money lessons for kids

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.

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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

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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?

Financial Freedom: Our Enterprise for Kids Journey Begins

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Enterprise for Kids family beginning their journey toward financial freedom

Financial freedom was the dream that began our Enterprise for Kids journey. We were one average, large and happy family daring to dream big, hoping to escape the Rat Race and help our children grow up with a different understanding of money, opportunity and enterprise.

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This was our very first post. It marked the beginning of a family adventure where we would learn alongside our children, challenge our own thinking and explore what it takes to raise enterprising kids.

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Enterprise for Kids family about to begin an entrepreneurial adventure
About to embark on our new entrepreneurial adventure.

Financial Freedom: Our Enterprise for Kids Journey Begins

Welcome to our blog, Enterprise for Kids!

We are one average, large and happy family daring to dream big.

We are on a journey to escape from the Rat Race and join the relative few who have achieved personal and financial freedom.

But we have seven gorgeous reasons to try.

We hope to inspire others to follow our lead and to provide our readers with insights and ideas into how it can be done.

Why We Started Enterprise for Kids

Our story begins with a huge understanding of what it takes to be a loving and adventurous family with wonderful family and friends, but only a little understanding of what it takes to be financially successful.

It is from this point, and with the help of a successful entrepreneurial mentor, that we will start our journey.

It is our hope that our children can gain a financial education and success mindsets surrounding money, whilst maintaining a genuine love of life.

For us, financial freedom is not just about money.

It is about having choices.

It is about being able to follow passions, serve others, support family, contribute to community and live with more freedom, purpose and possibility.

Teaching Our Children Enterprise Skills

We want to teach our children how to develop enterprise skills.

In simple terms, that means learning how to spot an opportunity.

We also want them to learn how to put that opportunity into practice through entrepreneurial skills, and of course, how to manage money successfully.

In addition to this, we want them to appreciate and be grateful for all the opportunities they attract, and learn to give back to the community in a way that makes a real difference.

This process will take time, but we hope you enjoy the learning with us.

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.

That is exactly what we hoped to do through Enterprise for Kids — make money, enterprise, giving, gratitude and opportunity part of our family conversations.

Following Each Child’s Enterprise Journey

You will have the opportunity to follow each of our kids on their individual journeys, and ours too.

We also plan to introduce some of our kids’ friends to Enterprise for Kids, and our blog will follow their journeys too.

Conventional thinking may be challenged as we look and reflect upon our own belief systems and learn what it takes for a person to become financially and personally free.

We know we do not have all the answers.

In fact, much of this journey will be about learning by doing.

We will be learning as parents, and our children will be learning through real enterprise projects, money lessons, goal setting, mistakes, action and reflection.

Financial Freedom Begins with Mindset

One of the biggest things we hope to explore is mindset.

How do people think when they create personal and financial freedom?

How do they see opportunity?

How do they use money?

How do they manage risk?

How do they teach their children to think differently?

These are the questions we are beginning with.

As a family, we want our children to understand that there are many pathways in life. A job may be one path, but enterprise, creativity, investing, service, problem solving and contribution can also shape a person’s future.

The Beginning of the Enterprise for Kids Journey

So jump on board and let’s see where this exciting new adventure, Enterprise for Kids, takes us.

Visit our About Us page to meet us all.

Follow the Beginning of Our Family Enterprise Journey

Start here: This first post began the Enterprise for Kids journey. These early articles show how our family moved from dreaming about financial freedom to giving the kids real enterprise challenges.

Key Takeaway: Financial Freedom Starts with a Different Conversation

Key takeaway: financial freedom begins with mindset, learning and action. Enterprise for Kids started as our family’s attempt to teach our children about money, opportunity, gratitude, giving and enterprise while learning those same lessons ourselves.

Where to Next?

What kind of financial freedom conversation could begin in your family today?