Those who are changing the world and actually making it a better place, are those who do. The people who take their dream scenarios, technologies, situations, businesses, social and influential initiatives, and turn them into realities, are the people who are going to change the world and our society.
Nowadays, it is very easy to get the knowledge and the tools you need in order to become one of these “doers”. There are multiple courses available for all ages, and even online classes in which children can receive, comprehend and incorporate a number of useful abilities for the 21st century.
But, how do we teach our children the importance of doing something real and concrete with their ideas? What is the right way to teach our kids about entrepreneurship? Is there one path to make them understand that anyone can become an entrepreneur?
Well, just as we learn with coding, there are infinite possibilities and resources to solve one problem. There are as many approaches, as people in the world. Therefore, there is not just one way for your kids to become entrepreneurs. The question is, how do we make sure they get the motivation, methodology and mindset they need to become one.
It is exactly that question that we intend to answer in this interesting article about child entrepreneurship. We will go over the entrepreneurship benefits, we will tell you what are the best ways to teach kids about businesses and social businesses, and we will go over the main skills your children must strengthen to become young entrepreneurs.
Some basic definitions would say that an entrepreneur is someone who sets up a business in order to make a profit, but we think that entrepreneurs are much more than just that.
For us, an entrepreneur is a dreamer and a doer, it is someone who is willing to sacrifice lots of time in order to create something that doesn’t exist just yet. An entrepreneur is a change-agent, an active and proactive person who designs, coordinates, manages and creates something from scratch that can either have commercial goals, or non-profit ones.
Natalie Hampton, for example, is a very young entrepreneur who, a few years ago, created an app to help fight bullying in schools worldwide. She is an amazing example and an inspiration! She found the pain and created a solution. She didn’t stand still and wait for someone else to do something about it, she went all the way and did it herself. Kudos, Natalie!
Now, are you ready to see how your kid can become an entrepreneur? Let’s go! Who knows? Maybe in a few years from now, people won’t be talking about Mark Zuckerberg, but instead, they’ll be talking about your children’s greatest inventions.
The benefits of entrepreneurship
There are several benefits of entrepreneurship that go beyond creating your own schedule and depending only on yourself (which is also not entirely true). Besides that, we think that the main value of entrepreneurship is creating a career that is aligned with both your values and your dreams.
Giving your children the possibility to do something with their lives, and to make a living from something that is fully connected to who they are – this is priceless. We deeply believe that success depends on happiness, there are fewer chances for you to become successful if you are not happy doing what you do. With entrepreneurship, your kids could climb the highest hills… and that’s a fact.
Another benefit of becoming an entrepreneur is choosing who to work with. Team building is one of the most required abilities in our times, and entrepreneurs are those who must decide what kind of people are going to be part of those teams.
Wise and humble entrepreneurs always say that they want people in their teams who are smarter than them. Why? Because entrepreneurs are people who are in an ongoing process of learning, and are people who allow themselves to be inspired by others. Creation comes along with respect and appreciation for other great minds.
One other benefit of entrepreneurship, especially in kids who are entrepreneurs, is even greater self-confidence. Just like in the online, live coding courses offered by Tekkie Uni, kids increase both their self-esteem and their self-confidence when they accomplish tasks. When kids learn by doing, and experience what hands-on learning truly means, they instantly begin to believe in themselves and in their praiseworthy ideas even more.
Being part of a circle of game-changers and change-agents is very important and is another one of the benefits of entrepreneurship. As we said before, it is transcendental to allow ourselves to be inspired by others. When your kid becomes an entrepreneur, meeting others who think alike will come naturally, and will enable your children to be part of a prestigious circle of doers. Wouldn’t you like your children to hang out with other people who, just like them, are turning the world into a better place?
Skills your kids need to become entrepreneurs
Now that you know what are a few of the multiple benefits your children could obtain by becoming entrepreneurs, the next question that appears is: What skills do they need to strengthen in order to become one? Well, easy! Don’t you worry, we start from an inclusive perspective that says that anyone can start a business just by having a creative idea and the right attitude.
Your children have the skills they were born with, and several others can be taught, trained and developed. So, again, any kid can become an entrepreneur. That being said, let’s go over what the entrepreneurship skills are. Are you ready? Because we are!
Resilience
The capacity to turn problems into opportunities is a must for entrepreneurs. In entrepreneurship, challenges and obstacles are abundant, and entrepreneurs have to understand how to look at them from a positive, proactive and optimistic perspective. Resilience is not only the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties, but also the ability to look at these setbacks as unique opportunities to make things better.
If you want your children to be entrepreneurs, help them strengthen their resilience. Remind them that no matter how many times they fall, they always need to stand up one more time.
Efficiency
Working in a sharp, fast way is important. Being efficient in our decisions and actions is one of the most important skills an entrepreneur needs. Your kids can work on this skill by creating something of their own, from scratch, and with a defined deadline.
Try doing this exercise with your children at home. If they learn how to work efficiently, achieving any goal or dream they might have will become an easier task.
Creativity
All entrepreneurs are creative! Your children must strengthen their creativity if they truly want to be successful in the entrepreneurial field. But how can your kids work on their creativity? Well, some of these offline activities for children might help, also these activities with a Montessori approach to education can increase the creativity levels in your little ones.
When we want to be entrepreneurs, we must be able to look at the world from a different point of view than the one most people use or have. We need to look at “problems” and instead of complaining right away, think about potential solutions that do not exist just yet. That’s the secret!
Teamwork
Working in teams is fundamental. Someone who doesn’t know how to ask for advice, how to delegate, how to trust, and how to work with people who think in a completely different way, will have a difficult road to success.
Working in teams is being empathic, is understanding others, and is accepting that my idea can become an even better one if I let myself nurture it with the insights someone else has. That is why it is so important to encourage our children to work in teams and to respect everyone’s opinions, ideas, and thoughts.
But, how? Enroll your kids in activities where they will interact with other children while they create something of their own. Give them the chance to express themselves within teams, and see how your children respond to constructive criticism from their peers. Make them work on their capacity to listen, and their ability to appreciate everyone, regardless of their specific background or interests.
Curiosity
One of the main things any kid needs to be an entrepreneur is to be curious. To be interested in what’s going on around them, to have the desire to know how things work, and what makes them work in that way.
A good thing you can do with your children is a family trivia game with questions from different fields. Ask them about the latest local news, about technology, about history, about art, and even about the video games they like the most. Encourage them to be curious about the world and the society they live in!
Another thing that can help your kids with their curiosity is coding. If you want to know why, check out this article we published not so long ago.
Strategic thinking
Slowly and step by step. Building a strategy is very important if you want to build an idea, a project or an entrepreneurial venture. Strengthening your kids’ critical thinking is a must if you want them to be able to think strategically.
An activity that can certainly help your kids with their critical thinking and problem-solving ability is coding. When they create their very own app, and when they go through an amazing process of hands-on learning, they will have to build their own strategies and test them, until they find one that actually works.
Are you ready to give your kid this phenomenal possibility?
How can your kids start their own business?
The first step is to have an idea, after that, the only thing your kids will need is your support and the right tools to turn that idea into a successful business or social venture. Yes, it is that easy!
We have the luck to live in a society that empowers anyone who wants to create something new. The internet is full of tools, resources, and activities that can both help and encourage your kids to make the first, second, and even third step.
In a way, social media has made hierarchies horizontal, and that enables people to just reach out to personalities that a few years ago were untouchable. Your kids can now ask for help from experts with just a click, and they can start their own businesses in a smooth, supportive way.
But there is something that can unquestionably help your kids have the attitude we’ve been discussing. What, you might be asking yourself? Well, coding. Why, you might be asking yourself now? Well, because coding is way more than just coding. Coding is a way of thinking.
Entrepreneurship and coding: A deep, long-lasting relationship
Indeed, coding is a way of thinking. It doesn’t matter if you are going to dedicate your life to app or software development or not. What matters is the multiple abilities you can gain if you learn how to code.
When learning coding, your kids work on their creativity, on their critical thinking, on their algorithmic thinking, on their problem-solving skills, and even on their self-esteem and self-confidence.
Imagine how it feels to have a simple idea, and after only a few lessons in a supportive environment that encourages hands-on learning, seeing that idea become a concrete reality. That is exactly what coding can give your kids… The feeling that anything is possible, that the world can change and be changed, that their ideas are valuable and achievable.
Give your kids this unique opportunity. Let them believe in themselves.
