enterpriseforkids.com

Inspiring kids to be entrepreneurial.

Ways Children Can Make Money! Amber’s Enterprise Continued…

September 20th, 2012

There are hundreds of ways children can make money! Yet when chatting to parents they often tell me that they would really like their kids to have a little business enterprise of their own, but they just can’t think of a good idea.

Well here’s the tip… think what the problems or needs that your local community has and maybe a kids’ enterprise could be built around it. Another angle to come from is to consider what skill your child might have that they could put to good use and build an enterprise around that.

Brainstorm ideas by jotting them down on paper. Keep going until you have exhausted all possible ideas whether or not you intend to use them or not. Try asking the neighbours what issues and problems that they have and add these to your list.

Generally people have ‘time’ issues and that is where a business can be started from. Not enough time to mow the lawn, clean the large rubbish bins, chop the wood, tend to the kids’ homework, clean the windows, rake the leaves, tutor the kids, pull the weeds, clean the car… you get the picture!

If you are still stumped for ways children can make money, then check back through this blog as it’s full of ideas.

Amber’s “New From Old” enterprise has been going great guns right from the beginning. Her money jars are filling up, and really she hasn’t had to do much work at all! She reached her goal that she set a while back and she is now preparing to take her business to another level (we’ll talk more about that in a later blog).

If you are new to our blog and haven’t yet had the chance to follow what Amber’s Enterprise entails, then click the link on the left side bar that says “Enterprising Howitt Family”. Here you will be able to read about all the Howitt Kids and their entrepreneurial journeys.

Toddler ride-on toys

Amber will make the fortnightly trip to the local Recycling and Waste Recovery Centre. It sells anything salvageable. The guy who runs the place now knows Amber and understands that she is running her own business. Amber has developed important skills of negotiating and connecting with a network. When she identifies an opportunity she will confidently strike up a deal with the Recycle Man.

Much of the stuff for sale is really not worth the effort to resell and profit from. It is like looking for a gold nugget in amongst the boulders. Amber’s ability to pick profitable items has improved over the months and she now has an eye for a bargain.

Pet Cage

The items that can be resold are the ones that generally solve people’s problems (eg pet cages, baby toys, storage and exercise). These items need to be well presented and in good condition. So Amber looks for opportunities that don’t require spending lots of time and money fixing them up. Ideally she buys things that just need a good clean, a lick of paint or a new set of batteries. She has learnt from her mistakes to check the items properly before buying them. She did buy a perfect condition four man tent still in its new box for $10, only to find out later that it had no pegs or poles. To buy pegs and poles new would blow her costs out and she would run at a loss. So it was put down to a learning experience. Does anyone have free pegs and poles??)

Fish aquarium

Sometimes Amber will see a possible opportunity, but holds off buying it until she has done her research. She will work out what it will cost to repair or tidy it up (paint brushes, varnish, batteries, sand paper, labour, etc) and then she will look at what others are selling it for on Gumtree (Classifieds online). By doing her research, she then has an idea of how much she can pay for it in order to make a reasonable profit.

Amber sells almost all her items on Buy and Sell Bunbury Face Book. She set up her own Face Book page for the sole purpose to be able to participate in the buy and sell market. She writes her own ads, uploads her own pictures and converses with customers online and on the telephone. When a buyer arrives she will present her goods to them and collect payment.

Amber placing her adverts onto Buy & Sell Facebook with the gang watching on!

We’ve watched Amber continuously grow in confidence with her enterprise. She understands the many different ways children can make money and has found and built her own business around solving problems and using her skills of creativity and communicating with people.

Some of the items that Amber acquired and on-sold for profit can be seen in the pictures on this blog.

The five outdoor toddler toys were bought for a good price. She scrubbed them, put new batteries in one, charged the battery in another and sold them all for $60.

The aquarium and pet cages just needed a clean and she made a profit of $25.

Display shelves

Her corner display required screwing together and she made a profit of $20.

Her current project is a very large timber outdoor table. She paid $10 and hopes to sell that for a profit as well after sanding it back and varnishing it.

Amber has also been collecting succulent plants from friends. Her plan is to paint decorative ceramic pots and plant hardy succulents in them, then sell them at a market day.

Here is a video clip of Amber reflecting on her business and goals from several weeks ago. She talks about how her business is progressing, what she needs to do to attain her goal, buying assets and gifting money. Make sure you take a look by clicking here!

It will be very interesting to see where her entrepreneurial journey takes her as she grows older. She loves writing, so maybe she will write a book about her journey!

Amber making a sale!

Hopefully in this blog we have helped show some ways children can make money through enterprise. If you have any good ideas or tips for our subscribers, please leave a comment below.

In our next article we will talk about kids buying Gold!

How Do Entrepreneurs Think?

September 19th, 2012

In an earlier article we spoke of charitable entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and John Templeton. They, together with other wealthy people, have extraordinary stories to tell about their entrepreneurial journeys. Some will tell you that they dropped out of school or were dyslexic and struggled with reading and writing. Others came from homes of poverty and then there were those born into wealthy entrepreneur families. Although they differed in their backgrounds and circumstances, what did prevail is that they all thought in a similar way. It is not circumstance that creates an entrepreneur, it is a mindset!

What we’ve come to understand is that for our family to become economically and personally free we need to throw out our conditioning around money and then reprogram our subconscious minds with a new success money mindset. The wealthy know this and have either been fortunate to have developed such a mindset from their upbringing or they have discovered for themselves (either consciously or unconsciously), a new way of thinking.

It is a fact that around 3% of the population actually do live a life of economic and personal freedom and the rest of us don’t (yes, we are definitely in that bracket). So what do the minority do that is so different to the rest of us?

More to the point… how do entrepreneurs think!

Before we look into it, consider this…

Whether we like it or not, we are being conditioned constantly to think a certain way about money. We are conditioned by our family, schools, advertising, politicians, TV and friends. Most people are tied to their jobs and to debt because the conditioning that they have received favours a money mindset of “lack”, not abundance.

Do any of the following resonate with you? …

“Money doesn’t grow on trees”

“Money is the root of all evil”

“You’ve got to work hard for your money”

“Get a good well paying job and you’ll be set for life”

“Buy a home, it will be your best investment ever”

“We can’t afford it”

“What job do you want to do when you grow up?”

“Go for the cheaper ones”

Only this morning I was listening to a friend talking with his teenage sons. He told them that they needed to get jobs. He explained that he had a job pushing shopping trolleys at their age. He even went down to the local IGA Supermarket and picked up applications for them to apply for jobs.

When I was fifteen I started out with a casual job working at a Target store. My hourly rate was $2.90 an hour!

All of the above are examples of conditioning. It is now known that much of our conditioning has been locked into our subconscious by the time we are four years old.

Our schools are designed to prepare workers for the work force; our banks make money by selling debt to people; our Government collect taxes and require people to be needy, submissive and controlled. They want people to take up jobs that only just pay enough to get by. Retail businesses make money by selling, so they condition us to spend; and our big businesses need workers to build their businesses. You see there is definitely a design to all this madness!

What our family has discovered is that our money mindsets are changing. We are learning that it is OK to accept money and to have money. In fact we deserve money! It is OK to offer something of value to others for payment. Working hard in a job is not the only pathway for young people entering our big world.

There are other ways….. ways that will allow young people to really follow their passions and dreams and allow them to make a big contribution to whatever they consider to be important! Wouldn’t it be fantastic if all our kids could achieve economic and personal freedom!

People who have achieved financial freedom through being entrepreneurial have a mindset of abundance. Their habits differ and they do think differently.

Rather than me attempting to point out and explain “How Do Entrepreneurs Think” and go about their lives, I’ll instead refer you to, what I believe to be, one of the most influential books of all time in pointing the way to personal and financial achievement.

“Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill was originally published in 1937. The author spent his life studying successful people and recording how they think and act. He himself became very wealthy by following the distinctions in his own book and by modelling himself upon his mentors.

Think and Grow Rich is pre-eminently a “what to do” and “how to do” book. In it you’ll find the magic of self direction, organized planning, auto suggestion, master-mind association, an amazing revealing system of self-analysis, detailed plans for selling your personal services, and a wealth of other understandings from experiences of successful people who have proved their value.

The thirteen steps to riches described in this book offer the shortest dependable philosophy of individual achievement that has literally changed thousands of people’s lives!

This book could be worth a million dollars to you and your kids!

Cathy is currently re-writing Napoleon Hill’s book. The book she is writing will be suitable for kids to read, with simple explanations and modern examples that they can better relate to. It is a work in progress and once finished you’ll be the first to hear about it.

The original Think and Grow Rich book can be downloaded from the internet for free. Click here to download your copy today!

We would love to hear your comments on “How Do Entrepreneurs Think?” Please leave us a comment below. In our next Enterprise for Kids edition we will check back with Amber, Kit and Chayse to see how their enterprising businesses are going.

An Entrepreneur’s Conscience!

September 10th, 2012

Is Having a Money Mindset Charitable?

Yay! Enterprise For Kids Rock!

I was talking with a dear friend and asked what she thought of our Enterprise for Kids blog. She thought that it was very well done and that her kids were very inspired by our kids’ enterprise experiences. Her children had read every blog post and watched every video, then her nine year old daughter sat down and planned an enterprise following all the lessons we talk about in our blog.

Wow!

That is exactly the sort of inspiration we hope to develop, especially with kids.

What happened next was a real surprise to me!

What! I have to give it all away!

My friend explained that she didn’t mind the idea of enterprise, but she wasn’t OK with her kids having an enterprise where they make money for themselves.

I was a little taken back when my friend said this. I really had never thought that there would be people with the view that kids shouldn’t be making money for self interest. I was also grateful that my friend was frank in sharing her beliefs as it helps me better understand mine.

Firstly there is no right or wrong in what people believe or do. Everyone is entitled to their views and I respect my friend’s view.

After this enlightening conversation, I came to realize how far our mindset around money has changed since we started out on our journey in search for economic and personal freedom. It also had me thinking about the entrepreneur’s conscience!

Wealthy entrepreneurs think very differently to the rest of us.

Generally I would also say that they are not selfish; although I’m sure there are some who are, like there are selfish poor people as well!

Wealthy people would have persisted with their goals and taken certain risks to get to where they are now. Many of the wealthiest entrepreneurial people in the world are also very charitable and give millions away supporting causes they believe in. It is much easier to be charitable when you are rich! Many who are struggling to make ends meet do not have the time, energy or money to make larger contributions to the world.

Bill Gates

Warren Buffett

John Templeton

Bill Gates, for example, employs many people to spend his money on charitable causes! Warren Buffett, who has lived in a very modest house all his life, gives away billions to charity! And Sir John Templeton (1912 – 2008) contributes $70 million each year through his foundation providing research grants and programs relating to the Big Questions of human purpose and ultimate reality (very interesting if you have the time to delve!).

Only last week I was speaking with a new entrepreneur friend who lives in Perth. He has recently created tremendous wealth developing property mostly in the Western Australian mining town, Port Hedland. He explained to me that he no longer needs to work and he now channels his energy into his passion. He is planning to take his young family to America where he has enrolled in a Theology university course. From there he plans to do mission work in Africa. Being a successful entrepreneur is allowing him to follow his charitable dream!

It could be argued that entrepreneurs, as opposed to the rest of us “workers”, have more free time, are less stressed, enjoy better health, eat better, travel more and their families are given more opportunities in life.

Do the rich have an entrepreneur’s conscience?

Probably more so than the rest of us!

The difference being is that they are in a much better position to make a real difference in our world than those of us who are tied to a “job” and to “debt”.

I’d like to thank my friend who allowed me to consider my views of an “entrepreneur’s conscience”. I certainly value the importance of teaching kids enterprise, and I do support the view that enterprising kids should also be taught to be charitable.

Our view also is that a child has to walk before they can run…..meaning that for us, it’s OK for our kids to have a “selfish” goal because that is what motivates them at the time to take action and learn the entrepreneurial skills necessary to succeed. Then, when they have mastered that skill, they are taught to have a goal, but think about where they may like some of the money they earn to go. That is exactly the process we taught our Chayse (who’s 4) and Kit (who’s now 7) when they reset their goals. See this in action in an upcoming blog.

The more entrepreneurs we create the better our world will be!

As we revisit our own kids entrepreneurial journeys in this blog, we will share the lessons around their entrepreneur’s consciences and how we are teaching them to be charitable.

Next time we will talk a little more about the conditioning we have around money and how the wealthy do think differently.

Keep this discussion going by sharing your view in the comment box below.

Lastly, I’d like to take this opportunity to remind you about the Gold and Silver Seminar that we are holding in Bunbury this Sunday. It will be an informative presentation that will open your eyes to some excellent investment opportunities. The discussion after the seminar is a great way to meet and network with other investors and business people. Bring along your teens to kick start their financial education. Click Here to view our flyer and please pass it around to others who you think may be interested.

A Financial Education for Kids… Asset or Liability?

September 3rd, 2012

Robert Kiyosaki, famously known for his book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” points out that kids need to be given a financial education and that they are unlikely to get a financial education from school!

Kiyosaki emphasises that by teaching kids to understand balance sheets, you are giving them the basis of a financial education. Balance sheets have two columns, Assets and Liabilities. Kids need to know the difference between Assets and Liabilities.

Kiyosaki’s simple definition of an asset is something that puts cash into your pocket and a liability is something that takes cash out of your pocket! Examples of assets are stocks, investment property, bonds, gold, businesses and valuable antiques. Examples of liabilities are cars, boats, houses, clothes, holidays, TVs and if you are a kid, toys.

Rich people start out by taking the money they earn from salary to buy assets. These assets put cash into their pockets. They take some of that cash to then buy liabilities. They also use some of the cash to buy more assets. Eventually their assets provide enough cash flow that they no longer need a “job”.

On the other hand, the poor and middle-class earn a salary, which they spend on liabilities with little or nothing left over to buy assets. As they go through life they buy more and more liabilities and have to work harder to earn more money to pay for them. Many will borrow money to buy more things.

When kids understand a balance sheet, they can then be encouraged to develop the habit of putting some of the money they get into buying assets before spending it all on liabilities. This habit will be the basis to them creating wealth as they grow up.

I had a good conversation with Flynn a while back. He has made a large sum of money from his Honey Enterprise and has already spent some of it on his goal, which was to buy an iPod.

Flynn has some mates who are mad keen on riding motorbikes and Flynn now has his sights set on buying one.

I explained that he could buy one, but first he must understand that a motorbike is a liability and will take money from his pocket (devalue, repairs, fuel, safety equipment etc). I then explained what Robert Kiyosaki teaches about balance sheets. Flynn took what I explained on board and as a result of our chat he now keeps three jars of money. One for gifting, one for his liability (the motorbike) and one for buying assets!

So what assets can a kid buy?

Chart showing Silver's value over the past 5 years

Well cash could be considered an asset (however, over time currencies generally devalue, so maybe it isn’t a true asset unless it is gaining a good interest from the bank!). Kids can buy collectables or small amounts of gold and silver. With their parents help they could also buy shares in companies, or put their cash into building their enterprise… as in Flynn’s case, more wholesale honey or even a bee hive of his own!

Flynn decided that he wants to buy silver. Currently its market value is about $30 an ounce and can be bought from the Perth Mint. Five years ago silver was only $9 an ounce. That’s a pretty good gain considering that the GFC was during this time! In fact, at one stage silver reached as high as $47 early last year!

Flynn is getting a Financial Education.

This conversation about silver is very relevant to my next guest I am about to introduce to you. Andrew Smith is an expert in Silver and Gold. He is a qualified mining engineer, who is involved with a company (www.orica-miningchemicals.com) selling chemicals to gold mines. He has been involved with Gold and Silver mining for many years and has an in depth knowledge of the fundamentals of gold and silver and investing in these precious metals. If you are interested in capitalizing on the precious metals’ opportunities and seeing Andrew present live in Bunbury, WA, click this link.

Young Bucks: How to Raise a Future Millionaire

August 16th, 2012

Cameron Herold

I was looking for conversations on Twitter about raising Enterprising Kids, when I came across a very inspirational guy called Cameron Herold. He is a very successful entrepreneur with an excellent message to parents wanting to raise kids to be entrepreneurs. He shares his own life story and makes reference to the book “Young Bucks: How to Raise a Future Millionaire” by Troy Dunn.

Cameron, now in his late forties, was once one of those kids who simply didn’t fit into the regular schooling mould. In fact, these days his hyper-activity would have had him labelled with the disorders of ADHD and Bipolar. Cameron admits that he had, and still has, these “illnesses”, and were he born into this modern world, would have been dosed up on Ritalin and given referrals to the school Psych in order to mould and conform him to expected “societal” standards at school. Cameron explains that it was these afflictions that made him what he is today… a very successful entrepreneur! He says our schools are full of potential entrepreneurs who are suppressed by behaviour programs and Ritalin.

“Bipolar is the CEO disease!”

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs, Ted Turner and all three founders of Netscape have two things in common. They are/were successful CEOs AND they all have/had Bipolar.

Cameron says ‘Don’t medicate kids with Attention Deficit Disorders. Imagine if Steve Jobs was given Ritalin, the world wouldn’t have been blessed with the amazing advancements in the technologies of Apple!”

Cameron Herald was brought up by his parents to be an entrepreneur. He points out that schools rarely teach kids how to think like and develop the skills to be entrepreneurs. Schools condition kids to fit into jobs, not build businesses. Cameron wasn’t comfortable with school and ended up dropping out.

Being an entrepreneur is not an inherited trait, but a learned behaviour!

In America, fewer than 18% of households are headed by a self employed business owner, however, self employed business owners are four times more likely to be millionaires than those who work for others! On average entrepreneurs make at least 25% more in income than the general population. (T.Stanley Phd & W.Danko Phd in “The Millionaire Next Door”)

Entrepreneurs learn to become entrepreneurs through necessity, such as immigrants and refugees, or they learn through observation, such as Robert Kiyosaki. Very few entrepreneurs learn about these skills at school. So, if you want your kids to learn about entrepreneurship, someone in their family must teach it!

It is interesting to note that 62% of Entrepreneurs say they do not have a family member who is an entrepreneur ((North Eastern University School of Technology Entrepreneurship Oct 2006), so rely on other mentors to teach them the necessary skills.

So how do you teach kids to be successful entrepreneurs?

Cameron Herold

Cameron Herald offers many excellent suggestions. He presents an outstanding talk, that goes for about 15 minutes. If you are following our blog, then you are likely to be a parent looking to give your children opportunities and choices in life which would include providing them with the know-how to develop enterprise skills. Cameron Herald’s talk is a must see! So go make a coffee, then click this link and soak up his energy and words!

In his talk, Cameron makes reference to a book that he says has practical and age specific advice on how to access your child’s strengths and weaknesses so that you can pre-think ideas to suggest to your children on what kinds of money making opportunities they can do.

The book is called “Young Bucks How to Raise a Future Millionaire” authored by Troy Dunn.

Young Bucks: How To Raise a Future Millionaire

Troy Dunn is also a self made millionaire and successful entrepreneur. He also happens to be a father to seven kids (just like us!), so I guess he is qualified to offer guidance!

In his book he explains that the first pre-requisite is to give your child the “Gift of Want”. They must have a real reason to pursue being an entrepreneur. They must want something badly enough as this is what will give them the motivation to get started and to keep going when the going gets tough!

Dunn leads parents through a series of steps to assist their child in deciding, researching and setting up a money making business. He teaches key concepts like marketing, pricing, negotiating etc and he gives plenty of terrific “enterprise for kids” ideas.

Amazon sell “Young Bucks: How to Raise a Future Millionaire” for $19.95 as a hard copy.

Cameron Herold states that one can change the world as an entrepreneur! All that is needed is a single, brilliant idea.

This takes me to my next point – to be an entrepreneur, we need to change the way we think. True entrepreneurs see obstacles and turbulence in life as opportunities and in the midst of crises often create their own opportunities to solve the problem!

Cameron explains that teaching our kids skills such as leadership, tenacity, sales and attainment, help them to succeed. He says that we need to help them find the entrepreneur within themselves, and we need to make it cool! Kids who struggle at school need opportunity. His view is that we should be raising kids to be entrepreneurs, rather than lawyers! Don’t get me wrong, being a lawyer is an admirable profession, but for those children who have no desire or ability in attaining the results to be a lawyer, then entrepreneurship is even more important.

Cameron thinks parents should groom young entrepreneurs to hate the thought of getting a job! Don’t give kids pocket money as it conditions them to have/expect regular pay cheque. Rather, teach your kids to find things that need to be done around the house, then have them negotiate a fee for doing it. This teaches them to look for opportunities and to negotiate.

Teach kids habits to save. Have them use money boxes with three compartments. One for gifting, one for buying toys and one for buying assets such as money in the bank, gold or stocks.

Take opportunities to teach from real life examples in the real world. For example point out when someone is providing good customer service in a restaurant, or presents well as a salesman. Encourage your kids to sell their unwanted toys, to build inventions and to tell stories to the public.

Cameron Herold has allowed me, as a school teacher, to see kids in schools differently. I can see that there are some children who love the system and are more than happy to get a job and work for a salary, but there are an increasing number of children who don’t fit into the system, and perhaps unknowingly, are destined to be budding entrepreneurs. All they need is someone to release the “entrepreneur self” from within and then provide the opportunities for them to develop!

We need more people like Cameron Herold and Troy Dunn (Young Bucks: How to Raise a Future Millionaire) in our world. If you missed Cameron’s talk, here is the link again!

In our next post I have an invitation for those of you who live in Bunbury Western Australia!

Children Earning Pocket Money… the Candy Man!

August 12th, 2012

We thought it was time that we revisited our little Candy Man Chayse! When we last followed his enterprising adventure he had bought his lollies and bagged them up ready to sell.

If you missed that article, then click here.

Now he has to find a market for his product and learn to be a salesman. Before we share Chayse’s exciting adventure we thought that it would be interesting to consider the benefits of children earning pocket money through enterprise as opposed to children receiving a weekly allowance.

Children earning pocket money through enterprise will develop the mindset and skills of an entrepreneur! Giving children a weekly allowance conditions them to be “workers”. Robert Kiyosaki describes a worker as someone prepared to give their time for money, whilst an entrepreneur builds systems and businesses that produce a cash flow. Workers are more often than not time poor and cash poor, whilst entrepreneurs are generally time rich and cash rich.

Why is it then that the vast majority of us leave school and become workers?

A child receiving a weekly pocket money allowance is equivalent to a worker receiving a weekly salary. Relying upon a weekly allowance won’t encourage children to look for opportunities for enterprise. Their pocket money may or may not be aligned with doing household chores, just as a worker receives payment for doing work. Many kids leave school and slot into jobs for the rest of their lives because they have not been able to explore the entrepreneur within themselves!

Chayse with his box of candy!

Children earning pocket money through enterprise develop a whole different mindset. Parents of these children will encourage their children to look around to find opportunities. These kids learn to identify problems that they can solve and they’ll learn the art of negotiation. Enterprising children understand assets, liabilities, cash flow and profit. They will understand markets and customer service and they will develop the confidence to promote themselves.

Children earning pocket money though enterprise are more likely to value their profits and spend their money wisely. Weekly allowances are easily received and easily spent (knowing that more money will follow). This conditions kids to be reliant on a salary.

Enterprising children become self motivated to make money, and as they celebrate their successes, they quickly come to understand that they can in fact make a lot more money than their friends receiving weekly allowances.

According to entrepreneur, Cameron Herold (ted.com), parents wanting to raise entrepreneurial children won’t give pocket money to their kids. They will encourage their kids to go around their home or community and identify opportunities. These kids then make a plan and negotiate with either their parents or people in the community to provide the service or product for payment.

Getting prepared with his helpers.

Selling to customers.

Kids may not be motivated to do this at first, especially if they have been used to receiving a weekly allowance. The trick here is to make sure they have a big “Why!” They need to want something badly enough. This then becomes their goal and reason.

So back let’s get back to Chayse’s enterprising story! Was he able to earn his pocket money through his Lolly Bag business?

He had his first opportunity to sell his lolly bags at his big brothers’ soccer games. During the game the spectators (his potential customers) mill around on the sidelines. So we primed him on what to say to customers. We also enlisted the help of his brothers, Amber and friends. It was all great fun and soon enough the customers came rolling in!

Now who could knock back buying lollies from a cute smiling four year old!

His lolly bags sold like hot cakes for two dollars each. Chayse couldn’t hold up the box because it was too heavy, so he managed the money jar, whilst his helpers held the box. He had to take his customers money and give change.

As word spread that there were lollies for sale, kids came racing in from all directions to buy Chayse’s product. The box became lighter and the money jar heavier… but despite the weight, he wasn’t going to relinquish it!

Chayse looked after his helpers by giving them each a lolly bag. Hopefully they will be willing helpers the next time he sells something.

Chayse also paid back the money his Dad lent him as capital to buy the lollies and plastic bags from the supermarket.

All up he was delighted with his fifty dollars net profit! He is now well on his way to reaching his goal to buy toy Nerf Guns. In fact his business was so successful, that Kit has recently decided to partner with him for his next endeavour! And under their mother’s guidance, they will research and decide on a charity that could benefit from some of their profits. So, stay tuned for that one!

Chayse is one of those children earning pocket money through enterprise. It would have taken him five weeks, with a weekly allowance of $5 a week to save the equivalent to what he profited at the soccer grounds during a soccer game.

In our next Enterprise For Kids blog we’ll introduce you to a self made millionaire who has some excellent tips for parents wanting to raise entrepreneurial kids. Don’t miss this article!

What “The Secret” left out!

July 27th, 2012

My Dreams

As a kid I always wanted to be a farmer.

When growing up I had a framed picture of a farm on my bedroom wall and I would look and think about it everyday for years. It featured a big wooden barn sitting on a grassy hill with duck ponds, sheep, a dog, tractor and kids running around.

Our Farm in summer.

The funny thing was that twenty years later Cathy and I found and bought a little farm and it was just about identical to the picture from my bedroom wall. The little farm house sat on a green grassy hill (which is rare in Western Australia with its semi arid countryside), it had a big wooden barn, sheep, ducks, a dog and a tractor. To top it off we raised most of our kids there during their early years. I had no idea until later that the very farm we owned was what I used to dream and think about as a kid.

When the movie, “The Secret” came out, I was fascinated by the featured stories of people visualizing in their minds what they wanted and then over time, having those same things arrive for them in their physical world. I guess that is exactly what happened to me… though it did take twenty years!

Kit camping on the Cocos Islands... a dream come true!

Our Cocos experience!

This unique “law of the universe” came to play many times in our lives over the years. Our experience living on the Cocos Islands was a visual thought ten years before it became a reality, and traveling Canada and the US in our motor home with the family was another example of a visualization becoming a reality.

Vision Boards

Making a Vision Board is one way to build a visual picture of what you want. Cath and I have created Dream Boards and stowed them away, only to pull them out again some years later to see that several of the dream pictures can be ticked off as having been achieved… kite surfing, large aquarium, more kids, fishing boat… to note a few more examples.

Kite Surfing

My Vision Board from 2005. All these images, bar one, have become a reality.

We believe that Vision Boards help with visualizing what you want and because of that, we encourage our kids to make and display dream boards too. They think it’s all great fun!

The Problem with The Secret!

See, believe and you will conceive is the universal law that The Secret portrayed. It is amazing how your subconscious mind has so much power as to bring about reality from thoughts. The funny thing is that when I read forums with discussions about the laws of the universe I see many people being very frustrated about not being able to bring about in their physical world all the things they are visualizing and believing. They meditate, focus, make vision boards and think about what things they want in their lives, but despite all their efforts they are unable to conceive it to reality.

The Solution…

Our Money Mastery mentor says that there was an important ingredient that “The Secret” left out. He explained that whilst you need to visualize what you want, then emote it into existence, if you don’t have a persistent focus (or clear intention), then it is unlikely that what you want will easily come about in your reality.

He said, “The problem is that people have their focus elsewhere”. Like in our situation… we’re busy all week at work and when we’re home our whole attention is taken up with sorting the kids, doing the household chores and keeping up with our social life.

Our focus is drawn away from the things that we want to achieve, even though we may visualize them.

Often when people hit a rock bottom point in life, it is only then that their minds pinpoint their focus. This may be a near death experience, serious illness, break up with a partner or suddenly becoming financially bankrupt. It is only then that your conscious and subconscious minds align with an inner drive for change.

Our Subconscious Limits

The other thing that Paul (our Money Mindset mentor) explains is the “Belt” concept.

Our subconscious mind has an upper and lower limit to every aspect of our lives, including wealth, happiness, relationships, health etc. This is what we call our Comfort Zone.

Using money as an example, let’s say my subconscious is only comfortable earning $100,000 a year. That is my upper limit and if I ever exceed that by 10%, I will do something to self sabotage and bring that amount of money back to what I am comfortable receiving. Self sabotage may include spending it, losing it on the stock market, giving it away, gambling it away and so on.

So even though consciously I think I would like a million dollars, that will never happen until I have changed the upper limit of my subconscious around money. Subconscious mind is far more powerful than my conscious mind and that is why mentors such as Paul are so valuable because he helps us develop strategies to push our upper limit higher to allow more of what we want into our lives.

The same principle holds true for all areas of our lives. We may have a limit on how much happiness we are allowed to feel, so if a relationship is going along brilliantly, but we don’t think we deserve that much happiness (on a subconscious level), then we will do something to sabotage that happiness – more often than not, it involves picking a fight, creating a drama in our lives or doing something to hurt the other partner.
The same can be applied to health, relationships, weight loss, finances, anything really

The trick to mastering this law of the universe is to gradually work up to the bigger dreams by visualizing and intending for smaller dreams that will lead to the ultimate one. In other words, take smaller steps, then celebrate them once they are reality. The idea is that over time your subconscious mind will raise its upper limit to meet that of your conscious mind. When the two are aligned the physical reality will, in time, materialize.

Vision Boards for Kids

Ambers Vision Board

It took up to twenty years for dreams of mine to come about, so don’t allow a moment more to pass you or your kids by. Encourage your kids to make vision boards, teach them how to visualize and emote what they want. Establish a plan and then, most importantly, help them make it their absolute focus! If you need some help, then have a look at this book written by John Assaraf. He is an expert on the topic as he himself was a major feature in the DVD “The Secret”.

Green Super Camp Bali… Jai Shares His Experience!

July 23rd, 2012

Jai and Kaitlin also attended the Green Super Camp Bali, although their experiences were a little different to Flynn’s as they were with teenagers from 14 to 17 years old and their learning and activities were different. They also had life changing experiences and returned to Australia with plenty of stories to share and noticeable positive changes. Here is Jai’s account in his own words….

Dance & drama!

Jai being prepared by his team to present a talk to the group.

The Green Super Camp was a once in a lifetime opportunity! I reckon I learnt more in the one week I was there than I have all of high school! It’s hard to explain what we learnt, but it involved quantum strategies, learning how to trust, have integrity, be balanced, and be self motivated… We also learnt some easy ways to increase our grades!

The way we were taught these things were also very unique… there were so many skits and stories and we were involved in any way possible! Learning became fun and we found it easier to remember things.
Everybody there was so friendly and strong friendships were formed quickly.

Green Super Camp Bali

High Ropes Course.

Building project.

Although the kids on the camp were from all around the world, we all got on really well and learnt a lot about each other!

The Green Super Camp Bali was very different to any other camp I have been on… Every morning, to be able to have breakfast, we had to stand up as a team and yell out this chant:…

Team games.

Making friends... camp in the background.

“HUNGRY HUNGRY
   * clapclap *
   VERY VERY
   * clapclap *
   HUNGRY VERY
   * clapclap*
   VERY HUNGRY
   * clapclap*
   TI CALACKA PI A PI A
   TI CALACKA PI A PI A
   TI CALACKA PI A PI A
   MAKAN!”

At first we all thought this was really weird and immature and none of us were really comfortable chanting it, but after a few days, nobody cared about how they looked (another thing we learnt) and we all got right into it!

Green Super Camp Bali 2012

My favourite part of the camp was interacting with the people there and mucking around with new-found mates!
   And if I had to say my least favourite part of the camp, it would be the fact that we sat a lot and our bums were sore by the end on the camp but that was minor compared to how much fun we had.
   Overall this camp was an amazing experience and I would happily go back any day!
   I would recommend this camp to anyone who is experiencing problems in their life, or would just like to try something new!

By Jai

In our next blog we hope to visit Kaitlin’s account of the Green Super Camp Bali. She hasn’t put pen to paper yet, so possibly we will take a look at something else until she gets round to it. It will be interesting to see if the camp lived up to her expectations!

Green SuperCamp Bali Raps!

July 16th, 2012

Twelve year old Flynn confidently exited through the International airport departure gate, heading off to a foreign country for an experience of a lifetime at the Green SuperCamp Bali!

Flynn dancing at the Green SuperCamp Bali

The kids are taught Quantum strategies to learn.

Balinese martial arts in the Mud Pit!

Saying goodbye to our son at five in the morning, then watching him leave Australia, knowing that we would not be able to speak to him for over a week, left us with a feeling of tremendous pride… although we were struggling with letting him go.

Focus...

... self confidence...

... determination!

When Cathy and I learnt about the Green SuperCamp, we immediately knew that it would have tremendous character building benefits for our kids. We wanted to share their experiences on our Enterprise For Kids blog for our readers, as we strongly feel that the skills, values and knowledge that the Green Super Camp instils into kids are the same key attributes that will build future leaders and entrepreneurs.

Here is Flynn’s reflection of his camp in his own words!

The Balinese mud dance!

Supercamp was an absolutely awesome experience!

Supercamp was an absolutely awesome experience!

The biggest challenge that I faced was going to Bali on my own without my parents. I just knew that I wanted to go on the Green SuperCamp, and to do that I had to go on my own.

I loved trying all the fun activities like mud wrestling, high ropes course, Balinese dancing and seeing all the zoo animals.

I became friends with kids from all over the world. There were kids from America, Australia, Bali, Indonesia, London, India, New Zealand and Japan. Everyone there were really nice, they were happy and they persevered with all the challenges. I liked everyone at the Green SuperCamp!

One of my favourite activities was the mud fighting because I learnt self defence and I learnt how to throw people over my back. This activity taught me the importance of perseverance and to never give up.

Learning...

... the key to success!

We were taught how to use Quantum strategies to think and learn. As a result my reading has become seven times faster.

The Bali Green SuperCamp was a fantastic experience. I think that everyone should have a chance to go!

Check out this video of our enlightened Flynn the night he arrived home from camp!

As parents we have noted a number of positive changes in Flynn since the camp.

Team Building...

... responsibility and care!

At his school, the teachers have commented that Flynn has been making a real effort and that he has been keeping away from any sort of mischief. He has taken to reading books (which is something he normally avoids!), so much so that he has reached this term’s reading goal in only three weeks! He has an air of confidence and purpose with the things he does. This is evident with his responsibility with chores and with his focus and efforts when playing weekend soccer. Flynn has been easy to get along with at home and appears to be very happy with life!

Warriors!

Flynn answers more questions about his camp experience. Just click this link.

Next up we share Jai’s experience at the Green SuperCamp Bali!

If you are visiting this blog because you are interested in running your own summer camp and you’re looking for a proven formula, then maybe this information could help.

Why our Kids Wanted to Attend the Green SuperCamp!

July 11th, 2012

We were delighted that our three eldest children were able to attend this year’s Green SuperCamp in Bali. They had amazing life changing experiences that have left them with new understandings and beliefs about themselves that will remain with them forever.

Kaitlin at the Green SuperCamp Bali.

Each of our kids applied for a Green SuperCamp scholarship. The scholarships would help us cover the cost of the camp. Kaitlin, Jai and Flynn each wrote why they wanted to attend the camp.

We are very inspired by the passionate words that they each wrote in their applications. Below we have some words from Kaitlin, and we are very proud of her passion and talent in getting her message across to the organisers of the Supercamp.

Here’s what Kaitlin wrote…

“I am the eldest of seven children in my family. We have been brought up to strive for excellence and to aim as high as we can. My parents have always been determined to give us kids the best opportunities possible to get the best out of life.

This year I have started year 11, and have found it quite difficult. I have been held up by limitations of my time and motivation. I would love to attend the “Green Super Camp” in order to break these barriers. I want a life where I can be a role model and inspiration for my siblings and others. I want to be able to contribute to the world and show so many people a way to be free, but I’m still trying to work out how to get there.

Kaitlin Flying like a fox!

I’m so keen to develop a mindset for success. I want to meet new people from around the world, and absorb their confidence and energy. My goal is to become a school prefect or Head girl and to be accepted into University. To do this I need to \understand and learn about myself. I want to know what it takes to be a leader and to be confident in myself to be one.

If I receive this Scholarship, I would be determined, open and ready, to absorb all the information possible for me to be the best person I can and to motivate others to be the same. This is an experience of a lifetime, and I’m ready for it now.”

You will have to wait for the next blog to discover what each of them learnt from their camp experience! Until then…….