kids business ideas

Small Business Ideas for Students: Kaitlin’s Portrait Drawing Enterprise

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Small business ideas for students shown through Kaitlin's portrait drawing enterprise

Small business ideas for students often begin with a skill they already love using. For Kaitlin, that skill was drawing — especially pencil portrait sketches.

This is Kaitlin’s creative enterprise idea: using her artistic talent to draw portraits from photos and turn that skill into a simple student business.

Small business ideas for students with Kaitlin planning her portrait drawing enterprise
Kaitlin loves drawing.

Small Business Ideas for Students: Kaitlin’s Portrait Drawing Enterprise

I admire those very creative people who can draw!

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

My sister won first prize in one of Australia’s richest art prizes, a $250,000 prize for an artwork she entered into “The Signature of Sydney”, which really kicked off her painting career. Also, my grandparents and aunt on my Dad’s side were respected artists.

So it is not surprising that our eldest daughter Kaitlin has an exceptional skill with drawing, and in particular pencil portrait sketches. From when she was very little, she would draw for hours and, over the years, has honed her skill.

Her Mum, Cathy, also has exceptional drawing skills and has encouraged and taught Kaitlin many of the skills she has today.

Looking at Skills as Enterprise Opportunities

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

This is one of the best ways to find kids business ideas. Rather than starting with the question, “How can I make money?”, children can start by asking:

  • What am I good at?
  • What do I enjoy doing?
  • Who might need this skill?
  • How could I help someone with it?
  • Would someone be willing to pay for that help?

For Kaitlin, the answer was clear. She loved drawing, she was good at portrait sketches, and people often like having personal artwork created from family photos.

That made portrait drawing a natural enterprise idea for her.

Small Business Ideas for Students Can Grow from Creative Skills

Kaitlin's mermaid drawing showing creative small business ideas for students
Kaitlin’s mermaid drawing.

Up-skilling yourself in your area of interest and becoming the best there is in that field will likely increase the demand for your kind of talent and services.

As a result, customers may choose you over your competitors and may be more likely to pay a premium.

I wrote an Enterprise for Kids post on this very topic a number of blogs ago. If you would like to learn more about how up-skilling can create enterprise for kids opportunities, then visit Finding Enterprise Ideas.

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

Kaitlin’s Portrait Drawing Business Plan

Kaitlin's portrait drawing as a creative business idea for students
Kaitlin’s portrait drawing.

Kaitlin planned on spending $70 to buy the drawing and framing materials she required to run her business.

Her idea was to draw people’s portraits from a photo and sell the finished artwork either framed or unframed.

She planned to market her service on Facebook. In our local area, there was a classified Facebook Buy and Sell group for Bunbury, and this gave her a place to start showing people what she could offer.

Her aim was to complete one drawing a week with a sale value of about $30.

In her video, Kaitlin also considers the roadblocks with her business and looks at possible solutions. That is an important part of planning any student enterprise idea.

What Kaitlin’s Idea Teaches About Student Enterprise

This is a good example of how small business ideas for students do not always need stock, tools, complicated technology or large amounts of money to get started.

Sometimes the starting point is a skill.

For Kaitlin, the important business lessons included:

  • recognising a personal talent;
  • turning that talent into a service;
  • working out the cost of materials;
  • deciding whether to sell framed or unframed drawings;
  • thinking about how to find customers;
  • considering roadblocks before starting.

Those are valuable money lessons for kids, because they show that earning money is not only about doing chores or receiving pocket money. It can also come from creating value for someone else.

Creative Enterprise and Real-World Learning

One of the things I love about Kaitlin’s idea is that it connects creativity with real-world learning.

She was not just drawing for fun. She was thinking about how her drawings could become useful or meaningful to someone else.

That is an important shift. It helps children see that their skills can be assets. Their interests can become opportunities. Their creativity can serve other people.

This is also why we believe so strongly in raising entrepreneurial kids. The goal is not simply to make children business-minded. The deeper goal is to help them become observant, confident, capable and willing to try.

The Australian Government’s business planning guidance also highlights the value of thinking through customers, marketing and planning before starting a business. Even though Kaitlin’s idea was small, these same basic principles still applied. Developing a business plan helps clarify what you want to offer and how you plan to make it work.

Key Takeaway: Small Business Ideas for Students Can Begin with Talent

Key takeaway: Small business ideas for students can begin with the skills they already have. Kaitlin’s portrait drawing enterprise shows how creativity, practice, planning and confidence can turn a personal talent into a real business idea.

Where to Next?

If you enjoyed Kaitlin’s portrait drawing enterprise idea, you may also like:


Finding Enterprise Ideas
Learn how children can look for problems, skills and opportunities when choosing an enterprise idea.

Chayse Plans a Candy Business
See another child’s simple business idea begin with a plan and a small amount of start-up money.

Kids Business Ideas
Explore more practical business ideas children can try through real-world learning.

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

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

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Dog Walking Business for Kids: Kit Plans His Enterprise

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Dog walking business for kids shown through Kit Howitt walking a dog

A dog walking business for kids might sound simple, but for Kit it became a real lesson in confidence, problem-solving, service and earning money through enterprise.

This is the story of Kit’s pocket money idea and how he planned to turn dog walking into his first little business.

Dog walking business for kids with Kit planning his first enterprise idea
Welcoming Kit and his entrepreneurial idea.

Dog Walking Business for Kids: Kit Plans His Enterprise

Plenty of kids receive pocket money from their parents. The kids then either save it or spend it. When we used to give pocket money to our kids, they would spend it straight away. Usually, they spent their money on “junky” things that didn’t last long.

This was very frustrating as a parent, so we looked for ways to teach our children to use their money wisely and to build a money mastery mindset for them. From these early days, we came up with some fantastic ideas which we’ll share with you in later blogs.

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

Looking for a Need

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

Kit figured that he could offer a service where he would take their pet for a walk on a lead.

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

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

Why a Dog Walking Business for Kids Needed a Plan

A dog walking business for kids sounds easy on the surface, but when we talked it through with Kit, there were some very real roadblocks.

This is where the learning became valuable. Kit was not just coming up with a cute idea. He had to think about safety, customer trust, his own confidence, the dog’s needs, and whether the service would be worth paying for.

That is why small kids business ideas can be so useful. Children get to practise thinking through a real situation rather than just talking about business in theory.

Roadblocks and Solutions

We talked through a business plan with Kit and investigated the roadblocks that he might be faced with. Then we investigated the solutions.

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

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

By offering doggy treats and a lead, Kit was “adding value” to his service.

We also talked about being safe and respectful around dogs. The RSPCA WA safety around dogs information is a useful reminder that children should be supervised around dogs and should understand how to behave calmly and safely around them.

Kit’s Dog Walking Enterprise Idea

Kit caring for a dog as part of his dog walking business for kids idea
Dog walking was Kit’s enterprise idea.

Kit’s idea was simple: offer to walk dogs for people who needed help.

That made it a service-based business. He did not need to buy stock like Chayse did with his lolly bags. Instead, Kit needed to offer his time, care and effort.

This gave us a great opportunity to talk about the difference between earning money from a product and earning money from a service. Both can be valuable money lessons for kids, but they teach slightly different things.

With Kit’s dog walking idea, the lesson was not just about money. It was about trust, responsibility and doing a job properly for someone else.

Could Kit Become the Next Dog Whisperer?

Kit with a dog while planning his dog walking enterprise idea
Could this be the next Dog Whisperer?

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

So it was on. Kit was now officially a professional dog walker!

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

What Kit Learned from Planning His Enterprise

Even before Kit walked his first dog, the planning process had already taught him a lot.

  • He noticed a need in the neighbourhood.
  • He thought of a service people might pay for.
  • He talked through the risks and roadblocks.
  • He found a way to make the idea safer by involving Grandad.
  • He added value with treats and a dog lead.
  • He thought about a simple fee for his service.

Like many of our family enterprise stories, Kit’s experience was not just about making money. It was about learning to notice an opportunity, solve practical problems and take an idea seriously.

That is exactly the sort of thinking we want to encourage when we talk about raising entrepreneurial kids. It is about helping children notice opportunities, solve problems and back themselves enough to try.

Kit’s Dog Walking Business Series

This post is the planning stage of Kit’s dog walking idea. You can follow the next stage here:

  • Part 1: Kit Plans a Dog Walking Business — Kit notices a need, works through the roadblocks and plans his service.
  • Part 2: The Dog Whisperer! — Kit gets started, walks his first customer’s dog and earns money from his idea.

Key Takeaway: A Dog Walking Business for Kids Teaches More Than Money

Key takeaway: A dog walking business for kids can teach far more than earning pocket money. Kit’s idea helped him think about service, safety, value, responsibility, confidence and solving a real need in his community.

Where to Next?

If you enjoyed Kit’s dog walking business idea, you may also like:


The Dog Whisperer!
Read what happened when Kit put his dog walking plan into action.


Chayse Plans a Candy Business
See another simple enterprise idea that started with planning and a small amount of start-up money.


Kids Business Ideas
Explore more practical business ideas children can try through real-world learning.

You can continue with Kaitlin’s Portrait Drawing Enterprise, where Kaitlin turns her creative skills into a carefully planned student business idea.

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

Ways to Earn Money for Students: Chayse Plans a Candy Business

Enterprise For KidsTeam Chayse's Stories, Family Enterprise Stories, Kids Business Ideas , , , , , , , , , 9 Comments
Ways to earn money for students shown through Chayse preparing lolly bags for his Candy Man business

Ways to earn money for students can start with a very simple idea. For Chayse, that idea was lollies — or candy for our American readers — and a plan to turn fifty dollars into his very own Candy Man business.

This is Part 1 of Chayse’s Candy Man story. Before the selling, the soccer grounds and the very heavy money jar, there had to be a plan.

Ways to earn money for students shown through Chayse preparing lolly bags after planning his Candy Man business
After planning his Candy Man business, Chayse soon moved into action.

Ways to Earn Money for Students: Chayse Plans a Candy Business

All kids love lollies. Chayse too really loves lollies! So it came as no surprise to see Chayse planning an enterprise that revolved around lollies.

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

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

A Simple Business Plan for a Four-Year-Old

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

We lent Chayse $50 to run his business. He planned to buy large bags of lollies from the supermarket, bag them up into small mixed bags, then sell them for twice what he paid.

His market would be all the hungry kids who play and watch soccer games on Saturday mornings at the local soccer fields.

For a four-year-old, that was a pretty good business plan. Product, start-up capital, packaging, pricing, customers and a selling location. Not bad for a little Candy Man!

Why This Is One of the Simplest Ways to Earn Money for Students

When families think about kids business ideas, it is easy to overcomplicate things. But children often learn best when the idea is simple enough for them to understand and exciting enough for them to care about.

Chayse understood lollies. He understood that kids liked lollies. He understood that soccer grounds were full of kids. With a little help from us, he could begin to understand buying, selling, profit and customers.

That is why simple projects can become powerful money lessons for kids. Children do not just hear words like “profit” and “investment”; they get to experience what those words mean.

From Pocket Money to Enterprise

Many children earn or receive pocket money each week, and there is nothing wrong with that. But when children create a small enterprise, they begin to see money differently.

Instead of waiting for money to arrive, they start looking for opportunities. They begin asking questions like:

  • What could I sell?
  • Who would buy it?
  • How much will it cost me?
  • How much could I sell it for?
  • What will I do if it works?

These are the sorts of questions that help children develop confidence, initiative and responsibility.

Entrepreneur Cameron Herold makes a similar point in his TED talk, Let’s raise kids to be entrepreneurs. Children can learn entrepreneurial thinking when they are encouraged to look for opportunities and create value.

Chayse’s Goal: Double His Money

If Chayse’s enterprise went to plan, he would double his money or get a 100% return. That would put a smile on any young four-year-old’s face.

Of course, before he could make any money, he still had to buy the lollies, package them, carry them around and sell them to real customers. That is where the real learning would begin.

The image above actually shows the next stage of Chayse’s Candy Man journey, when his plan moved from an idea into action. First came the goal, the $50 start-up capital and the discussion about what he could sell. Then came the exciting part — buying the lollies, sorting them into bags and getting ready to find his first customers.

The Candy Man Business Series

This post is Part 1 of Chayse’s Candy Man journey. You can follow the full series here:

Key Takeaway: Ways to Earn Money for Students Can Start Small

Key takeaway: Ways to earn money for students do not need to be complicated. Chayse’s Candy Man idea started with something he loved, a clear market, a simple product and a small amount of start-up money.

Where to Next?

If you enjoyed Chayse’s Candy Man planning story, you may also like:


The Candy Man Entrepreneur
See how Chayse bought the lollies and prepared his product for sale.


Business Ideas for Students: Chayse the Candy Man
Follow Chayse to the soccer grounds where he sells his lolly bags.


Kids Business Ideas
Explore more practical business ideas children can try through real-world learning.

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

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

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

Family Business Ideas: Honey Pot of Gold!

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Flynn as a budding young entrepreneur with one of our family business ideas

Family business ideas can start with something simple, practical and close to home. For Flynn, that opportunity came through raw honey, a family connection and a very enterprising plan that helped him learn real money lessons.

This is the beginning of Flynn’s honey business story — a family enterprise project where he learnt about opportunity, product value, buying wholesale, selling retail, confidence and taking action.

Flynn as a budding young entrepreneur with one of our family business ideas
Flynn — a budding young entrepreneur with a family business idea.

Family Business Ideas: Flynn’s Honey Enterprise Begins

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

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

Why Family Business Ideas Need a Different Money Mindset

Prior to us starting Enterprise for Kids, our children were following the same conditioning around money that we had: earn money, spend money, borrow money. Society encourages this greatly.

Whilst many people may not see anything wrong with this, many of us actually spend far more than we have coming in. The cycle never gets broken, and by the time we reach retirement age, we have very little to show for the many years of hard work we have put in.

That is why building an entrepreneurial mindset is so important. Breaking old conditioned habits is even more important. The younger you are, the less conditioning you have.

So while we want to develop in our children a great work ethos — working hard and with integrity — we also want to help them move beyond that. We want them to learn how to spot an opportunity, take action and then help others achieve success as well.

This system moves a person from being the worker, to seeing an enterprising opportunity, to switching on their entrepreneurial self, to finally becoming the expert in their field.

This is exactly why we care so much about raising entrepreneurial kids and helping them learn through real-life projects. Family business ideas give children a safe, practical way to begin that learning at home.

Entrepreneurial Thinking Behind Family Business Ideas

An entrepreneur’s focus is in the development of a great system and finding great people to run it. They use other people’s time and other people’s money to do the work for them.

Their systems can continue even after they pass from this world. A classic example is Thomas Edison’s formula for General Electric. He is no longer with us, but his empire continues.

That is one of the powerful lessons behind family business ideas. Children can begin to see that a business is not just a product. It is also a system, a process and a way of creating value for other people.

A Queen Bee Is Entrepreneurial

Akaisha dressed as an enterprising queen bee showing how systems support family business ideas
Enterprising Queen Bee.

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

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

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

All she has to do is eat and lay eggs!

A beehive is a unique system consisting of many specialised individuals that each have a job to do. The system performs like it is one large living organism. If the Queen dies, then she will be replaced by another Queen Bee, the workers keep working and the hive goes on.

Not a lot different to General Electric, Apple or Ford Motor Company!

Flynn’s Honey Family Business Idea

Flynn negotiating a honey deal with his Grandad for a family business idea
Flynn negotiating a honey deal with his Grandad.

So what has Flynn’s idea got to do with a Queen Bee?

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

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

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

Once his business got underway, he could also see the potential for it to grow quite substantially.

I won’t tell you any more about his plans here, but if you missed the link above, you can listen to Flynn himself in this short video of Flynn explaining his awesome enterprise idea and business plan.

This is one of those kids business ideas that starts small, but teaches a lot: product value, buying wholesale, selling retail, confidence, negotiation and understanding profit.

Why Raw Honey Was a Clever Family Business Product

Seeing as we are on the topic of honey, I thought I would share a few facts about honey, and in particular raw, unprocessed honey.

Raw, unprocessed honey is pure, natural, unpasteurised and unadulterated. It is extracted from the beehive in its natural form and bottled. It is not filtered or heated.

Unlike many processed honeys, raw honey can retain more of its natural qualities from the hive, including pollen, propolis, minerals and flavour.

Mmmm… appears to be a fantastic product!

For Flynn, the clever part was not just that honey was useful and delicious. The clever part was that he could understand the product, buy it in bulk, bottle it in smaller jars and sell it in a way that made sense to customers.

That is why this became such a useful example of family business ideas in action. It was simple enough for a child to understand, but rich enough to teach real lessons about value, pricing, supply, confidence and profit.

Flynn’s honey business also led to a deeper money lesson about assets and liabilities, which we explore in Financial Education for Kids.

Flynn’s Honey Business Series

This article is Part 1 in Flynn’s honey business series, a family enterprise story about family business ideas, product value, money lessons and learning by doing.

These family enterprise stories show how children can learn by doing, rather than just being told about business, money and opportunity.

Key Takeaway: Family Business Ideas Can Start Small

Key takeaway: Family business ideas do not need to be complicated. A simple product, a real opportunity and a child willing to take action can become a powerful lesson in entrepreneurship, confidence and money.

Where to Next?

If you enjoyed Flynn’s honey business story, you may also like:

So, what do you think? Is Flynn onto a real Enterprise for Kids success story? Follow along with the blog to see how he goes.

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

Resale Business Ideas: Amber’s New From Old Enterprise

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Resale business ideas with Amber’s New From Old enterprise

Resale business ideas can begin with something as simple as learning how to spot a bargain. For Amber, that lesson began with her Gran, who knew how to find value in second-hand items long before “upcycling” became a popular word.

“`

This short post begins Amber’s New From Old series. It is the starting point for her resale enterprise, where she learns to find old or unwanted items, improve them and sell them for profit.

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Gran helping Amber discover resale business ideas through bargain hunting
Gran is a great bargain hunter.

Resale Business Ideas: Amber’s New From Old Enterprise

My family immigrated here to Australia from Kenya back when I was just a kid in 1970.

They came out with little qualifications, money or possessions and were supporting a young family. In order to make ends meet, my mother became very good at hunting down a bargain at a variety of places, including op shops, lawn sales, second-hand shops and markets.

Years later, she opened her own second-hand goods shop and did exceptionally well out of it as a small business.

So, when Amber was looking for an enterprise idea, she knew exactly who to speak to.

Learning Resale Business Ideas from Gran

Amber knew her Grandmother was an expert at finding bargains and then on-selling them for a profit.

Her Gran suggested that Amber start her search at the local tip’s recycling centre, a place where thrown-away items are put aside, then sold to the public for next to nothing.

Here was a wonderful opportunity to buy something, fix it up and resell it.

For families in the area today, the Shire of Dardanup Waste Transfer Station and Recycling Centre is a useful reminder that recycling, reuse and waste recovery can create opportunities for families to think differently about what gets thrown away.

One Man’s Trash Is Another Man’s Treasure

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

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

To create something new from something old.

That is why resale business ideas can be so powerful for kids. A child does not always need a huge amount of money, a shopfront or a complicated business plan.

Sometimes they simply need:

  • someone who can teach them how to spot value,
  • a place to search for bargains,
  • a small amount of starting money,
  • a practical eye for what can be cleaned, repaired or improved,
  • and the confidence to try.

Amber’s New From Old Business Plan

Amber’s business plan was simple and sound.

Find something old.

Look for the hidden value.

Buy it for a low price.

Clean it, repair it or improve it.

Then resell it for a profit.

She was definitely onto a winner.

More importantly, she was proud of what she had come up with.

That pride matters. When children own their enterprise idea, they are much more likely to take action and follow it through.

Why Resale Business Ideas Are Great for Kids

Resale business ideas are wonderful for kids because they teach practical business skills in a very hands-on way.

Children can learn how to:

  • notice opportunities,
  • compare prices,
  • think about what other people might want,
  • clean or improve an item,
  • take a good photo,
  • advertise clearly,
  • talk with buyers,
  • and understand profit.

They also learn that value is not always obvious.

Some people see rubbish.

Others see opportunity.

Amber was beginning to learn how to see opportunity.

Amber’s New From Old Series

Follow Amber’s New From Old journey: This article begins the series. The next posts show Amber putting the idea into action and learning how to buy, improve and sell for profit.

Next we will share Flynn’s business plan for his new enterprise.

It is really a honey pot of gold!

Key Takeaway: Resale Business Ideas Can Start Small

Key takeaway: resale business ideas can help children learn how to spot value, buy carefully, improve second-hand items and sell for profit. Amber’s New From Old enterprise began with Gran’s bargain-hunting wisdom and a simple idea: create something new from something old.

Where to Next?

What old item could your child turn into a new opportunity?

Learning by Doing: The $100 Family Enterprise Project

Enterprise For KidsTeam Family Enterprise Stories, Family Projects, Money Lessons for Kids , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0 Comment
Chayse holding a fifty dollar note for the $100 Family Enterprise Project

Learning by doing is one of the best ways for children to develop enterprise skills. At some point, they need to stop only talking about ideas and begin testing them in the real world.

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For our family, that beginning became the $100 Family Enterprise Project. We gave each of the kids start-up capital, asked them to choose an enterprise idea, and decided we would refine the process as we went.

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Goal setting for the $100 Family Enterprise Project and learning by doing
Goal setting for Enterprise for Kids.

Learning by Doing: The $100 Family Enterprise Project

For our kids to develop the skills and habits of an entrepreneur, they needed to begin somewhere.

But where?

The beauty of Cathy and I having a wealth creation mentor at our disposal was that we could take the invaluable information we had been learning and apply it in small pieces to developing the mindset of our kids.

This process also involved us having a good, hard look at how we operate in our own lives in regards to planning, organising and taking action.

Cathy loves to plan things out in her head and on paper before starting a task. Once satisfied, she will start when all structures are in place.

I, on the other hand, like to dive in and see where it leads.

So a happy compromise was met.

We decided that the kids just needed to come up with an enterprise idea and get started. We could refine the process later.

Learning by Doing Instead of Waiting for Perfect Conditions

Getting the kids to kick off with an enterprise project, when they had little idea where to even start, was easier said than done.

But I knew that one of the things that had held us back over the years was waiting until all conditions were right.

Waiting had seen us miss many great opportunities that were out there.

So we just started.

Admittedly, it was a bit like the blind leading the blind, but we went in with an open mind and decided to see what would happen and where it would lead.

That is the heart of learning by doing. You do not need to know every step before you begin. You need enough of a plan to start, and then the courage to learn from what happens next.

Chayse and Kit drawing their goals as part of learning by doing
Chayse and Kit drawing their goals.

The First Step in Our Kids Enterprise Project

Check out our very first videos.

The filming is pretty rough, as we had our 15-year-old daughter using her creative licence while filming, but you’ll get the gist of what our project is all about if you watch them.

For those of you who would prefer to read, I’ll give you the rundown.

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

Kids receiving start-up capital for learning by doing through enterprise
The $100 Family Enterprise Project begins.
Kids catching fifty dollar notes as part of the $100 Family Enterprise Project
Raining $50 notes.
Children receiving start-up money for learning by doing through enterprise projects
And more start-up money for the family enterprise project.

“Wow!” was their first response.

An early Christmas present!

“Ohhhh,” was the next response. They were more sedate now that there seemed to be a catch.

But they listened to my proposal.

$100 Start-Up Capital for Kids

The kids were to use the money as start-up capital for an enterprise.

Much to their disappointment, they were not to spend it on themselves.

In fact, they were to pay me back once they had attained their business goal.

I was a bit soft on them though.

I also said that I would take the risk. If they were unsuccessful and were not able to pay back the $100, then I would accept that and absorb the loss.

I did this because I wanted them to give their enterprise a go.

I was conscious that if they were too hung up about having to pay me back, then they might worry about their loss and, as a consequence, not find the courage to even start to play the game.

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

Why Learning by Doing Matters for Kids

Giving the children $100 did not magically make them entrepreneurs.

What it did was make the project real.

Suddenly they had money in their hands, a challenge in front of them and a reason to think differently.

They needed to ask:

  • What could I do with this money?
  • What could I buy, make or sell?
  • Who might want what I offer?
  • How could I pay the money back?
  • What would make the project worthwhile?
  • What would I learn if it did not work?

These are real business questions.

The Australian Government’s MoneySmart guide to teaching kids about money is a useful reminder that parents can start early and make money part of everyday life.

For us, the $100 Family Enterprise Project became exactly that — an everyday, real-world way to teach money, initiative, risk, responsibility and action.

From Goal Setting to Enterprise Action

This article sits at the beginning of our early Enterprise for Kids journey.

First, the children needed goals they cared about.

Then they needed a reason to act.

Then they needed the courage to try.

The goal-setting process helped them imagine what they wanted. The $100 start-up money helped them move into action.

That is why learning by doing became such an important part of the family project.

Follow the $100 Family Enterprise Project

Follow the early Enterprise for Kids journey: This article shows how the $100 Family Enterprise Project began. The next posts show how the children set goals, chose ideas and started learning through real enterprise projects.

The Biggest Lesson: Just Start

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

At this stage, we did not know exactly where it would all lead.

But that was the point.

The children were going to learn by doing.

And so were we.

Key Takeaway: Learning by Doing Builds Enterprise Skills

Key takeaway: learning by doing helped our kids begin their first enterprise projects. The $100 Family Enterprise Project gave them start-up capital, a real challenge, and the chance to develop money skills, confidence and entrepreneurial thinking through action. This is a great project to give kids a financial education.

Where to Next?

What could your child learn by doing if they were given a small enterprise challenge?