New Venture Lab: Equipping Christian Entrepreneurs

Question

What is the best way to cultivate children to be entrepreneurs?

Answer

I would suggest putting them in numerous situations where they can combine all of the basic entrepreneurial skills into a project-based experience.  Whether it is a lemonade stand or pet sitting or lawn mowing, encourage them to do everything themselves (with proper protection and oversight): name their service, create their own business cards and marketing materials, set their own pricing, figure out their own margins, purchase their own materials, sell the customers themselves (very important skill to learn), account for the results, and discuss their lessons learned.  If they started doing that at an early age and keep doing it for different types of businesses, they will be able to compare and contrast the results, while gaining valuable sales, customer service, and operational experience.  As a parent, you can then help them compare the different business models (you can even use our free Venture Analysis to do so) to show them which business model was superior to another in terms of the various aspects of the business model.  They will also become aware of their own strengths and weaknesses in terms of the different tasks required to successfully sell and service a customer.