Family Finance: How to Teach Your Kids Entrepreneurship Early in Life

Who doesn't want their kids to be successful and independent in life?

The truth is that the conventional model of earning a college certificate, diploma, or degree, finding a stable job, and slowly climbing the corporate ladder is no longer guaranteed in today’s world.

Many students graduate from top institutions around the country but struggle to find suitable employment for months or even years. Unpaid internships are the order of the day, yet they rarely yield anything when the internship period ends. How can you help your young children cope with such a challenging environment while they are growing up? 

The goal is to start teaching kids about entrepreneurship at an early age so that they would be able to develop their own opportunities when the time comes. 

Studies show that children who participate in entrepreneurial activities often evolve into leaders. Entrepreneurship empowers people to become employers rather than employees, allowing them to create successful, self-sufficient lives through productive businesses. It gives children realistic opportunities to make a living in a crowded environment.

To succeed, every entrepreneur needs certain skills and attributes, and it is your responsibility as a parent to help your children acquire these qualities. Here are some of those attributes, as well as some tips on how to assist your kids develop them.

Prioritise Your Children’s Financial Literacy

Teaching children about money at a young age will provide them with a solid financial foundation, which is needed in the entrepreneurial world.

It is never too early to begin teaching your children about money. Entrepreneurship education is a fantastic approach to encouraging your children to pursue their dreams. Children need to learn to save money and put it to good use. They also should also realise that they cannot rely on money to come to them; money is worked for.

What's the best part? You don't have to be a financial expert to teach your children about money; you can start by simply explaining the difference between wants and needs. 

How can you teach this? Make it clear to your children that money is a scarce resource and has to always be spent wisely - this could mean that if they purchase an expensive toy, they may be unable to purchase another item on their list. This will teach them how to assess each purchase carefully before they make it.

Using clear jars for money is also another great way to teach them financial literacy practically. This will help them to visualise the amount building up the more you add to it and in this way, they can learn about saving.

Read Also: How to Raise Financially Responsible Children

Teach Effective Goal-Setting 

Many successful business people, like Richard Branson, Warren Buffett, and Elon Musk, consider goal-setting as a key entrepreneurial ability. They're also obsessed with writing down their objectives and maintaining meticulous records of them. 

Statistics show that people who write down their goals are 42% more likely to achieve them than those who don’t.

A child may perceive entrepreneurship as a vast, intimidating concept that they're not really ready for, but on the other hand, goal-setting is a simple, uncomplicated, and straightforward activity. This is something that can be learned at any age. Setting goals is critical to effectively teaching your children to be entrepreneurs.

How can you teach this? Develop a habit for your kids to use a daily or weekly checklist. Show them how satisfying it is to complete tasks on a to-do list. Let them write down their simple "to-do" tasks like completing their homework, cleaning their room, going to the shop, etc. The aim is to make it a habit to write down goals with the intention of completing them so that they may cross them off their to-do list.

Inspire Creativity and Exploration

Creativity in business is a significant asset. It can assist us to develop our emotional intelligence while also increasing our adaptability and problem-solving abilities. Another benefit, especially for young children, is that creativity is required in subjects such as science, mathematics, and writing.

How can you teach this? To promote your children's creativity, try these six activities from Christine Carter, Ph.D., an author, speaker, sociologist, and coach:

• Allow your kids to indulge in unstructured, child-directed, imaginative plays.
• In a creative setting, encourage your children to come up with some ideas, make errors, and even fail, then learn from them.
• Give your children the freedom to follow their own dreams and passions.
• Encourage your kids to read and participate in arts and crafts.
• Encourage them to come up with several ideas so that they can demonstrate "divergent cognition."
• Instead of emphasising your children's accomplishments, emphasise on the process.

Read Also: Common Money Mistakes that Parents Make (And How to Avoid Them)

Help Your Children Learn How to Recognise Opportunities.

Many people never attain their full potential because they fail to recognise an opportunity. Teaching your children to recognise and capitalise on opportunities will have a significant influence on their future success.

How can you teach this? Appreciate your children for raising minor flaws or difficulties in their lives that cause them distress, such as not being able to relate well with their deskmates at school, not understanding how a certain teacher teaches, or being unable to access some things around the house.  

Make a list of potential solutions to their issues with them. This encourages children to focus on finding workable solutions rather than focusing on the problem. This practice will also provide them with the ability to produce valuable business ideas in the future.

Teach them How Effective Communication Benefits all Relationships.

Because of the prevalence of social media and texting, most of today's youth are terrible with face-to-face and phone call conversations. In order for a business to succeed, people must communicate well with one another. Teaching your children strong communication skills can provide them with a competitive advantage in both career and personal connections.

How can you teach this? Set a good example. Don't just teach your children to be kind and respectful. Be kind and respectful with others as well. Remember, children learn more by watching you as well.

Most importantly, when communicating in person, practice with them how to maintain eye contact when talking to someone. When conversing on the phone, teach your kids to speak slowly and clearly.  

You could also start training them on how to send and receive e-mails. Encourage your kids to write grammatically correct sentences that flow together and represent a whole message instead of abbreviating words and phrases.

The Importance of Raising a Young Entrepreneur

Consider how much you might have benefited from exposure to entrepreneurship when you were younger. Consider how far your life would be if you were truly exposed to it. Being active in entrepreneurial activities throughout your early years can be really beneficial, so you'd be doing your children a great favour by bringing them in. 

Here are some of the benefits;

1. One of the major benefits of teaching your children about entrepreneurship is that you create in them higher respect for the process of making money. They will definitely be divorced from the unspoken notion that money grows on trees.

2. When children are introduced to entrepreneurship at a young age, they develop a stronger work ethic. First, they get firsthand experience with business operations. Second, when children are exposed to your work ethic, they develop their own positive work ethic. 

3. The significance of setting and achieving goals is something that many children do not comprehend. Children have a habit of starting something and then abandoning it before completing it.  Fortunately, research shows that regular interaction and participation between parents and children helps to enhance a child's academic socialisation. As a result, they can better connect their current behaviours to their long-term goals.

4. Starting and growing a business is not easy. Problems will inevitably arise, and it will be your obligation to resolve them and keep the organisation afloat. Therefore, when children are exposed to this, they learn how to be problem solvers and creative thinkers.

5. When it comes to engaging with adults or strangers, some children are outgoing and friendly, but most young children are on the shy side of the spectrum. By teaching the value of communication, you will help your child to develop great social skills.

WRAPPING UP

The benefits of teaching your children about business and entrepreneurship are apparent. Whether or not your child chooses to be an entrepreneur, the skills mentioned above will enable him or her to succeed in any sector and in every area of life.

To financially savvy parents raising financially savvy kids!