Startups play a major role in most economies.
In the US, for instance, small businesses have contributed to about 64% of the new jobs in the past twenty years. It shows just how important startups are in the US economy.
The future is bright since more entrepreneurs are generating ideas that are adding jobs to the economy. It can be attributed to the conducive atmosphere that is ideal for the growth of startups.
This environment has made some startups to be huge businesses. Some big entrepreneurs you see today, like Steve Jobs of Apple and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, started as simple entrepreneurs. Despite all this, not all entrepreneurs become successful. Most of them don’t reach their potential because they have not learned the art of successful entrepreneurs.
Luckily, you can teach your kids entrepreneurial skills from an early age. Starting early will set a foundation for success in the future.
But how can you teach your kids qualities that are essential in making them better entrepreneurs? Read on to find out.
As a business owner, you’ll be expected to solve customers’ problems. Besides solving your customers’ problems, you’ll have to deal with a horde other issues, including employee issues, cash flow management difficulties, and time management concerns, among others. Budding entrepreneurs have to find a way to provide solutions to every problem.
It’s essential to equip your kids with problem-solving skills from an early age if they are to be successful entrepreneurs. The best way to do that is by allowing them to be decisive in the things they do. Encourage them to take actions whenever they are faced by challenges and be proactive in making decisions and taking stands.
When your kids make decisions, allow them to face the consequences of their decisions. Provided they are not grave consequences. Once in a while, when faced with challenges, invite your kids to suggest some solutions. Make sure you appreciate them for their ideas.
Setting goals is a crucial part of business planning. Every entrepreneur sets goals and then devise a plan to achieve those goals.
Likewise, teach your kids to set smart goals. It should be an exciting exercise for both you and your little ones. You can let them identify and write down some of their goals. These goals should then be narrowed down to one important goal.
Once they’ve identified their main goal, kids should write down how they intend to accomplish this goal. Always remind them of their goals and commend your kids whenever they take steps towards achieving them.
The difference between successful entrepreneurs and those that are not is the ability to recognize opportunities. The majority of unsuccessful entrepreneurs fail to reach their full potential because they cannot spot opportunities in their businesses.
Children should learn to recognize opportunities from a young age. The best way is to teach them to spot opportunities that are disguised as problems. You can show them a problem and let them determine a resultant solution that people can pay for. A good example is where a cleaning company is a good solution in a busy neighborhood where most people are a working population and do not have the time to do their cleaning. With time your kids will become creative, and they’ll come up with ideas that can lead to profitable business ventures.
Successful entrepreneurs are good at networking. Networking helps business owners to meet new clients and fellow business people, from whom they can acquire fresh ideas, advice, and potential employees.
You can teach your kids to perfect the art of networking. Let them be comfortable around people and have conversations freely with other people. If your kids are shy, you can have them sit in on when you’re having conversations with other adults. With time, they will learn to be comfortable around people and to make new connections with ease.
Lessons about money come in handy for any kid aspiring to be a business owner. If you teach your kids money matters and personal finance at an early age, it will create a strong financial foundation.
You can inspire your kids to figure out earning opportunities. Encourage them to pursue their passions when looking for part-time job opportunities. For instance, a student who is good at writing essays may choose to be an essay helper for a fee. These services will enable them to make money while they pursue what they love.
When your children earn money, let them plan on their expenditure and saving. You should also teach them the importance of investing and starting small. These lessons will instill an entrepreneurial spirit within them and shape a successful journey into the business world.
Convincing prospects to work with you is one thing, and converting them to repeat customers is another more difficult task. As hard as it may sound, you can easily turn clients to repeat business by simply providing satisfactory services.
Most customers won’t forget how you treated them. So, ensure you give timely responses to their concerns and make their business a priority before and after transacting with them. And always provide top-notch customer service.
Kids start learning customer service skills from as early as preschool. Preschool reinforces some skills such as patience, empathy, accountability, and communication, which are very crucial in providing satisfactory customer service.
Parents should teach kids to accept their mistakes and apologize. They should also teach them to be emphatic about other people’s problems even when they can’t provide solutions. These are very important characteristics of entrepreneurs.
Failure is a better teacher than success because the knowledge we learn from failing will last longer than the one we acquire from success. Every successful employer will tell you that they failed several times before achieving their success. Mark Zuckerberg will tell you that Facebook isn’t the first and only thing he built. He also made chat systems and study tools before Facebook.
It is important to allow children the freedom to fail. They ought to understand that failing is part of the process, and they shouldn’t avoid failing. Instead, they should learn quickly from their mistakes and never give up on their dreams.
When your children fail, appreciate their efforts and ask them to think of alternative ways to accomplish their goals and encourage them not to give up. In the end, they learn to persevere and become more confident and resilient.
As the boss at your workplace, you have to portray some leadership qualities. You can do this by inspiring your employees and motivating them to be their best version.
While people claim leaders are born, that isn’t entirely true. You can teach your kids to be good leaders. Set good examples for your kids to be the leaders you like. Also, allow them to participate in combined activities with others. In case there are problems during the activity, let them work out the issues on their own.
A good entrepreneurial education is good for young children. It helps them to think more freely and critically compared to kids who are not exposed to entrepreneurial lessons. By exposing children at a young age, you help them to discover their potential early. It leads to a more fulfilling and successful career.
As you can see, learning entrepreneurship is more about life than school. Therefore, parents must take the responsibility of teaching their children and instilling the entrepreneurial spirit.
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