Jai’s Stories

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Skills Learned from Video Games: What Jai and Chayse Took Into Business

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Akaisha playing a video game in the lounge room

The skills learned from video games are not always obvious to parents while their children are playing.

Akaisha using a controller while playing a video game
Like many children, Akaisha enjoys the challenge, concentration and enjoyment that can come through gaming.

All seven of our children grew up with some exposure to computer and online games. It was never completely over the top, although there were certainly times when a couple of them devoted quite a few hours to it. Gaming was only one small part of the broader family enterprise and real-world learning journey we were sharing with them.

Like many parents, we sometimes wondered whether that time could be better spent elsewhere.

Looking back, however, Jai and Chayse both believe that some of the skills learned from video games helped shape the way they later approached business. They were not intentionally learning entrepreneurship at the time. They were playing games, competing with other people, trying to improve and becoming absorbed in challenges that interested them.

It was only later that they began to recognise the connection.

The Skills Learned from Video Games Were Not Obvious at the Time

Gaming is an interesting subject for parents because it is easy to see the time being spent, but not always the learning taking place.

We can see a child sitting at a computer for several hours. What we may not see is that they are solving problems, managing resources, communicating with other players, making quick decisions or trying to understand why a particular strategy has failed.

That does not mean all gaming is beneficial. There is a big difference between playing with purpose and simply remaining glued to a screen because a game is difficult to put down.

However, I also do not think it is helpful to assume that every hour spent gaming has been wasted.

The skills learned from video games were different for each of them. Chayse’s experience was largely about Minecraft, online economies and managing people. Jai’s experience was more about competition, focused practice and learning through immersion. Both examples fit with our wider approach to raising entrepreneurial kids through everyday experiences rather than formal business lessons alone.

Both later recognised elements of those experiences in the way they worked and built businesses.

Games have also been part of our family’s money learning in a more deliberate way. In our refreshed article about Cashflow 101 and games about entrepreneurship, we explore how board games can make ideas such as assets, liabilities, risk and cash flow easier for children to discuss.

Chayse Was Running a Minecraft Business at Twelve

Chayse Howitt at 12 years old when he was playing Minecraft online
At 12, Chayse was unknowingly practising business and management skills through an online Minecraft community.

In 2019, Chayse was spending up to four hours a day playing Minecraft.

This was not the ordinary version of Minecraft where a player quietly builds a house or explores a private world. He was playing on large online servers with thousands of other people.

Many of these servers had their own economies. Players could earn in-game money, buy and sell items, trade resources, own land and negotiate with one another.

At one point, twelve-year-old Chayse owned an area of approximately 1,000 by 1,000 Minecraft blocks. He began dividing the land and renting sections to other players.

As the project grew, he recruited more than ten people to help build and expand it. Eventually, he began paying his brother to supervise the workers.

He had effectively hired a manager.

Chayse also sold property to some of the wealthiest players on the server, hosted events and minigames, and negotiated a server rank that would normally have required real money.

His username became well known among the regular players.

At the time, he did not think of it as running a business. He was simply trying to become successful within the game. Looking back, though, he can see that he was dealing with many of the same things he would later encounter in real work. It also adds another layer to his earlier childhood enterprise story, Chayse the Candy Man, where selling to real customers began building confidence long before he understood the language of business.

Skills Learned from Video Games Through Minecraft

One of the main things Minecraft taught Chayse was that a large project cannot be completed by one person.

Minecraft world used to develop creativity, teamwork and problem-solving skills
Minecraft can involve far more than building. Players may also plan, trade, collaborate, solve problems and manage shared projects.

He needed other players to help him expand the property, but simply recruiting people was not enough. He had to explain what he wanted built, provide the materials and make sure everyone understood their role.

Years later, when he began working with user-generated content creators, the connection between those early experiences and the skills learned from video games became clear.

Managing creators also involves giving people the resources and direction they need. Instead of supplying Minecraft blocks and land, he may provide a campaign strategy, information about a product, examples of useful content and feedback on what needs to change.

The setting is completely different, but the management principle is much the same.

Chayse also learned that people work more effectively when there is some sort of system in place. Paying his brother to supervise the Minecraft workers allowed him to focus on other parts of the project.

Chayse Howitt working online as a UGC campaign-management intern at age 18
At 18, Chayse is applying many of the skills he first practised through online gaming, including teamwork, delegation, communication and problem-solving.

Today, he thinks about how software, processes and delegation can make managing creators easier.

Minecraft also exposed him to ideas around buying and selling, pricing, rent, scarcity and negotiation. The money and property were virtual, but the people he was dealing with were real. They could accept an offer, reject it, misunderstand him, compete with him or decide to go elsewhere. It was a very different setting, but it connected with the same basic ideas we explore in our article on financial education for kids, assets and liabilities.

That gave him a surprisingly practical introduction to how people behave within a marketplace.

Jai’s Gaming Experience Taught Him Something Different

Jai’s strongest lesson did not come from Minecraft.

Jai Howitt as a teenager when online games became part of his learning
Jai believes gaming helped teach him the value of immersion, practice, strategy and learning from people who were better than him.

For him, one of the most influential games was Toribash, an online fighting game in which players control the individual joints of their character.

The game pauses briefly while each player decides how their character will move. The characters then act according to those instructions before the game pauses again.

It requires players to anticipate what an opponent might do and adjust their decisions as the match develops.

When Jai first began playing, he recalls being ranked somewhere in the 400,000s.

He became determined to improve, so he started studying one of his favourite players. He watched how the player approached each match, paid attention to the game mode he used and tried to understand the thinking behind his decisions.

Jai then concentrated heavily on one particular mode rather than moving between lots of different ones.

Within about four months, he says he had reached number three in the world.

What stayed with him was not the ranking itself. One of the most valuable skills learned from video games was the ability to improve quickly when he became deeply interested in something and deliberately surrounded himself with it.

Immersion Became Jai’s Bigger Lesson

Jai later had a conversation with his uncle, who had played professional online poker against some of the best players in the world.

Toribash strategy game used by Jai to practise decision-making and problem-solving
Toribash required Jai to study each move, make quick decisions and continually adjust his strategy.

His uncle explained that poker had become part of almost everything he did. He played it, watched it, studied it and spent time with people who were better than he was.

Jai recognised the same pattern in his Toribash experience.

He had not improved by occasionally playing a game when he felt like it. He improved because he became completely immersed in understanding it.

That idea later carried into his business life.

When Jai wanted to become better at creating video advertisements for brands, he joined communities, connected with agency owners, studied other businesses and created content constantly. He also co-founded a product brand, Naming This Later, which helped him understand what it was like to be the customer purchasing advertising and creative services.

His agency later grew from no revenue to approximately $1 million in eighteen months. More recently, Jai shared the same practical thinking while helping Chayse map out a million dollar business plan during their Geraldton road trip.

Jai does not claim that playing Toribash created that business. The connection is more subtle than that.

Gaming helped him recognise the way he learns best. When he finds something that genuinely interests him, he studies it closely, spends time with people who understand it and keeps working at it until he becomes capable.

As Jai wrote to his email audience:

“I just liked playing video games and they taught me a powerful lesson in life: immersion is how you succeed.”

How the Skills Learned from Video Games Appeared in Their Businesses

The skills learned from video games did not transfer neatly from a screen into a business. There was no moment where either of them simply copied what they had done in a game.

Instead, certain ways of thinking began to reappear.

Chayse had already experienced what it felt like to organise people, delegate work and develop systems. Jai had experienced the value of studying successful players, concentrating on one area and continuing through repeated losses.

Both had become comfortable with trying something, seeing what happened and adjusting their approach.

That is a very useful habit in entrepreneurship.

A business idea rarely works perfectly the first time. There are customers who say no, offers that do not sell and plans that need to be changed. People who are used to treating failure as information are often more willing to keep experimenting. This is closely connected to the way we help children move through limiting beliefs and setbacks without allowing one result to become a fixed story about who they are.

Other skills learned from video games can include collaboration and quick decision-making. Players may need to share responsibilities, communicate under pressure and respond to events they did not expect.

Again, none of this means that every gamer will become an entrepreneur. It simply shows that some gaming environments can expose children to skills that later become useful elsewhere. The willingness to act, learn and adjust also appears in our refreshed Justin Herald entrepreneur story, which has always been one of our stronger examples of attitude shaping opportunity.

What I Have Seen Through Minecraft as a Teacher

My interest in this subject also comes from being a school teacher.

As a teacher, I have also seen how the skills learned from video games can be directed into classroom learning through Minecraft. Students who may be reluctant to engage with an ordinary worksheet can become extremely motivated when they are asked to solve a similar problem through Minecraft.

They can work together to recreate historical locations, plan sustainable communities, demonstrate mathematical ideas, build working structures and explain the reasoning behind their designs.

The benefit is not just that the activity feels fun.

Students have to communicate, share decisions and solve problems together. A group may have plenty of ideas but still struggle if nobody listens, responsibilities are unclear or one person tries to control the entire project.

Those are real collaboration lessons.

Minecraft Education has been designed specifically for classroom use and provides teachers with structured lessons and tools across subjects such as coding, science, history and mathematics.

The official Minecraft Education site provides classroom resources, ready-to-use lessons and learning activities across a range of subjects.

The teacher still plays an important role. Giving students access to Minecraft does not automatically make an activity educational. There needs to be a clear purpose, some guidance and an opportunity for students to explain what they have learned. This is the same principle behind our wider focus on real-world learning that builds confidence and initiative.

The Risks of Gaming Still Matter

A balanced discussion also needs to acknowledge the negatives.

Online games can consume a great deal of time. Because many games are open-ended, there is always something else to build, improve, earn or complete.

Gaming becomes a concern when it regularly takes the place of sleep, exercise, schoolwork, family interaction or real-world friendships.

Public multiplayer servers can also expose children to toxic conversations, bullying, scams and inappropriate behaviour. Chayse’s Minecraft experience involved real people in a public environment, so there were risks alongside the valuable lessons.

Parents still need to know which games their children are playing, who they are communicating with and whether appropriate safety settings are being used.

We also need to watch for the difference between enthusiasm and unhealthy dependence.

A child can be deeply interested in a game without it becoming harmful. The warning signs usually appear when the gaming begins to negatively affect other important areas of life.

Helping Children Recognise the Skills Learned from Video Games

One of the useful things parents can do is take an interest in what is happening inside the game.

Rather than only asking how long they have been playing, we might ask what they are trying to achieve, what has gone wrong or whether they are working with anyone else. It is another practical way to encourage entrepreneurial thinking in children without turning every interest into a formal lesson.

Akaisha playing a video game at home and developing skills learned from video games
Akaisha enjoying a video game at home, a reminder that gaming continues to be part of many children’s everyday lives.

A child may explain that they are building something for other players, organising a team, collecting resources or trying to understand why a particular strategy keeps failing.

Those conversations can help us see whether genuine learning is taking place and help children name the skills learned from video games. They may also help the child recognise skills they had not previously thought about.

At twelve, Chayse did not use words such as delegation, property management or business systems. Jai did not describe his Toribash experience as deliberate practice or competitive analysis.

They understood those ideas later because they had something practical to connect them to.

Parents could also ask:

  • What is the hardest part of the game?
  • How did you work out what to do?
  • Are you helping or managing other players?
  • What did you try that did not work?
  • Is there someone in the game you are learning from?
  • Does anything you are doing remind you of something outside the game?

These questions create a discussion rather than turning gaming into another formal lesson.

Gaming Was Only One Part of Their Development

It is important not to give video games all the credit.

The skills learned from video games were only one part of our children’s development. They also played sport, travelled, went to school, tried small businesses and had many real-world experiences. Our enterprising dinner table conversations and the practical projects collected in our family enterprise stories gave them many other places to test ideas and build confidence. Gaming was only one influence among many.

What it did provide was another place where certain interests and abilities could develop.

Chayse enjoyed building systems, managing people and finding opportunities inside an economy.

Jai enjoyed analysing how people became successful and then immersing himself in improving.

Those traits may have found another outlet even if they had never played online games. Gaming simply provided an early environment in which they could practise them.

The Bigger Lesson About Skills Learned from Video Games

The skills learned from video games can extend well beyond the games themselves, but that does not happen automatically.

It depends on the game, the child, the way they play and whether they eventually recognise how those experiences might apply elsewhere.

For Chayse, Minecraft offered early lessons in buying, selling, leadership, delegation and creating systems.

For Jai, Toribash demonstrated the power of immersion, focused practice and learning from people who were already highly skilled.

Neither of them knew at the time that these experiences would later influence their approach to business. Their wider journeys are shared in our update on what happened to our seven enterprising kids, and the Our Enterprising Kids Today page connects many of those childhood experiences with the paths they are following now.

They were simply following interests that captured their attention.

As parents and teachers, perhaps the lesson is not that children should spend more time gaming. It is that we should remain curious about where their interests might be leading them.

Sometimes useful learning is taking place in places we did not think to look.

Million Dollar Business Plan: Jai Coaches Chayse on a Road Trip

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Jai Howitt coaching Chayse on a million dollar business plan during their Geraldton road trip

A million dollar business plan sounds like something created in a boardroom, but this one unfolded during a ten-hour road trip to Geraldton in Jai’s much-loved Land Rover.

Jai was travelling with his younger brother Chayse and their friend Flizzy to visit the boys’ grandparents. Along the way, Jai began coaching Chayse through a practical question: what would a realistic million dollar business plan look like for someone starting with limited money and experience?

It became much more than a business conversation. One brother’s experiences, successes and mistakes became a guide for another brother who is just beginning his own entrepreneurial journey.

The purpose of this million dollar business plan was not to promise overnight wealth. It was to help Chayse make better decisions, test ideas carefully and build evidence before investing too much time or money.

Jai and Chayse sitting on their grandparents’ front porch in Geraldton talking about business ideas

Editor’s note: This article shares Jai’s personal business framework and our family’s reflections on his journey. It is educational rather than financial advice, and no business plan can guarantee a particular result.

A Road Trip, Two Brothers and a Million Dollar Business Plan

Jai is nine years older than Chayse. He remembers clearly what it felt like to be Chayse’s age: ambitious, curious and convinced that there had to be a way to create a life on his own terms.

Chayse is now at that same stage. He has taught himself how to build websites and apps, work with artificial intelligence, create digital products, run marketing campaigns and pitch his skills to online businesses. He has experimented with NFTs and cryptocurrency, completed paid work for clients and recently secured an internship in digital content and user-generated content marketing.

He looks up to Jai, not because everything Jai has tried has worked, but because Jai has built, failed, adapted and built again.

That made the Geraldton trip an ideal opportunity for a longer conversation. There were no formal desks, presentation slides or classrooms. There was a long road, plenty of time and a younger brother ready to listen.

Jai’s Early Enterprise Lessons Began Long Before the Million Dollar Businesses

Jai, Chayse and Flizzy travelling in Jai’s Land Rover during their Geraldton road trip

For us, one of the most meaningful parts of this story is seeing how Jai’s current business thinking connects with the small enterprise experiences he had as a child.

Readers who followed Enterprise for Kids in the early years may remember Jai exploring technology, vlogging, media creation and app development. At around thirteen, he was already fascinated by the idea that technology could be used to create something valuable. His early Apple app enterprise idea did not become an instant success, but it taught him to think in terms of problems, products, technology and possibility.

Those childhood ideas were not wasted just because they did not immediately become profitable businesses. They were rehearsals. Jai was learning how to imagine an outcome, find information, ask for help, deal with roadblocks and keep moving.

This is one of the recurring themes in our family enterprise stories. The small experiments children try today may become the foundations of the work they do years later.

How Jai Learned the Lessons Behind His Million Dollar Business Plan

One of Jai’s most valuable early opportunities came when a successful businessman employed him to follow his work and family life with a camera.

Jai travelled with him, filmed his daily activities and recorded the business courses he delivered to clients in places including Bali and the Hunter Valley. He then spent hours editing the footage for social media and online course content.

On the surface, Jai was being paid to film and edit. In reality, he was receiving an unusually close education in business.

That kind of exposure is one reason we believe young entrepreneurs and business mentors can have such a powerful influence on children. Seeing how someone thinks, works and makes decisions can expand what a young person believes is possible.

He observed how the businessman communicated, taught, made decisions, served clients, structured offers and presented ideas. Jai was learning through proximity. He could see what business looked like from the inside rather than only reading about it from the outside.

Years later, the pattern came full circle. Flizzy was working with Jai, filming and creating content during the Geraldton trip, much as Jai had once done for his own mentor. Flizzy then shaped that footage into the YouTube video embedded below.

One young person had once learnt by carrying the camera. Now another young creator was doing the same while Jai passed his lessons to Chayse.

Watch Jai Coach Chayse Through His Million Dollar Business Plan

You can also watch Jai’s full video on YouTube.

What the Million Dollar Business Plan Teaches About Success and Failure

Jai’s advice did not come from theory alone. By the time of this conversation, he had already experienced several very different businesses.

One of his early ventures was a media agency called Brand Boostr. It grew quickly and, at one point, employed more than a dozen people. The business generated significant revenue, but rapid growth also exposed weaknesses. Jai discovered that sales and profit are not the same thing, and that poor cashflow management can place even a busy, successful-looking business under pressure.

These experiences also reinforce why financial education for kids needs to include more than earning money. Young people also need to understand value, expenses, assets, liabilities and the consequences of financial decisions.

Jai with products from his Naming This Later business

That experience was painful, but it became one of his most important lessons.

Jai later built Naming This Later with a business partner. They designed a versatile woven throw that could be used at the beach or in the home, had it manufactured in India and marketed it internationally through Facebook advertising. The business achieved more than one million dollars in sales. Jai eventually gifted his share to his business partner after recognising that his enthusiasm had moved elsewhere.

He also helped build Founder Sports Club, a membership community designed to help active entrepreneurs meet other founders through sport and real conversation. It now operates as part of Art of Mondays’ Founder Sports Club.

Today, Jai is building Art of Mondays with his business partner Evan. The business creates spaces and communities for ambitious people who want to build meaningful work while also creating a life they enjoy.

Across these businesses, Jai has experienced growth, pressure, excitement, loss of motivation, mistakes, reinvention and the consequences of moving too quickly. That is why his advice to Chayse is practical. He knows a good idea is not enough. A business must solve a meaningful problem, attract paying customers, manage money, deliver value and fit the life of the person building it.

Jai’s One-Page Million Dollar Business Plan

Jai describes this as the one-page playbook he has used when taking businesses from an idea towards the one-million-dollar-a-year level. His million dollar business plan is designed to keep the founder focused on evidence, customers and practical action rather than complicated forecasts or guesswork.

Jai’s handwritten one million dollar business plan in his notebook

It is not a traditional business plan filled with lengthy forecasts and formal documents. It is a decision-making framework. It helps a founder choose a worthwhile problem, test a solution quickly and build evidence before investing too much time or money.

For a simpler introduction suitable for younger students, our article on business plan ideas for students explores how training, tools, teamwork, time and clear goals can help turn an idea into action.

The strength of this million dollar business plan is that it begins with decisions and evidence rather than complicated forecasts or guesswork.

1. Begin With the Life You Want

Before choosing a business, Jai asks a bigger question:

What do you want your life to look like twelve months from now?

The answer should include more than an income target. It might include where you want to live, how you want to work, the people you want around you, the amount of freedom you want and the experiences you hope to create.

Jai also encourages Chayse to identify his anti-goals: the things he does not want his success to cost him.

  • I do not want to work twelve-hour days indefinitely.
  • I do not want to sacrifice my physical or mental health.
  • I do not want to build a business that makes travel impossible.
  • I do not want success to leave me isolated or lonely.

This is an important distinction. A business can look successful from the outside while creating a life the founder does not enjoy.

Handwritten note reading Solve a Problem You Understand

2. Solve a Problem You Understand

Jai’s next step is to carry a notebook for thirty days and record problems as they appear in everyday life.

Each problem can then be scored using two scales:

  • PAIN: How frustrating, expensive or difficult is this problem for the person experiencing it?
  • PLAY: How enjoyable and natural would solving this problem feel to you?

The most promising opportunities score highly on both. The customer genuinely wants relief from the problem, and the founder is interested enough in the solution to remain engaged when the work becomes difficult.

This is excellent advice for young entrepreneurs. Instead of beginning with, “How can I make money?”, begin with, “What problem can I solve well?”

This connects closely with our lesson on entrepreneurship for students, where we explore how young people can learn to notice opportunities, solve problems, create value and take action.

Handwritten note reading Find a Reference Point

3. Find a Reference Point

A completely original idea is not always an advantage.

Jai advises looking for another business that is already solving a similar problem. Its existence can provide evidence that customers recognise the problem and are willing to pay for a solution.

The goal is not to copy someone else. It is to understand the market, learn what customers already value and then create a clear difference.

4. Test the Business Model Before Falling in Love With the Idea

Jai talking to Chayse in the Land Rover about testing a business model before falling in love with the idea

Jai uses a simple checklist when assessing a possible business model:

  • Does it have a clear difference in the market?
  • Can it produce recurring revenue?
  • Can it achieve strong margins?
  • Can it scale without requiring an equally large increase in staff?
  • Can it be started without raising a large amount of outside capital?
  • Does it suit the founder’s desired way of living?

Not every worthwhile small business will meet every item perfectly. However, the checklist forces a young founder to think beyond whether the idea sounds exciting.

A strong business must work for both the customer and the person building it.

5. Build a Minimum Viable Product Quickly

Instead of spending months making a polished product in private, Jai encourages Chayse to build a minimum viable product, or MVP, within about three days.

The first version only needs to solve the central problem well enough for real people to try it.

His advice is:

  • Use the 80/20 rule.
  • Focus on the few features that create most of the value.
  • Aim to be meaningfully different rather than marginally better.
  • Offer the early version free when useful so people will test it.

This reduces the cost of being wrong. A founder learns from users before investing heavily in a product people may not want.

Within Jai’s million dollar business plan, speed matters because early testing can prevent months of work being invested in the wrong solution.

Handwritten note reading Ask for Feedback

6. Ask for Feedback and Improve Relentlessly

Once people begin using the product, Jai recommends asking direct questions:

  • What do you love about this idea?
  • What would you change or improve?
  • What is confusing or unnecessary?
  • How much would you realistically pay for it?

He suggests watching customers use the product, creating a simple group chat for suggestions and studying competitors’ one-star reviews. Complaints often reveal gaps that a new business can solve better.

At the same time, Jai warns against adding every requested feature. More does not always mean better. If removing a feature does not break the core solution, it may be noise rather than value.

Handwritten note reading Find the First Paying Customer

7. Find the First Paying Customer

A compliment is encouraging, but a paying customer is evidence.

This is a crucial point in the million dollar business plan: interest is useful, but a real sale provides much stronger evidence that the business is solving something valuable.

The first sale proves that someone values the solution enough to exchange real money for it. If people like the idea but will not pay, the founder may need to improve the product, solve a more painful problem or communicate the value more clearly.

This stage is not failure. It is information.

8. Build a Predictable Path to $100,000 a Year

Once the product works and customers are willing to pay, the next challenge is creating a repeatable way to attract more of them.

Jai and Chayse walking in Geraldton with a basketball while talking about business

Jai encourages choosing two lead-generation methods rather than trying everything at once. Options include:

  • direct outreach through email, messages or calls;
  • organic content across social media platforms;
  • referrals from happy customers;
  • networking and events;
  • paid advertising;
  • partnerships;
  • lead magnets, webinars and workshops; and
  • email marketing and customer retention.

His advice when growth slows is often to do more of what has already worked before abandoning it for a completely new strategy.

More volume, better execution, then something new.

9. Scale Towards One Million Dollars With More Focus, Not More Chaos

At this stage, Jai’s advice becomes surprisingly simple: do less, but do it with greater focus.

He encourages founders to increase the value they provide and create a logical pathway for customers:

  • give away something genuinely useful to attract the right people;
  • offer an affordable first paid product;
  • develop a recurring product or membership;
  • create a higher-value offer for customers who need deeper support.

He also emphasises content. Strong businesses need demand, and useful content can educate customers, build trust and show people why the solution matters.

Finally, founders need to decide what should be automated, delegated or eliminated. Growth becomes difficult when the founder remains responsible for every small task.

This stage of the million dollar business plan is about creating focused, repeatable growth rather than simply adding more work for the founder.

10. Choose Your Work, Environment and People Carefully

Jai and Chayse continuing their business conversation on a Zoom call after the Geraldton trip

Jai’s final lesson is not really about revenue.

He tells Chayse to spend more time deciding:

  • what he wants to do;
  • where he wants to live; and
  • who he wants to spend his time with.

Those three choices shape far more than a business. They shape a life.

“When I was young, a few people believed in me, and it changed what I believed was possible.”

This also connects with our article on limiting beliefs in children. Encouragement does not guarantee success, but it can help a young person believe they are capable of learning, trying and recovering when an idea does not work.

That belief is something Jai now wants to pass on.

Chayse Is Not Starting From Nothing

Although the video frames the challenge as building a business from scratch, Chayse is not beginning empty-handed.

Chayse looking into Jai’s Land Rover during the Geraldton trip

He already has years of self-directed learning behind him. He has built and sold digital assets, developed websites and apps, completed projects for paying clients and invested his own money in learning marketing skills. He understands online communities, content, artificial intelligence and the speed at which digital opportunities change.

Just as importantly, he has older siblings who can show him what success and failure actually look like.

When Chayse was four, we wrote about his little lolly business and the excitement of turning a small amount of start-up money into something more. Today, the products and platforms are different, but the foundation is familiar: notice an opportunity, make a plan, test the idea and learn through action.

You can follow more of his earlier and current journey through our Chayse Howitt stories.

The Mentorship Circle Comes Back Around

There is something especially powerful about the way this story connects three young men.

Jai once learnt by filming a businessman, listening to his teaching and observing how he worked. Flizzy was now working with Jai in a similar creative role. At the same time, Jai was mentoring Chayse and turning his own difficult business lessons into a clearer pathway for his younger brother.

This is how practical knowledge often moves between generations and peers. Someone opens a door, shares what they know and gives another person the confidence to begin.

It also reinforces why we continue to believe in raising entrepreneurial kids through real-world learning. We cannot predict which childhood project, family conversation, mentor or early failure will matter most. We can only create opportunities, encourage curiosity and help young people learn how to think.

Key Takeaway: A Million Dollar Business Plan Begins With Better Decisions

Key takeaway: Jai’s million dollar business plan is not a promise of quick wealth. It is a framework for making better decisions: choose the life you want, solve a painful problem, test the solution quickly, listen to customers, find a repeatable path to growth and stay focused on what creates real value.

For Chayse, the greatest advantage may not be the plan itself. It may be having a brother willing to share the wins, mistakes and hard-earned lessons behind it.

Jai and Chayse pointing at the camera while holidaying on the Cocos Islands

What is one problem you notice in your own life that could become the beginning of a useful business idea? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Entrepreneurial Family: What We Talk About Around the Dinner Table

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Kaitlin, Jai, Flynn, Amber and Tully relaxing by the sea on Cocos Islands as part of an entrepreneurial family story

An entrepreneurial family does not always teach enterprise through formal lessons. Sometimes the most powerful learning happens around the dinner table.

In our family, dinner often began with gratitude, a few stories from the day, and a celebration of what people had achieved. But quite often, the conversation would shift into business, money, social media, investing, websites, ideas and opportunities.

Flynn developing photography and filmmaking skills as part of an entrepreneurial family story
Film making and photography helped Flynn build confidence, creativity and a social media following.

Editor’s note: This article was originally written during an earlier stage of our family’s Enterprise for Kids journey and has been refreshed with updated formatting, links and reflections. Some examples are historical, but the bigger lesson is still very relevant: children learn a great deal from the conversations, questions and opportunities they grow up around.

What Does an Entrepreneurial Family Talk About?

What do you think the Howitts talk about around the dinner table?

It always begins with each member of the family sharing a gratitude. Usually the events of the day are told, small wins are noticed, and achievements are celebrated. But what often happens next is that topics of business, enterprise, finance and investing begin to govern the conversation.

That might sound unusual, but for us it became part of family life. We were not trying to lecture the children. We were simply talking openly about ideas, opportunities, risks, mistakes and what people were learning.

This is one of the quiet strengths of an entrepreneurial family. Children begin to hear the language of possibility. They hear adults and siblings talk about ideas, value, money, creativity, customers, digital skills and problem-solving. Over time, those conversations can shape the way children see the world.

Some of the topics around our family table have included social media opportunities, digital assets, eCommerce and online business. Let’s look at how these conversations can present opportunities for kids and teens to think more entrepreneurially.

How Social Media Became a Learning Opportunity

Our older children, Kaitlin, Jai, Flynn and Amber, all discovered social media when they were in their mid-teens. It started with Facebook, then Instagram, and later platforms such as TikTok and Snapchat.

They learned how to grow a real following by posting regular, quality content about their lives, interests and adventures. It probably helped that we were living on a tropical island atoll in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Photos and videos from Cocos Islands always looked pretty fabulous, and those early creative skills helped shape things like Flynn’s photography and creative work.

Kaitlin creating inspirational workshops and enterprise opportunities through social media and connection
Creating workshops and connecting with people became part of Kaitlin’s enterprise journey.

As their following grew, so did their opportunities for enterprise. It began with simple things like shoutouts. Other people or companies would pay them to mention a product, page or service in a post. This helped those people grow their followers or promote what they were offering, and our enterprising kids were happy for the cash.

Next came real products. Companies sent clothing, watches, surf gear and jewellery for them to wear and share on their accounts. The kids were able to keep the gear, and in some cases they were also paid for the promotion.

Looking back, this was an early lesson in digital entrepreneurship. The children were learning that attention, trust, creativity and consistency could create opportunities. They were also learning that a following is not just about numbers. It is about connection, value and communication.

Turning Digital Skills Into Real Business

As time went by and their social media followings grew, their creative ideas began to grow as well. Bigger opportunities started to appear.

Jai beginning his digital enterprise journey from his bedroom as part of an entrepreneurial family
Jai building digital skills from his bedroom in the early days of his enterprise journey.

Kaitlin, along with Tully, began building multiple streams of income using social media, connection and online platforms. Their work included coaching, network marketing and online courses.

Jai took a few years to build momentum, but his early interest in social media and content creation eventually became a real business path. He began creating content for clients and using his digital skills to generate leads and opportunities.

That is one of the things I find interesting as a parent. The small things children play with, practise and explore as teenagers can become the early foundations for future work.

Jai standing in his warehouse after growing his digital content and media business
Jai’s early digital interests eventually grew into real business opportunities.

An entrepreneurial family does not need to have all the answers. What matters is creating an environment where children are allowed to explore ideas, test things, ask questions and see real examples of enterprise in action.

That connects closely with our broader reflections on how to raise entrepreneurial kids. Children do not only need theory. They need conversations, experiments, encouragement and real-world opportunities.

Talking About Crypto and Digital Assets Carefully

Another topic that entered our family conversations was crypto. You would have heard about Bitcoin, but many people still do not fully understand what it is, how it works, or why people are interested in it.

For our family, the useful part of the conversation was not “everyone should buy crypto”. It was the opportunity to talk about technology, risk, research, hype, long-term thinking and the difference between speculation and investing.

Important note: This section is not financial advice. Crypto assets are volatile and risky. This article is simply reflecting on how one family used the topic as a learning conversation about technology, money and decision-making.

In simple terms, Bitcoin is a digital asset built on blockchain technology. It was created in 2008 and has a limited supply. People are interested in it for many reasons, including decentralisation, borderless transactions, digital scarcity and the potential of blockchain technology.

But the more important family lesson was this: children and teens need to learn how to think, not just what to buy.

When topics like crypto come up, parents can ask useful questions:

  • What problem is this technology trying to solve?
  • Who benefits if people buy into it?
  • What could go wrong?
  • Is this investing, speculation, gambling or learning?
  • What would proper research look like?
  • How much risk is too much?

Those are powerful dinner table questions. They help children think about risk, evidence, emotions and decision-making. That is far more valuable than simply telling them something is good or bad.

This also links with our article on financial education for kids, where we explore how children can begin to think about assets, liabilities and wiser money choices.

eCommerce and Website Building at Home

Another topic we explored as a family was eCommerce and website building. We were learning how websites could be built, improved, monetised and sometimes bought or sold as digital assets.

Websites can be monetised in many ways. Some common methods include affiliate marketing, advertising, directory listings, services, digital products and online courses.

For enterprising kids and teens, the bigger lesson is not that every child should rush out and build a website. The lesson is that digital skills matter.

When a young person learns how websites work, they begin to understand:

  • how online businesses attract attention
  • how content can create value
  • how products and services are sold online
  • how audiences are built
  • how digital assets can be improved over time
  • how creativity, writing, design and technology can work together

At the time of the original article, some of the younger Howitt kids were building websites. Amber had started a site about sustainable period products. Chayse had bought a site called Baby Client and was working on improving it. Other projects were still a work in progress.

Some of those early projects worked. Some did not. But every one of them created learning.

That is the value of an entrepreneurial family. The goal is not to make every child successful at every idea. The goal is to build initiative, curiosity, problem-solving and the courage to keep learning.

What Parents Can Learn From an Entrepreneurial Family

Our dinner table conversations may be a little different to the average family. We gain inspiration from one another through these conversations and through mentors who support us on our entrepreneurial journeys.

We are building skills, gaining knowledge, creating assets and, most of all, strengthening a mindset for enterprise.

If you want to encourage more enterprise in your own family, you do not need to start with a big business idea. Start with better conversations.

You might ask your children:

  • What problem did you notice today?
  • What could make that easier, better or more useful?
  • What skill would you like to learn?
  • What do people already ask you for help with?
  • What could you create, sell, improve or share?
  • What does this teach us about money, value or responsibility?

Those questions help children see the world differently. They begin to notice opportunity. They begin to understand value. They begin to realise that enterprise is not just something adults do. It is a way of thinking.

Key takeaway: An entrepreneurial family can use everyday conversations about business, money, digital skills, investing and ideas to help children build confidence, curiosity and real-world enterprise. The dinner table can become one of the most powerful classrooms in the home.

Financial Literacy for Teens: Jai and Kaitlin’s Enterprise Journey

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Jai and Kaitlin as young teens learning financial literacy through enterprise goals

Financial literacy for teens often becomes most powerful when it is connected to a real goal. For Jai, that goal was finding the money he needed for Country Week Soccer. For Kaitlin, it was learning how to manage her creative enterprise alongside study, sport, friends and teenage life.

“`

In this part of our family enterprise journey, Jai and Kaitlin remind us that teenagers do not always need another lecture about money. Sometimes they need a meaningful reason to take action.

“`

Akaisha as a toddler in a dog walking photo introducing financial literacy for teens through family enterprise stories
Enterprise lessons begin early in family life, but teenagers often need real goals before financial literacy truly comes alive.

Financial Literacy for Teens: Jai and Kaitlin’s Enterprise Journey

So far in our family enterprise journey, we have seen Flynn build a great honey enterprise and actually achieve his goal. Kit had a go at dog walking, but quickly realised that Chayse was making more money selling lollies at the local soccer fields, so he began pursuing that with his brother.

Kit and Chayse made quite a team, and we will revisit them again in another blog post. Amber also reached her goal with her “New from Old” endeavours, and we will celebrate her achievement separately too.

That leaves our creative artist, Kaitlin, and our budding app developer, Jai.

What has been interesting to notice on the children’s journeys is that it can be easier to introduce a different mindset around money to younger children than it is to teenagers or older children.

Why would financial literacy for teens be more challenging?

In our case, Kaitlin and Jai had already been around longer with us as their major source of education. That meant our own money thoughts, objections and subconscious beliefs had been absorbed by them for longer. It was now more of a process to help them question and reshape those beliefs.

Teenagers, Money Beliefs and Real-Life Goals

Kaitlin and Jai learning financial literacy for teens through youth enterprise goals
Kaitlin and Jai were learning that money goals need time, action and follow-through.

Luckily for us, Kaitlin and Jai are both quick learners and they understood the concepts we were trying to teach.

The main obstacle was finding the time to put this new knowledge into action.

Being teenagers, their lives were already full of homework, study, sporting commitments, social life and social media. All of these are things we wanted to encourage in our children, so our challenge was finding a way to include financial education without making it feel like one more burden.

In the end, as with many things, life became the best teacher of all.

Jai’s Teen Money Goal for Country Week Soccer

Jai setting teen money goals as part of financial literacy for teens
Jai’s focus changed when he had a real money goal to reach.

Jai had not had much urgency to pursue his app development because there was no clear timeline attached to his goal. His app idea was exciting, but it was also a long-term project.

Then his goal changed.

Jai was accepted into the Country Week Soccer team and would be competing in Perth during the holidays. He had to pay for a good portion of the trip himself.

Suddenly, he had a renewed vision and a very real money goal to aim for.

He spent countless hours researching ways to make the money in a short amount of time. This is where his youth enterprise thinking kicked into action.

Jai using enterprise ideas to help pay for his Country Week Soccer goal
Jai loves being active, and Country Week gave him a goal worth working for.

He came up with different ways to make the money, including some ideas he had not been interested in before.

The opportunities Jai looked at included:

  • mowing lawns in the neighbourhood,
  • finding good-quality items to sell,
  • hiring out exercise equipment,
  • negotiating paid jobs around the house that were above and beyond normal chores.

Together, Jai and Trevor worked out that he needed to find about $10 a day to afford his portion of the trip. That made the goal feel clearer and more achievable.

He began negotiating with us over jobs that needed doing around the house, and then he got on with them.

He also went through many of his good-quality items that had once been “must haves” when he bought them. He realised that perhaps he did not need them as much as he first thought, so he posted them on Facebook to sell.

What Jai Learnt About Financial Literacy for Teens

Jai’s Country Week goal became a practical financial literacy lesson. Instead of simply asking for money, he had to think about earning, selling, negotiating, time, effort and priorities.

He also had to work out the difference between a long-term enterprise idea and a short-term money need.

Although Jai’s app development journey had taken a back seat, it had not been forgotten. He simply recognised that app development was a longer-term project, while his Country Week Soccer goal needed faster action.

That is an important financial literacy lesson for teenagers. Not every money-making idea suits every goal. Sometimes a teen needs quick cash flow. Other times, they need patience, skill-building and a longer timeline.

We were proud of Jai’s efforts and were confident he would reach his goal in time.

Kaitlin’s Creative Enterprise and Time Management

Kaitlin painting as part of her creative enterprise and financial literacy for teens journey
Kaitlin doing what she loves — using her creative skill as a possible enterprise.

Kaitlin, our artist in residence, was also learning an important financial literacy lesson.

Her lesson was not only about how to make money. It was about how to manage her energy, time and priorities around study, social life, sport and her youth enterprise ventures.

Kaitlin had already explored the idea of turning her artistic skill into a student enterprise. You can read more about that earlier stage in Kaitlin’s portrait drawing enterprise.

Now she had a timeline in place and was receiving more requests for artwork. That meant she had to begin each piece early enough to finish it before Christmas for some customers, and earlier for others.

This was a different kind of money lesson. Kaitlin had to connect creativity with responsibility. If people were asking her to create artwork, she needed to protect the time and energy required to deliver it properly.

Teenage Distractions and Self-Efficacy

Kaitlin learning time management and self efficacy as a teenager with enterprise goals
Kaitlin and Lachlan.

Having a boyfriend actually increased Kaitlin’s self-efficacy because she needed to complete certain things before socialising.

Luckily, Lachlan encouraged Kaitlin to do that, because he actually wanted to have a social life too!

This connects beautifully with the lesson we explored later in Kaitlin’s article about avoiding distractions and following through on her enterprise goals.

For teenagers, financial literacy is not only about budgets and bank accounts. It is also about self-management. It is about learning that if you want to earn money through your skills, you need to manage your time, energy, focus and commitments.

Creative Enterprise with Kaitlin and Georgia

Kaitlin and Georgia exploring creative enterprise and real-world learning as teenagers
Kaitlin and Georgia exploring ideas, creativity and enterprise.

Kaitlin and her friend Georgia were also realising the power of leveraging their time.

They had come up with some great enterprise ideas and had put steps in place to pursue them. These were longer-term goals, but in the end they could reap more rewards than simply working a job.

At the same time, they still saw the need to pursue their jobs in the meantime, so they could have money to put towards their enterprise when it was up and running.

This is another important financial literacy lesson for teens: sometimes a job and an enterprise can work together.

A job can create cash flow. An enterprise can create ownership, learning, creativity and possibility. Both can play a role while a teenager is learning how money, work and opportunity connect.

Financial Literacy for Teens Happens Through Real Life

The journey towards financial freedom is always a rocky one, but it is one worth following regardless of what else is going on in life.

Our kids are teaching us so much along the way. Not all of their efforts are successful, but they are learning from each experience and moving forward.

That is what makes real-world learning so powerful.

Jai’s story shows how a clear money goal can turn a teenager into a problem-solver. Kaitlin’s story shows how creativity, customers and deadlines can teach responsibility and time management.

Neither of those lessons can be fully taught from a worksheet.

They are lived.

Where Jai and Kaitlin Are Today

Looking back 14 years later, it is beautiful to see how these early enterprise lessons continued to show up in Jai and Kaitlin’s lives.

Jai’s early interest in app development, problem-solving and online enterprise has grown into his current business, Art of Mondays. It is a wonderful example of how early exposure to enterprise, technology and financial literacy can keep developing over time.

Kaitlin’s creativity and interest in bringing ideas to life has also continued. You can see a glimpse of what she is creating now through Kaitlin’s Golden Days Club.

At the time, these teenage money goals may have looked like small family lessons. But years later, they remind us that children and teenagers are often building foundations long before we can see the full picture.

Key Takeaway: Financial Literacy for Teens Needs Real Goals

Key takeaway: financial literacy for teens becomes more meaningful when teenagers have real goals. Jai needed money for Country Week Soccer, while Kaitlin needed to manage creative requests and deadlines. Through youth enterprise, they learnt money skills, focus, responsibility and real-world problem-solving.

Where to Next?

What real goal could help your teenager learn more about money, responsibility and enterprise?

Leadership Activities for Teens: Jai’s Green SuperCamp Bali Experience

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Leadership activities for teens during team games at Green SuperCamp Bali

Leadership activities for teens do not always look like formal lessons. Sometimes they look like dance, drama, team games, high ropes, trust-building, public speaking, friendships and learning how to step outside your comfort zone.

“`

That is exactly what Jai experienced at Green SuperCamp Bali. He returned to Australia with stories to share, new confidence and a stronger sense of what it means to be motivated, balanced and willing to have a go.

“`

Leadership activities for teens through dance and drama at Green SuperCamp Bali
Dance, drama and group challenges helped Jai step outside his comfort zone at Green SuperCamp Bali.

Leadership Activities for Teens: Jai’s Green SuperCamp Bali Experience

Jai and Kaitlin also attended Green SuperCamp Bali, although their experiences were a little different to Flynn’s Green SuperCamp experience.

Jai and Kaitlin were with teenagers from around 14 to 17 years old, so their learning and activities were different from the younger group. They still had life-changing experiences and returned to Australia with plenty of stories to share and noticeable positive changes.

You can also read Amber’s Green SuperCamp reflection and the earlier post about why our kids wanted to attend Green SuperCamp.

For readers interested in current Bali-based camp experiences, you can also explore the official Green Camp Bali kids and youth camps, which continue the spirit of outdoor, hands-on learning and personal growth.

Here is Jai’s account in his own words.

Jai’s First Impressions of Green SuperCamp Bali

Jai being prepared by his team to present a talk during leadership activities for teens at Green SuperCamp Bali
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 was 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.

What stands out in Jai’s reflection is that the camp did not separate learning from experience. The teenagers were not simply sitting and listening. They were involved, moving, speaking, presenting, laughing, trying, trusting and remembering through action.

That is why leadership activities for teens can be so powerful. They help young people learn by doing.

Leadership Activities for Teens Through Trust and Challenge

Green SuperCamp Bali gave Jai the chance to learn alongside teenagers from around the world. The activities were designed to build confidence, trust, teamwork and self-motivation.

Jai at Green SuperCamp Bali learning confidence trust and self motivation
Green SuperCamp Bali.
High ropes course as a leadership activity for teens at Green SuperCamp Bali
High ropes course.
Bamboo construction project at Green SuperCamp Bali teaching teamwork and problem solving
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.

The high ropes course, building projects, drama, games and group challenges were not just activities to keep the teenagers busy. They were leadership activities for teens designed to develop trust, courage, communication and perseverance.

These are the same qualities we want our children to develop through real-world learning and enterprise.

Teamwork Activities for Teens at Green SuperCamp

Every morning, before breakfast, Jai and his team had to stand up together and chant:

Leadership activities for teens during team games at Green SuperCamp Bali
Team games at Green SuperCamp Bali.
Jai making friends at Green SuperCamp Bali during teamwork activities for teens
Making friends, with the camp in the background.

“HUNGRY HUNGRY
*clap clap*
VERY VERY
*clap clap*
HUNGRY VERY
*clap clap*
VERY HUNGRY
*clap clap*
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, which was another thing we learnt, and we all got right into it!

This is one of the great lessons of camp experiences like this. Teenagers often worry about how they look, what others think and whether they will be judged.

But in the right environment, with strong facilitators and a group willing to participate, those barriers can begin to fall away.

Leadership for teens often begins when young people stop worrying so much about looking silly and start participating fully.

Confidence Building and International Friendships

Green SuperCamp Bali 2012 group photo showing international leadership activities for teens
Green SuperCamp Bali 2012.

My favourite part of the camp was interacting with the people there and mucking around with new-found mates!

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 of 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

Jai’s words say so much.

For us as parents, Green SuperCamp Bali was not just about a week away. It was about confidence building, self-motivation, friendship, courage, integrity, trust and learning how to participate in life more fully.

Those are not small lessons.

Why Leadership Activities for Teens Matter

Leadership activities for teens matter because young people often need experiences that help them discover who they are outside their normal routines.

At home and school, teenagers can become locked into familiar roles. They might be seen as the sporty one, the shy one, the loud one, the academic one, the distracted one, the confident one or the one who never volunteers.

A camp experience can shake that up.

Suddenly they are in a new environment, with new people, new expectations and new challenges. They have to speak, listen, trust, try, fail, laugh, lead, follow and contribute.

That is real-world learning.

These kinds of experiences also connect closely with the broader ideas we explored in our article on Green School Bali and real-world learning.

They also connect with the current Green Camp Bali kids and youth camps, where young people continue to learn through immersive, nature-based experiences.

What Jai’s Green SuperCamp Experience Taught Us

Jai’s Green SuperCamp Bali experience reminded us that teenagers can grow quickly when they are placed in the right environment.

He learnt about quantum strategies, trust, integrity, balance, self-motivation, study habits, friendship and confidence. Just as importantly, he learnt that learning can be fun, active and memorable.

For enterprising kids, these lessons matter.

Entrepreneurship is not only about business. It is about leadership, communication, resilience, initiative and the ability to work with others.

That is why leadership activities for teens can support the same qualities we want in young entrepreneurs.

Key Takeaway: Leadership Activities for Teens Build Confidence

Key takeaway: leadership activities for teens can build confidence, trust, self-motivation and real-world learning. Jai’s Green SuperCamp Bali experience showed us that teenagers can grow powerfully through team games, high ropes, drama, friendships and stepping outside their comfort zone.

Our children’s Green SuperCamp experience also connected with the wider philosophy of Green School Bali, where learning is designed to be practical, creative, sustainable and connected to real life.

Where to Next?

What kind of leadership experience could help your teenager build confidence, trust and self-motivation?

Business Ideas for Teens: Jai’s App Developer Enterprise

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Business ideas for teens shown through Jai planning his app developer enterprise

Business ideas for teens often grow from the things they are already interested in. For Jai, that interest was technology, gaming and the idea of designing, making and selling an app.

At 13 years old, Jai was full of energy for his new enterprise idea. But as he quickly discovered, turning a tech idea into a real business can come with plenty of roadblocks.

Business ideas for teens with Jai thinking through his app development enterprise
What will Jai’s next move be?

Business Ideas for Teens: Jai’s App Developer Enterprise

Jai was super motivated and was like a bull at a gate with his new enterprising idea, which was to design, make and sell an app.

For those of you who are not geeks and are unfamiliar with the terminology, an app basically means application software for a device such as an iPhone, iPad or computer.

Jai’s idea was exciting because it connected directly with something he already loved — technology and gaming. At 13 years old, he could see that apps were becoming a huge part of the world, and he wanted to learn how to create one himself.

Turning a Tech Interest into a Teen Business Idea

Jai bought an Apple App developer licence under his Mum’s name and downloaded all the software onto his school’s Apple computer. This was a computer he was able to loan on a permanent basis until he left school. Lucky boy!

He then poured through the various emails and instructions and did whatever was required to get himself underway.

This is one of the exciting things about business ideas for teens. As children get older, their ideas often become more complex. Instead of selling a simple product or offering a basic service, they may begin exploring technology, design, online tools, digital products and more advanced enterprise ideas.

Apple’s own Developer Program gives developers access to tools and resources for creating and distributing apps and games, so Jai was stepping into a very real-world learning space.

There Are Ups and Downs

Jai experiencing ups and downs while developing his app business idea
There are ups… and downs!

The process proved to be very challenging and it wasn’t long before Jai was faced with a huge roadblock.

He was stumped!

The information and requirements were very complicated and technical, and Jai really needed professional help to get him through it.

I could see his spirits dropping fast, so we sat down for a chat about roadblocks.

Business Ideas for Teens Need Roadblock Thinking

Jai learning about apps and games for his teen business idea
To know about apps, you have to play the games!!

When you are building up an enterprise idea, it is important not to get bogged down by all the “what ifs”. If we all did that, we wouldn’t get past first base.

Whatever enterprise you choose to do will have roadblocks, and you will need to troubleshoot a way to get around them.

Firstly, it is important to come up with an idea and build it up. Then the next step is to work out a general plan for developing the idea into an enterprise. This means identifying each of the development stages.

From there, you can think about the detail and consider the roadblocks for Stage One.

Jai’s Stage One App Developer Plan

So Jai and I considered his Stage One plan.

The plan was to become registered as an app developer, download the software, then become familiar with the software.

Jai’s roadblocks were:

  • the software was not loading correctly onto his computer;
  • the software was difficult to understand;
  • he didn’t know how to get started with using it.

So we planned a simple strategy to deal with these roadblocks.

We were going to be in Geraldton for a holiday in a few days. Jai’s strategy was to pay a visit to our successful app developer friend and ask him to help him get started.

Finding a Mentor

Jai climbing to new heights while learning from a mentor for his app idea
It’s exciting to climb to new heights…

That he did, and when I saw Jai next I could see the spring back in his step.

He now had new understanding and some direction. He had also opened a line of communication with an expert, who could possibly become a mentor down the track.

Having a mentor is one of the proven best ways to a successful business.

This is an important lesson for raising entrepreneurial kids. Children and teens do not need to know everything before they begin. But they do need to learn how to ask for help, find people who know more than they do, and keep going when the first roadblock appears.

When One Problem Creates Another Problem

What Jai learnt was that, for the software to work properly, he needed to download another program onto his Apple computer.

So when he arrived back to Burekup, he downloaded the program, which seemed to sort the software issues. It looked like he was now finally ready to get going with it all.

He headed off to school that Monday, only to arrive home later that day without his computer and looking very frustrated.

Apparently, when he went about his online school work, he found that all the school programs he used were no longer compatible with his computer.

He paid a visit to the school’s computer tech, who identified what had caused the problem: Jai downloading this new program!

He wasn’t very happy with Jai.

He said that the computer would need to be wiped clean and completely reconfigured, then reloaded with all the school’s programs again. To top it off, Jai was told that it might take a few days to get it sorted.

Not good news at all!

More roadblocks!

What Jai’s App Idea Teaches About Teen Enterprise

Jai’s app developer idea is a great example of how business ideas for teens can stretch them into real-world problem-solving.

He had to deal with:

  • technical language;
  • software requirements;
  • computer compatibility problems;
  • needing expert help;
  • frustration and disappointment;
  • the reality that a good idea is only the beginning.

That is the real value of these experiences. Teen enterprise is not just about the end product. It is about the thinking, troubleshooting, persistence and maturity that develop along the way.

Those are powerful mindset, confidence and leadership lessons.

Key Takeaway: Business Ideas for Teens Need Persistence

Key takeaway: Business ideas for teens can be more complex than simple childhood enterprises, but they also teach deeper lessons. Jai’s app developer journey shows that roadblocks, mentors, technical problems and persistence are all part of turning an idea into something real.

Where to Next?

If you enjoyed Jai’s app developer enterprise story, you may also like:


Kaitlin’s Portrait Drawing Enterprise
See how a creative skill became a student business idea.

Kids Business Ideas
Explore more practical enterprise ideas for children and teens.


Mindset, Confidence & Leadership
Read more stories about children learning confidence through real-world challenges.

What will Jai do next with his enterprising idea? We will revisit his journey as an app developer in a later blog. It will make interesting reading with some hard lessons learnt!

Next up, we will touch base with Kaitlin and see how she is progressing with her enterprising idea.

We would love to hear from you, so please leave a comment.