It may seem like a somewhat strange thing to be teaching to your children- but hear us out; it’s important. You are your children’s first teacher, so if you’re able to instill entrepreneurial skills in them while they’re young then they can keep building on those skills as they grow into adults.

Why should we teach kids to be entrepreneurs?

Kids have such an abundance of imagination- their ideas can be out of this world! Some very well-known products that were invented by children include popsicles, ear muffs, braille, safer Christmas lights, trampolines, toy trucks, and even Superman! Just think of what your child might be capable of creating when you encourage those skills! Starting these lessons young gives children an incredibly solid foundation of important life skills that they can build upon. Kids can pretty much soak up anything, and these skills are no exception!

Financial Skills

Kids have been known to pick up financial skills with relative ease; skills like budgeting, saving, spending, and investing. If children are not taught about basic finances, they can have issues really understanding the value of money. Instilling kids with simple financial skills helps them develop a respect for money as well as a confidence when dealing with it. In order for them to feel comfortable dealing with finances as adults, it’s important for parents not to use negative words when talking about money and not bring it up in negative ways around the child.

Patience & Perseverance

Entrepreneur skills also help children learn that failure does not need to be the end of something. By failing at something, children have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and brainstorm about how they can improve on what they did the first time. Along the same line; failure teaches perseverance in the face of adversity. Getting discouraged by trying something once and failing once is understandable as a child. But you can help your children overcome this by teaching them that patience and perseverance are key to success. Failing is a huge part of learning, and you need to learn in order to grow!

Brainstorming

If your kid wants to start making money-even better! This is a great way to learn brainstorming. When they say they want to make money, ask them how they might do that with the skills and capabilities they currently have. Depending on their answer, consider asking them how they could expand on that idea.

Communication & Networking

Teaching networking skills can serve your child well for their entire life; not only in the professional arena, but also on a personal level. For some children communication and networking are no problem. They’ll make friends easily and have a large circle of people they’re friendly with. For others these skills should be taught so they can learn why they’re important.

Even though all these skills are invaluable, a lot of the time kids don’t love to get advice from their parents. If this is the case for your child, think about finding them a mentor; perhaps another family member (aunt, uncle, cousin) or a tutor. If you need a little help teaching them, there’s a website called “Kidpreneurs” that can help you teach entrepreneurship and help your child learn.