Kids who develop resilience, creativity, and leadership skills have a competitive edge in the world because they can face challenges with confidence. And when they experience failure, they have the tools needed to get back up and figure out how to move forward.
Training kids to be entrepreneurs is one way to ensure they develop those essential qualities, as entrepreneurial kids develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills that will benefit them in business and beyond.
“The entrepreneurial mindset separates those who dream about success from those who create it,” says April Taylor, Founder of Jr. Moguls. “When kids develop that mindset, it changes the way they see the world, the way they approach challenges, and how they respond to failure. It truly is the most valuable skill set a child can have.”
Taylor is a multi-faceted entrepreneur, speaker, and financial coach who launched the Jr. Moguls platform to cultivate the next generation of confident, business-minded leaders. As a single mother, Taylor raised her two children to become six- and seven-figure business owners. The Jr. Moguls’ 10-module online course, which she developed, helps parents and their kids build an entrepreneurial mindset.
“Most kids are taught to follow a very rigid path that involves going to school, getting good grades, and getting a stable job that will pay the bills,” Taylor explains. “While that can seem like the path to security, it actually involves relying on someone else to determine your financial future. Teaching kids to be entrepreneurs empowers them to follow a different path in which they are in control of their future.”
Step 1: Treat every child like a future entrepreneur
One of the key mistakes parents make is thinking the entrepreneurial pathway is only for kids with particular interests or temperaments. Kids who are excited about running a lemonade stand, for example, are seen as the ones who should be educated on how to be more entrepreneurial.
However, the truth is that any child can be an entrepreneur. In addition, every child will benefit from the skills they learn through entrepreneurial training, regardless of what career they embrace as an adult.
“Nurturing entrepreneurship comes through children exploring possible interests in a supportive environment that promotes curiosity, creativity, accountability, and growth,” Taylor explains. “Key entrepreneurial aptitudes and interests can be taught, guided, and nurtured by parents, helping kids to learn how to be confident, identify problems, problem solve, and develop a strong mindset.”
Step 2: Facilitate opportunities for kids to explore entrepreneurship
Parents can help their kids develop the skills needed for entrepreneurship by facilitating activities where those skills are learned. For example, open-ended play allows kids to engage without specific instructions, which helps them become more inventive and creative. Brainstorming solutions together when problems arise can also help kids learn that there is often more than one way to move forward when they face a hurdle.
Those types of experiences become educational opportunities, allowing parents to help kids see what they are learning and understand its value. Kids’ entrepreneurial intelligence will begin to grow as parents show them how they can apply the lessons in other situations.
Step 3: Teach kids to find solutions
Any entrepreneur, regardless of their age, should expect to experience their fair share of failures. Statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that 20 percent of new businesses fail within the first two years after launching, while 65 percent fail within 10 years after launch.
Teaching kids to have a different perspective on failure is an essential part of their entrepreneurial education. They need to learn to see failure as a regular part of the entrepreneurial story, rather than the end of it.
“Parents must teach their kids failure isn’t a stop sign,” Taylor says. “Instead, they need to teach kids to keep going when they experience failure. Kids excel as entrepreneurs when they learn that failure is an opportunity to come up with a new solution, and parents help their kids when they replace the word ‘failure’ with the word ‘lesson.’”
Step 4: Help kids get comfortable with risk
Raising kids to be entrepreneurs also requires adopting a fresh perspective on risk. Rather than encouraging kids to be risk-averse, parents need to raise them to be risk takers.
“Most people are afraid to take risks, fearing failure will lead to rejection and embarrassment,” Taylor says, “but the truth is that every successful entrepreneur has failed at something before they have succeeded. The more risk you take as an entrepreneur, the more confidence you build. If kids can’t get comfortable with risk, their journey as entrepreneurs will never get off the ground.”
When parents teach their children to be entrepreneurs, they give them the tools they need to take ownership of their future by instilling an action-oriented mindset that sees opportunities where others only see problems.
“Learning entrepreneurship is the best way for kids to prepare for adult life,” Taylor says. “It teaches responsibility, independence, and sound decision-making, unlocking their potential and setting them up for a future of financial freedom.”
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