As a parent, it’s your responsibility to help your children succeed in life.
Our kids will grow up and take over everything we know and love, so they must start on the right foot. Children don’t necessarily need to be entrepreneurs or own businesses to succeed in life, but you can do a few things as a parent to help them get there.
You need to know the tips to help your child succeed in business.
Having your children succeed in kids’ businesses will give them a good foundation for their futures. It will be easy for them to transition into the workforce and be successful.
Alternatively, they can take over your business when they grow up.
The following 5 tips will help your children succeed in kids’ business:
Tip 1: Teach Your Children the Importance of Hard Work
No one succeeds without extensive investment, which means hard work. Teach your children the value of working hard and how it will help them achieve their goals.
In their book ‘Smart Money Smart Kids‘, Dave and Cruz emphasize the benefits of raising industrious children.
Our culture has made many wonderful advances to ensure the safety and well-being of children. But we may have taken this too far. Many parents today are so centered on what their children want that they have lost perspective on what their children really need.
Smart Money Smart Kids
Perspective—looking at life over time demands that you teach children to work. Teaching a child to work is not child abuse. We teach them to work not for our benefit, but because it gives them both dignity in a job well done today and the tools and character to win in the future as adults.
Show your children that there is no shortcut to success, and they need to be willing to put in the effort if they want to achieve their dreams. You can do this by:
- Taking them along with you to your business so they can see how hard you work.
- Make them work within your business to see what it takes to be successful. You never know, you might have a budding entrepreneur on your hands.
- Praising their efforts more than their accomplishments. This encourages them to continue working hard and not give up when things get tough.
Tip 2: Allow Children Space to Brainstorm About their Passion
Children need to have an outlet where they can express themselves without judgment. During this time, they brainstorm and figure out what they are passionate about. When children know what their passions are, it becomes easier to focus on their goals.
If your child doesn’t have a specific business idea in mind, help him or her in brainstorming. Show them some techniques that can be used to think about some viable businesses based on your location, competition, and resources.
However, you should know that your role here is as a guide and not a decision-maker. Your child should develop a business idea he or she is passionate about.
The table below shows some simple ways you can help your children brainstorm kids’ business ideas:
| Brainstorming Technique | Approach |
| Brainwriting | Ask your child to write 5 ideas that relate to the kids’ business. Build on what they’ve written by adding points on how the 5 ideas can be executed. |
| Mind Mapping | Direct your child to place the leading business idea in the middle of the map and think of other related ideas. The related ideas will form branches as primary and secondary thoughts. |
| Listing | Ask your child to think of business ideas he or she would like and list them in a diary. Give them enough time for this as they will be learning from others. A list of 5 business ideas will be enough. Then, help them narrow down these ideas to 1 based on their available resources and time. |
| Drawing | This is a good approach for more visual children. Your child should draw pictures of the topics to gather ideas. For example, if she draws a computer or laptop, you could infer that she is interested in online businesses. |
| Freewriting | Ask your child to write down any business ideas that come to mind. With your help, they should be able to narrow down these ideas to the most viable based on available resources and time. |
If you find it hard to explain mind mapping, watch this video:
Tip 3: Give your Children Opportunities to Take Risks
As parents, we need to give our children opportunities to take risks and learn from their mistakes. If kids are afraid to take risks, they can stagnate.
Benefits of Risk-taking for Your Children
- It teaches important life skills like money management.
- It builds confidence as it makes children courageous to face uncertainties in business.
- You will be able to identify areas where your child is weak. Therefore, you will take the necessary actions to support your child in those areas.
- Your children feel that you trust them by allowing them the independence to take risks.
- Your children will be able to master self-regulation. For example, by taking risks, they will know how much is a lot to spend on a given entity.
The table below illustrates the differences between children who take risks and those who don’t.
| Kids who Take Risks | Kids Who Don’t Take Risks |
| They try new things even if there’s a chance of failing. Thus, they get an opportunity to learn unique life skills. | They avoid trying new things because they’re afraid of failing. As a result, they miss a learning opportunity. |
| They learn to deal with the consequences of their failures. This makes them stronger in later life. | They become too dependent on others because they don’t know how to deal with the consequences of failing. |
| They are innovative as they look for new ways to prosper. | They are not innovative as they rely on the ideas of others. |
| They are more likely to notice a business. | They have low chances of spotting a business opportunity. |
If you want your children to be more open-minded and willing to take risks, do the following:
- Give them an opportunity to try something new, but only if he or she has finished all their homework or chores
- Encourage them to take risks and tell them about your own experiences when you were younger
- Make sure they know that failure is not the end of the world and that it’s okay to make mistakes
Tip 4: Coach your Children on How to Set Goals
The success of any business, including kids’ businesses, starts with setting goals. When children know how to set and achieve goals, they can accomplish great things. Unfortunately, most kids don’t know how to set goals properly.
As a parent, it’s your responsibility to coach your children on setting goals. You should ensure that they set SMART goals for their business as follows:
S—Specific
M—Measurable
A—Attainable
R— Relevant
T—Time-bound
An example of a SMART goal is, “I will increase sales over the next 3 months by adding 5 more sales marketers in my team.”
By adhering to SMART goals guidelines, your kids can develop realistic goals. In addition, they will be able to track their progress and make the necessary adjustments along the way.
The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.
Bill Copeland, MindTools
Tip 5: Help them Create a Business Plan
A business plan is a document that outlines a company’s objectives and strategies. For kids’ businesses, it should include the following:
- The purpose of the business. The purpose should be written in a few sentences and clearly state what you hope to achieve by starting the kids’ business. An example would be that your child wants to help other children learn how to play an instrument or improve their math skills.
- Revenue streams from the business idea. What will they earn from this business? Ideally, it should be more than the cost of running the business.
- Marketing strategy. Use this section to explain how your child will make people aware of their products or services and get them interested in purchasing them.
- Operational costs. The amount needed to start the business, for example, buying instruments for music classes.
- Timeline of activities: The timeline will help your kids stay focused and ensure they complete their tasks on time.
Kids’ businesses can be a lot of fun, but they also require hard work. As parents, we need to provide our children with the necessary guidance and support to help them succeed in their ventures.
Your children need the following to succeed in business:
- A viable business idea. You will know that a business idea is viable if it solves a business problem, can be started with the available resources, while taking the competition into account.
- Business plan.
- Business training to equip them with relevant business skills like customer service.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is a business plan?
A business plan is a document that outlines the objectives and strategies of your kids’ company. It should contain information such as how you will run this new venture, potential revenue streams, and marketing strategy.
What skills should my child acquire before starting their business?
The most important skill that your child needs is the ability to sell themselves and their venture. They also need organizational skills to keep track of their progress. In addition, they should have some knowledge about bookkeeping and accounting to manage their finances.
What is the best age to start a kids’ business?
We recommend starting a kids’ business when they are around 12 years old so that they’ll have a few years to practice and gain enough skills before launching a new venture.
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