| Over the years, my girls (now 11 and 7) have asked | | | | that I will not even try to count. I read about Jason |
| me to help them start their own business. They have | | | | O’Neill, creator and founder of Pencil Bugs; |
| had several ideas come and go...an online horse game | | | | Cameron Johnson, who started his first official |
| business; a political magazine and a fashion magazine; | | | | business at 9 years old; Anshul Samar, who began to |
| pet related products; girl related hard-copy magazines; | | | | build his business, Alchemist Empire during his 4th |
| a horse stable downtown; they wanted to | | | | grade summer; and Adam Hildreth who started his first |
| manufacture their own toys and create their own | | | | business, Dubit, in 1999 at the age of fourteen. |
| video games; and oh, yes- the homemade treats they | | | | In addition, more than just a couple of kids who have |
| wanted to bake, package and sell themselves. | | | | taken business on early in life have been wildly |
| I have always told them that I loved their ideas and | | | | successful. So successful that some are actually |
| that we should "check it out" or that they | | | | multimillionaires now! |
| should put it down on paper to revisit when we are | | | | I thought back to all the home-business courses and |
| not as broke, have more time, resources, etc. I always | | | | books I have read over the years...How could I be so |
| felt I lacked the knowledge and resources to help | | | | thoughtless? Starting a business for kids would involve |
| create businesses for kids and turn their ideas into a | | | | the same basic steps one needs to take in starting |
| reality. | | | | your own home business for grown-ups. A kid or a |
| Then one afternoon, I stumbled upon a YouTube video | | | | teenager can just as easily get started in a niche of his |
| of a show host interviewing a nine year old who had | | | | or her own. |
| decided to go into business for herself so that | | | | Only better...Kids and teens are a wellspring of |
| someday, she could buy a horse of her own. I felt | | | | imaginative thoughts and ideas, and are unafraid to |
| horrified over how much I had underestimated the | | | | take action. Moreover, by starting out at a young age, |
| abilities of my own children! However, I was excited to | | | | they have more time to build, learn from mistakes, and |
| learn that there already are businesses for kids out | | | | build again. |
| there that have been wildly successful. Helping kids | | | | Chances are, your kid has already shown you his or |
| start a business is not such a crazy idea after all. | | | | her entrepreneur spirit, but even if they have not, you |
| To make sure, I did some further research and learned | | | | can easily ignite that flame. Maybe, like me, they just |
| that this 9-year-old girl is far from alone. So many | | | | need to be shown that it has been done by other kids |
| successful kids have founded their own businesses | | | | and it can be done by them too. |