My friend Jessica is a third-generation inventor. Over the past fourteen years of our friendship, we occasionally have talked about what it was like for her growing up as the daughter of an inventor. Bottom line, it was a rollercoaster ride. Her father took risks–some greater than others. Some paid off and some didn’t. At times, things were financially secure for the family and at other times they weren’t. Through it all, the family learned to live comfortably with uncertainty.
Let that sink in for a minute.
Few of us like living with uncertainty. I don’t. But, when we marry or become parents and eventually, responsible for extra mouths to feed and needs to meet, uncertainty is even worse; it sometimes feels like the enemy.
Married with four kiddos, Jessica now takes the same measure of risks as her dad. She just launched a Kickstarter campaign as part of her newest patent-pending invention, a mermaid monofin swim flipper.
When I watched the video, I thought of Meredith, my middle child, who would roll her hair scrunchy over her feet and around both ankles to mimic the feel of being a mermaid.
What kid hasn’t pretended to be a mermaid, dolphin or shark in the water?
Exactly.
So why am I writing about mermaid monofins on a homeschooling blog?
Two reasons:
»» There are a lot of parents, grandparents, and caregivers of school-age kiddos who read this blog and may be interested in backing this project, and I want to see it soar.
»» I’ve watched the influence of Jessica’s hard work and risk-taking free her kids to do the same. She’s forming future entrepreneurs just like her dad did with her.
5 Ways to Teach Your Kids to be Great Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneur magazine published an infographic featuring “5 Ways to Teach Your Kids to be Great Entrepreneurs.” You can see it here.
The infographic lists the following basic tips for how parents can foster entrepreneurship in their children:
1. Allow kids space to brainstorm.
2. Coach them on goal setting.
3. Support their successes but more importantly, redirect their failures into seeing new opportunities.
4. Introduce them to a business plan.
5. Invest in them.
More is Caught Than Taught
The adage, “more is caught than taught” comes to mind when I think of how Jessica and her husband have supported a number of their kids’ ideas in many of the ways listed above.
From helping them build lemonade stands on steroids to establishing a batting cage business, the kids have felt it within their grasp to dream, plan, build and earn money through a number of ventures.
A few days ago, when Jessica was sharing some of the hurdles in the Kickstarter launch campaign, she interrupted herself to tell me about her kids efforts in launching their own online t-shirt business.
“The kids have been so anxious for me to get this up-and-running so I can help them get their t-shirt business going. K has drawn the designs and then all of them came up with captions as part of Economics one day. Everyone is pumped!”
I started laughing because of course Jessica’s kids are confident they can start an online t-shirt business while their parents simultaneously launch theirs.
Why wouldn’t they?
Are your kids entrepreneurs? Feel free to use the comments to brag on them and share resources you found helpful.
Post Cheatsheet:
»» Kickstarter Campaign: Sun Tail Mermaid: A Better Monofin Swim Flipper
»» Infographic: “5 Ways to Teach Your Kids to be Great Entrepreneurs”
»» T-shirt Business Start-up “How-to”: How I Built An Online T-Shirt Business In 24 Hours With $24 That Made $347 The First Day (And How You Can Too)
Heads up: I am not an affiliate for, nor receiving any kickbacks from, any of the above links. I found them valuable and hope they are for you as well.
About the Author: Heather Sanders is a work at home mom who homeschools her three children. If you’d like to learn more about what it takes to work from home, subscribe today.