Introduce Your Kids to Entrepreneurship

When my daughter Ciera was about 8 years old, we were hit with the usual school, team, and Girl Scout fundraisers.  In these, the kids would sell some cheesy sugar filled product to neighbors, and depending on how much they sold they would qualify for a super cheesy prize. 

Ciera sold hundreds of dollars worth of products, and got a $3.00 item for her efforts.  I thought it would be better if she sold a product that wasn't full of sugar, and that people would actually want to buy, rather than just buying to support the neighborhood kids, and where her efforts were fairly rewarded. What we came up with was a seed business. In the Spring, we bought wildflower seeds in “bulk”, as in bags of 4 to 16 oz, of about 10 different wildflowers. We got some tiny zip lock bags, which we discovered are available in coin stores. Then Ciera and her friend used a measuring spoon to place quantities of seeds into the bags. We made up package labels, with planting instructions and a photo, and a one page handout.

Then they hit the streets and sold their seeds for $1 per bag. They netted a few hundred dollars each for work that took place over a few weeks, and learned about paying for supplies, evaluating which flowers sold best, inventory, partners that don’t pull their weight, and advertising. She did the seed business for about 4 years, and then got too busy with other activities. It was a great learning experience, and when her 5^th grade class had a class assignment for each student to start their own fake business, with business cards and flyers, she had already had a real business for several years.  She didn't go on to become the Bill Gates of wildflower seeds, but it was an introduction. I invite you to try something like it with your kids. 

Ciera sold hundreds of dollars worth of products, and got a $3.00 item for her efforts.  I thought it would be better if she sold a product that wasn't full of sugar, and that people would actually want to buy, rather than just buying to support the neighborhood kids, and where her efforts were fairly rewarded. What we came up with was a seed business. In the Spring, we bought wildflower seeds in “bulk”, as in bags of 4 to 16 oz, of about 10 different wildflowers. We got some tiny zip lock bags, which we discovered are available in coin stores. Then Ciera and her friend used a measuring spoon to place quantities of seeds into the bags. We made up package labels, with planting instructions and a photo, and a one page handout.

Then they hit the streets and sold their seeds for $1 per bag. They netted a few hundred dollars each for work that took place over a few weeks, and learned about paying for supplies, evaluating which flowers sold best, inventory, partners that don’t pull their weight, and advertising. She did the seed business for about 4 years, and then got too busy with other activities. It was a great learning experience, and when her 5^th grade class had a class assignment for each student to start their own fake business, with business cards and flyers, she had already had a real business for several years.  She didn't go on to become the Bill Gates of wildflower seeds, but it was an introduction. I invite you to try something like it with your kids. 

Comments

[Pinnacle Flashlights]

Nowadays, it's not too early to get children educated and involved in the business world! Great article.