research, testing, marketing, and supplier relations are just a few examples of the skills they’ll gain. There is so much more out there that kids can get if they take the dive and try being an entrepreneur!
I hope this little blog post has given you a few ideas of what kids can learn from being an entrepreneur that you perhaps didn’t consider before. The skills and knowledge they can gain will be invaluable to their development and even to future employers! Confidence, resilience, technical skills, and critical thinking are just the tip of the iceberg for what can be learned. Encouraging kids to pursue their interests and start their own mini business could be the best decision ever made! You never know what they could learn!
Until next time,
David Peachment