enterpriseforkids.com

Inspiring kids to be entrepreneurial.

Pulling the Money Bunny Out of the Hat!

May 26th, 2012

Amber contemplating her enterprise.

Amber didn’t waste any time jumping into her New From Old money making enterprise. She bugged me to take her to the Dardanup Tip to see what she could find. So after her Saturday soccer game we paid a visit.

At the tip there is a salvage area where anything that could be recycled is put aside and sold.

Almost immediately Amber spotted an opportunity! She saw a damaged rabbit hutch. We looked over it and could see that it was generally in good structural condition and could easily be repaired. However, it did need a paint job. So Amber went up to the Tip man and struck up a deal. She bought the cage for $10.

Ten Dollars was a real bargain! We looked up the exact same cage sold online in kit form and saw that people were paying $180 for them.

Chayse helping Amber repair the rabbit hutch.

Amber fixing the door latch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arriving home there was a buzz of interest as the neighbouring kids headed around to see Amber’s rabbit hutch. They were really curious to see what she was up to. Amber bought a couple of paint brushes for $5, then using some old house paint she found in the shed, she and her friends, Darcy and Lauren, set to work painting. She also employed her brother Flynn and his mate Dan for $2 each to fix the broken part of the cage. They thought that would be awesome! Enterprise for Kids was now becoming infectious in the neighbourhood.

Amber employing Flynn to help her fix her rabbit hutch.

Darcy lends a helping hand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was all great fun and in no time at all the cage was ready to be sold. Amber continued her research into what to sell the cage for. She spoke with Darcy’s Mum about cages and also to Nicolette from next door. Both had owned rabbit cages and understood their value. Finally Amber decided that she would ask $90 for the bunny hutch.

Her next job was to put a free advert on the local Buy and Sell Bunbury Facebook page. She put her ad up with a photo and waited for a response.

You wouldn’t believe it! Within ten minutes the cage was sold for the full $90. In fact two other people had their hand up to buy the cage if the first deal fell through. Amber met and thanked the man who came round to pick the cage up and eagerly took the cash payment. She really did pull the money bunny out of the hat!

Now for the picture for Amber's Face Book advert

Amber's finished enterprise idea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All up, an outstanding result! In only a few days, Amber’s profit was $71 after costs. She is well on the way to attaining her goal. With her money jar now looking very full, she was rearing to go for another visit to the tip! She has already begun developing an enterprise mindset around business and money and her financial IQ is growing!

We will let you know how Amber goes with her next “New From Old Project”.

Next up we will pay a visit to Flynn and see how his buzzing honey enterprise is going!

An Apple a Day Keeps the “Fremantle Doctor” in the Bay!

May 23rd, 2012

Jai, like many teenage kids, is fascinated by the internet, social media and gaming. If you allowed him, he would spend day and night on his computer, iPod or cell phone chatting to his friends, playing games or searching the net. We are careful that he is well rounded with a balance of activities such as kicking the footy and playing with his family, whilst at the same time allowing him the opportunity to immerse himself into his passion.

Jai leads a balanced life.

Jai loves technology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we introduced the Family Project to Jai he knew exactly what he wanted to do. In fact his very grand idea was spawned by a family friend who has been able to develop a hugely successful company based around building Apple Apps for iPhones. Let me tell you in a nutshell his inspiring rags to riches story.

A friend of ours was originally from Switzerland and had worked most of his life in a newsagent. He also had a passion for windsurfing and would take every opportunity to visit the West Coast of Australia in pursuit of the consistent strong summer winds that make the WA coastline a windsurfer’s heaven!

In Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, the wind is named the Fremantle Doctor because it appears to come from the nearby coastal city of Fremantle, and it brings welcome relief from the summertime high temperatures.

Our friend then decided to leave his Switzerland home to follow his passion (and the Fremantle Doctor!) and set up home permanently in Geraldton (a small coastal city 500km north of Perth). He literally became a beach bum who spent his afternoons windsurfing and kite surfing and in his ample spare time he would play around on his computer.

He taught himself how to program apps for Apple iPhones and was able to make a few simple applications which he tried to sell online.

This is where his enterprise kicked off!

From the comfort of his backyard hammock, one of his Apps began selling. Sales exploded, and millions of people from all around the world downloaded it, and for each download he received a payment. He became an over night millionaire!

This entrepreneur has since built a multi million dollar company with three other partners, all from Switzerland, who incidentally, have also followed the Fremantle Doctor to Geraldton!

What this amazing man, with no formal qualifications, has managed to do in only a few years is mind blowing.

His story inspired my fourteen year old son. Jai’s enterprise plan is to build an Apple App and sell it online. How he will manage to do that is not known yet. All he has to do is have a goal and a rough plan, then focus on and tackle each of the steps one by one. Maybe Jai too will become an overnight success like our friend!

Jai often has "hair raising" ideas...

...but he always settles for what he's good at!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In our next blog we revisit Amber and see how she is going with her New From Old enterprise.

Kaitlin’s “Enterprise For Kids” Idea!

May 19th, 2012

I admire those very creative people who can draw!

Sadly, I am not one of those people, although there are some very artistic people in my family.

My sister won first prize in Australia’s richest art prize. a $250 000 prize for an artwork she entered into “The Signature of Sydney”, which really kicked off her painting career. Also my grandparents and Aunt on my Dad’s side were respected artists. So it is not surprising that our eldest daughter Kaitlin has an exceptional skill with drawing, and in particular pencil portrait sketches. From when she was very little, she would draw for hours and over the years has honed her skill. Her Mum, Cathy, also has exceptional drawing skills and has encouraged and taught Kaitlin many of the skills she has today.

Kaitlin's drawing.

Kaitlin's portrait drawing.

When looking for an enterprise opportunity it makes sense to look at what one is skilled at, then see if there is a need or problem in your community where your skill could be put to use.

Up-skilling yourself in your area of interest and becoming the best there is in that field, will likely increase the demand for your kind of talent and services. As a result, customers will choose you over your competitors and are more likely pay a premium. I wrote a Enterprise for Kids post on this very topic a number of blogs ago, so if you would like to learn more about how up skilling creates enterprise for kids’ opportunities, then visit here.

Kaitlin’s talent with drawing is the basis of her enterprising idea and she explains her business plan in this short video.

Kaitlin loves drawing.

She plans on spending $70 to buy the drawing and framing materials she requires to run her business. She will draw people’s portraits from a photo and sell it either framed or unframed. She will market her service on Face Book. In our local area there is a classified Face Book Buy and Sell Bunbury. Her aim is to complete one drawing a week with a sale value of about $30. In her video Kaitlin considers the road blocks with her business and has looked at solutions.

So we have covered all our kids’ enterprising ideas except for one. In our next post we share Jai’s passion for electronics and gaming and how he plans to turn this interest into a money making enterprise.

Kit’s Pocket Money Idea

May 16th, 2012

Plenty of kids receive pocket money from their parents. The kids then either save it or spent it. When we used to give pocket money to our kids, they would spend it straight away. Usually they spent their money on “junky” things that didn’t last long. This was very frustrating as a parent, so we looked for ways to teach our children to use their money wisely and to build a money mastery mindset for them. From these early days we have come up with some fantastic ideas which we’ll share with you in a later blog. You may also be interested in our views on kids and pocket money.

Welcoming Kit and his Entrepreneurial Idea.

This particular blog is about Kit’s pocket money idea and how he plans to run his enterprise.

Looking for a need…

Kit saw that there was a need in his neighbourhood for dog walkers. Whilst many people in our community walk their own dogs, there were also many elderly or busy people who own dogs and either didn’t have the energy or time to take their pet for a walk. Kit figured that he could offer a service where he could take their pet for a walk on a lead.

At first, when he shared his idea, we thought that he had gone bananas! Firstly Kit has always been afraid of dogs and secondly, he’s only six years old.   Allowing a six year old to walk the streets with other people’s dogs was certainly not looking like a good idea!

However; one thing we have learnt is to never stifle a child’s enthusiasm and condition him to think that his ideas are not good enough, so we decided to play along with his pocket money idea.

Road Blocks…

We talked through a business plan with Kit and investigated the road blocks that he may be faced with. Then we investigated the solutions.

The main issue was that he was too young to walk other people’s dogs, so we discussed that he needed an older person to go along with him. This would also provide reassurance to the pet owners that their dog would be looked after. So luckily his grandad offered to help out (he reckons he needed the exercise anyway!).

The other issue was that Kit wasn’t confident with dogs. So the plan was to carry a pocket of doggy treats to keep the dog happy and obedient. In addition Kit would provide his own dog lead. By offering doggy treats and a lead Kit was “adding value” to his service.

Dog Walking was Kit's Enterprise idea

Could this be the next "Dog Whisperer?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fee…

Kit decided that he would negotiate a walking fee of $5 for a half hour walk and if he had one customer a day then he could pocket $35 a week.

So it was on. Kit was now officially a professional Dog Walker!

And who knows…..from these humble beginnings, he may even become the next famous Dog Whisperer!

In our next “Enterprise for Kids” blog we will introduce Kaitlin’s very creative,  enterprising idea and her well thought out business plan. Stay tuned for that one….

The Candy Man Planning an Enterprise!

May 13th, 2012

All kids love lollies (Candy for our American readers)! Chayse too really loves lollies! So it came as no surprise to see Chayse planning an enterprise that revolved around lollies.

Now Chayse is only four years old so he needed a little help formulating his plan. Initially he liked the idea of buying a heap of lollies, but I think he was thinking that he was going to be the one eating them!

Eventually, after much explaining, it became clear to him that he would be selling them, not eating them himself. His brothers and sisters all thought his enterprise idea was pretty cool and I’m sure were thinking, “Why didn’t I think of that!”

Chayse planning an enterprise with his $50 start up capital.

We don’t have a video of Chayse explaining his business plan. In fact, there isn’t much to it so I’ll just explain for you here.

We have lent Chayse $50 to run his business. He plans to buy large bags of lollies from the supermarket, bag them up into small mixed bags, then sell them for twice what he paid. His market will be all the hungry kids who play and watch soccer games on Saturday mornings at the local soccer fields.

If his enterprise goes to plan he will double his money or get 100% return! That will put a smile on any young four year old’s face.

We will keep you updated with how his money making enterprise goes.

Next up is Kit planning an enterprise. Kit is so excited that he reminds me of our late over-zealous Jack Russell Terrier when she used to go out for a walk!

Honey Pot of Gold!

May 11th, 2012

Flynn is a natural budding young entrepreneur and he is never afraid to chase an opportunity. He often comes up with brilliant enterprising ideas and the one idea he has planned to take on with ‘Enterprise for Kids’ is a definite money spinner!

Flynn - a budding Entrepreneur

 

 

 

 

Before I tell you all about Flynn’s awesome enterprising idea I want to introduce some “food for thought”.

 

 

 

 

Prior to us starting “Enterprise for Kids”, our children were following the same conditioning around money that we have, a conditioning that society encourages greatly……earn money, spend money, borrow money. Whilst many people may not see anything wrong with this, many of us actually spend far more than we have come in. So the cycle never gets broken and by the time we reach retirement age, we have very little to show for the many years of hard work we have put in.

That’s why building an entrepreneurial mindset is so important. Breaking old conditioned habits is even more important…and the younger you are, the less conditioning you have. So whilst we want to develop in our children, a great work ethos (work hard and with integrity), we want to develop a way to move beyond that….a way to spot an opportunity, then a way to take action and finally, a way to help others achieve the same success. This system moves a person from being the “worker” to seeing an “enterprising” opportunity, to switching on their “entrepreneurial” self, to finally becoming the “expert” in their field.

An entrepreneur’s focus is in the development of a great system and finding great people to run it. They use other people’s time and other people’s money to do the work for them. Their systems will continue even after they pass from this world. A classic example is Thomas Edison’s formula for General Electric. He is no longer with us, but his empire continues.

Enterprising Queen Bee

A Queen Bee is Entrepreneurial.

The Queen Bee most definitely comes under the bracket of entrepreneur! She controls her entire empire from within her hive.

Thousands of honey bees (the workers) head out of her hive each morning collecting nectar, pollen and other resources for the hive, such as water. The worker bees will risk life and limb and literally work themselves to death (a worker bee only lives a few weeks).

The Queen bee will have employees whose main job is to guard the hive from danger. Others clean the hive and many fan the hive to keep the temperature controlled. The queen will have her workers who care for the nursery and for her own needs.

All she has to do is eat and lay eggs!

A bee hive is a unique system consisting of many specialized individuals that each have a job to do. The system performs like it is a one large living organism. If the Queen dies, then she will be replaced by another Queen Bee, the workers keep working and the Hive goes on. Not a lot different to General Electric, Apple or Ford Motor Company!

Flynn's Awesome Enterprise Idea

Flynn negotiating a honey deal with his Grandad.

So What has Flynn’s Idea got to do with a Queen Bee?

Flynn’s enterprising idea has everything to do with our Queen Bee and her empire!

In fact his plan is to use her company’s product, honey.

Flynn intends to buy raw unprocessed honey at wholesale in bulk and sell it in smaller jars at retail. He has worked out his figures and can see excellent profit potential.

In fact, once his business gets underway he can see the potential for his business to grow quite substantially. So I won’t tell you anymore about his plans, but if you missed clicking on the link above, you can listen to Flynn himself by clicking this link which will take you to a short video of Flynn explaining his awesome enterprise idea and business plan.

Seeing as we’re on the topic of honey, I thought I’d share a few facts about honey, and in particular raw unprocessed honey…

Honey is considered a super food because it is a potent antioxidant crammed with rich nutrients. It’s a natural antiseptic, an antibacterial and a healing salve for wounds and burns, but not all honeys are created equal.

Raw unprocessed honey is one hundred percent pure, natural, unpasteurized and unadulterated. It is extracted from the bee hive in its natural form and bottled. It is not filtered or heated. Unlike processed honey, raw unprocessed honey retains all the enzymes, royal jelly, pollen, propolis, minerals, rich vitamins and carbohydrate content.

Mmmm… appears to be a fantastic product!

So what do you think? Is Flynn onto a real enterprise for kids’ potential success story! You will have to follow along with our blog to see how he goes.

In our next blog you’ll be inspired by another budding entrepreneur, four year old Chayse, as he show cases his business idea. It is as sweet as Flynn’s enterprising ideas!

New From Old!

May 9th, 2012

My family immigrated here to Australia from Kenya back when I was just a kid in 1970. They came out with little qualifications, money or possessions and were supporting a young family. In order to make ends meet, my mother became very good at hunting down a bargain at a variety of places, including thrifty stores, lawn sales, second hand shops and markets. Years later she opened her own second hand goods shop and did exceptionally well out of it as a small business.

Amber was looking for an enterprise idea. She knew her Grandmother was an expert at finding bargains and then on-selling them for a profit. Her Gran suggested that Amber start her search at the local tip’s recycling centre, a place where thrown-away items are put aside, then sold to the public for next to nothing. Here was a wonderful opportunity to buy something, fix it up and resell it.

Gran is a great bargain hunter.

Fossicking for "treasure"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The old saying…“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure!” was to ring very true here.

So that is the basis of Amber’s new business.

To create something new from something old.

Her business plan is very sound and she’s definitely onto a winner! She is very proud of what she has come up with and shares it below in this short video. Just click the picture of Amber to view her new enterprise idea!

Amber

 

 

 

Next we will share Flynn’s business plan for his new enterprise. It is really a honey pot of gold!

Finding Enterprise Ideas

May 7th, 2012

Finding Enterprise ideas. Easier said than done! Coming up with a brilliant enterprise idea that can make enough money to achieve your goal…. and ones that you feel inspired enough about to keep you going when things get tough…………well, that’s a tall order for an adult, let alone a kid!

The trick is to spend some time brainstorming. What I explained to my entrepreneurial kids, was that they needed to think of all the problems that our small community town has, and then look for solutions!

By solving people’s problems you will create opportunities for enterprise. In the video (which you can view here), I gave the following example to my kids.

No body likes getting cold. Winter is drawing near and people are chopping wood ready to fuel their fires. They will need kindle to get their fires started.

Problem: No-one likes scrambling around outside on a cold and rainy day gathering kindle to get their fire started.

Solution: Collect bundles of gum tree sticks (they are full of fuel and burn easily), bundle them up and pile them in a wheelbarrow to sell to people who need the kindling.

So, step one was finding the problem, step two, the solution and step three would be putting it into action. What a great and simple enterprise idea.

So after giving this example, the kids had no trouble finding enterprise ideas.

Our mentor, Paul Counsel often shares a great educational basis behind what it means to be entrepreneurial.

He encourages us to consider how we are an asset to others. What skills and knowledge do we have that could be of service to others?What are we good at?

For example Kaitlin and Amber are very good with looking after toddlers and babies. Everyday they are helping with their baby sister Akaisha. They feed her, change her nappy (diaper, for our American readers!), bathe her and take her for walks. They are both very skilled and have an ease with babies. They know when Akaisha is tired and they know how to soothe her when she is upset. This skill could lend itself to any number of enterprise opportunities.

Reading with siblings

Looking after Akaisha

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The obvious enterprise would be baby sitting, but other ideas include:

Homework Support – Busy parents may need someone to listen to their toddlers read, learn spelling words and with writing practice.

Toddler Playmate – After school parents would appreciate an older child entertaining and playing with their toddler or baby. This would be more so in families with only one child as that child may lack in playmates. So why not offer to be a paid playmate.

Walk Younger Children Home from School – Busy parents may appreciate a responsible older child walking their kids home from school.

Sports/Dance/Art Trainer – Amber and Kaitlin could teach other kids how to throw and catch  a ball, bat, bounce on a trampoline or kick a football. If not a sports trainer, what about Music or Dance Teacher, or Art Coach. Both Amber and Kaitlin are extremely good at art!

 

Kaitlin loves kids.

 

 

 

 

All it requires, when finding enterprise ideas for kids, is a little imagination. Take the time to identify problems and look at what assets you have that could help people. “Helping people” is the key to enterprise.

 

 

 

 

Budding young musician

A tip for everyone: You can increase your value by up-skilling and becoming an expert in an area. You then create excellent enterprise opportunities for yourself. The more you increase your skill, the more valuable you become and the more you will be sought after by people. As a result, people will pay well for your time and knowledge.

 

For example, being a whiz on sorting computer glitches would make you very valuable to people who have computer problems, or being an expert pianist would create opportunities to teach others how to play the piano.

Many of these ideas aren’t new, but people, especially children, don’t take the time to look at their existing skill set.

Finding enterprise ideas can be fun and it isn’t that hard if you do a little thinking and brainstorming first. Our next blog will be very exciting!

Amber will reveal her enterprise idea that she will be embarking on in her quest to reach her goals…..so stay tuned…..

Lining up for a Goal!

May 5th, 2012

Visualing a goal, evoking the emotional response within and taking the necessary action (whether it be aquiring the knowledge and skills or doing something physical) are all of the necessary ingredients to achieve a particular goal.

In fact all leading sports men and women do this. I remember reading about one of Australia’s very best runners, Cathy Freeman, who won Gold in the 1994 Canadian Commonwealth Games in both the 200m and 400m races. Cathy began her preparation for the 200m race two years earlier.

Every day she trained and visualized the race in her mind. Her visualization included every detail of the race from what she was wearing, the lane she was in and how she would run the race from start to finish. She even pictured the time she would get and how much it was to beat the second place getter. She was so mentally prepared that she had no doubts at all that she had the gold in the bag.

Cathy Freeman winning the 200 Olympics

Cathy Freeman winning gold.

 

 

She had already won in her mind. As it turned out she ran the race perfectly with every detail of the race being as it was in her mind. She is a living legend!

 

 

 

 

Imagine if our kids were able to muster up that sort of determination and self belief! It would make anything possible for them. So our kids needed to see a real purpose in the kids enterprise project that they were embarking on. Without a real purpose that they could believe in, they would not have the steam to see it through.

Before we even considered kids enterprise ideas, I asked them to think of something that they would like to buy with the profits they were going to make from their enterprise businesses. It had to be something that they really wanted and something that they realistically believed they would be able to achieve.

Coming up with ways to spend the money was easy, even though at this stage they still had no idea what enterprise project they would be doing. But that didn’t matter. The Laws of the Universe would ensure that it all worked out. All they needed to do was establish a realistic goal that they could believe in with certainty. If the kids wanted their goal bad enough, and focused on what they needed to do to get that money, then the enterprise would be fruitful.

Once the kids had a visual on what they wanted, the next stage was to convert it into a dollar amount. I made a stipulation that their first enterprise idea may not completely reach the whole monetry target they had set for themselves, but it had to at least be able to pay my $100 back + $1. This we called ROI (or Return On Investment). Future enterprise ideas could contribute to the children realising the rest of their financial goal.

Finally, they needed to set an end date for the completion of their enterprise.

Amber's Vision Board. Click to view her explaining

Flynn's Vision Board. Click his photo to view him telling about his goals.

Chayse wants Nerf Guns! Click this photo to hear Chayse and Kit tell about their vision boards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kids jumped onto the computer to find images of the things they wanted to buy when they had made the money. These were printed and each of the kids constructed vision boards which I laminated (to make them special and long lasting). The vision boards are now stuck on their walls in their bedrooms where our little “enterprising team” can look, dream, think and evoke the visual pictures into their subconscious.

In the next blog we’ll take you through the process of how the kids came up with each of their “kids’ enterprise ideas.” See you then!

 

THE $100 Family Enterprise Project!

May 3rd, 2012

For our kids to develop the skills and habits of an entrepreneur, they need to begin somewhere. But where? The beauty of Cathy and I having a wealth creation Mentor at our disposal, is that we could take the invaluabe information we had been learning and apply it in small pieces to developing the mindset of our kids.

This process also involved us having a good, hard look at how we operate in our own lives in regards to planning, organising and taking ation. Cathy loves to plan things out in her head and on paper before starting a task, and once satisfied, will start when all structures are in place.

I, on the other hand, like to dive in and see where it leads. So a happy compromise was met and we decided that the kids just needed to come up with an enterprise idea and just get started. We could refine the process later.

Getting the kids to kick off with an enterprise project (when they have little idea as to where to even start), was easier said than done. But I knew that some of the things that had held us back over the years was “waiting” until all conditions were right. This saw us miss many great opportunities that were out there.

So we just “started”. Admittedly it was a bit like the blind leading the blind…but we went in with an open mind and decided to see what would happen and where it would lead.

Goal setting for "Enterprise for Kids"

Chayse and Kit drawing their goals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out our very first videos. The filming is pretty rough as we had our 15 year old daughter using her “creative” license whilst filming, but you’ll get the gist of what our project is all about if you watch them. Here they are…

Handing out the $100 notes!

Kids considering their goals

For those of you who would prefer to read, I’ll give you the run down…

I presented of the kids with $100 each! (except the baby….as all she would do is try and eat it!)

 

$100 Family Enterprise project

Raining $50 Bills

... and more!!

Wow!!!” was their first response. An early Christmas present!

“Ohhhh” was the next response. More sedate now that there seemed to be a catch. But they listened to my proposal.

They were to use the money as start up capital for an enterprise, and (much to their disappointment), weren’t to spend it on themselves. In fact they were to pay me back once they had attained their business goal.

I was a bit soft on them though. I also said that I would take the risk and if they were unsuccessful and weren’t able to pay back the $100, then I’d accept that and absorb the loss. I did this because I wanted them to give their enterprise a go and I was conscious that if they were hung up about having to pay me back, then they may worry about their loss and as a consequence not find the courage to even start to play the game.

Loaning the $100 was the first step in our elaborate plan to give our kids a shot at being entrepreneurial with their kids enterprise project.

Check out our next blog for the subsequent steps in our entrepreneurial quest………

enterpriseforkids.com

Inspiring kids to be entrepreneurial.