Helping our children on their entrepreneurial journey
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Remember lemonade stands? Who could ever resist stopping by one on a hot summer day, especially when a cutie was behind the counter, usually with a few teeth missing? This was often the introduction to being a small business owner, though adults and kids alike thought it was just a way to earn a few dollars that was spent right away. Words and terms like marketing, profit margin and inventory weren’t mentioned or discussed, though that’s exactly what the kids were doing.
Teaching our kids that lemonade stands are serious business.
Never too early to talk business
Have you had the experience of talking to a toddler wanting to get their way? Is there anyone better at negotiating and arguing their point? Kids are natural born business people. What we as parents need to do is to harness those skills and start embracing them, not dismiss them. Businesses are after all the trade of product or services for a fee, usually a monetary one. Start engaging with your kids from as early as possible to find out what sparks their interest and start fostering it. Did your son draw all over the walls? Maybe you have a budding artist on your hand, who could find work as a graphic artist, advertiser or textile designer. Your daughter can’t stop with the candy? I see a potential confectioner (a dream job for kids, no?)
Learn business basics through play
Once children pass their terrible twos, they usually learn that to get something, they must give up something. This simple idea is called bartering and it’s one of the most fundamental aspects of business. Since they learn this so early on in life, we can prepare out children to become entrepreneurs or at least have that mindset. We all see the shifting landscape of jobs: more domestic jobs are being outsourced, companies are tightening their workforce, a growing discontent among full time employees and AI chipping away at jobs. Out of this rather gloomy landscape, what emerges is the need for our children to become more creative at finding ways to monetize their skills and interests.
Here are some other business terms that have been made child friendly. Let’s pretend the business revolves around Play-doh figures.
Product-the Play-doh figures they so earnestly created
Supply chain-the child and their siblings (or friends) who make the Play-doh figures
Marketing channels-figures showing up everywhere (including the dog’s fur!)
Branding/logo-child’s thumb print that always appears on the head of each figure
Investors-parents/grandparents aka the money people
Profit and Loss-how many figures are made versus how many are lost/destroyed
You get it right? Who knows, this may result in more kids going for their MBA or skipping college all together and becoming business owners right out of high school.
Fostering your child’s interests into real businesses
While lemonade stands are definitely still around, technology has made it possible for our kids to turn other ideas into an actual business, whether it’s in person or virtual. A lot of these platforms are very user friendly as well, so even parents with our diminishes bandwidths have the ability to set up something that our children can nearly run by themselves
Shopify
One of the easiest ways to start an online business selling products is Shopify. The platform makes it so easy it’s almost child’s play (get it?) to create a website, showcase your products, drive marketing and finish all your transactions.
Other perks of using Shopify:
With over 2 million daily active users, your product will get as many eyes on it as possible
Almost 5 million “shopkeepers” are on this platform
In 2023 Shopify posted over $5Billion in total sales
On top of these stats, Shopify is by far the largest e-commerce marketplace used in the U.S. AND it’s easy to use. The step by step set up can have your store up and running with a few clicks. Once you create the storefront for your child, you can help him/her upload product photos, create copy and start selling!
Squarespace
Squarespace has become a leader in e-commerce platforms for its ease of use, beautiful templates and strong e-commerce integrations and tools. While it may not be the powerhouse that Shopify is, Squarespace holds its own in many areas.
Pros of using Squarespace include:
Total orders placed through Squarespace powered websites is over $4 billion/year
Around 14% of all e-commerce sites are powered by Squarespace
At any given time there are about 3 million live websites
Visit Squarespace and review beautiful commerce templates that can be easily customized. With it’s user friendly interface and SEO marketing tools, you’ll be up and running in no time!
Printify
Though not an e-commerce site, I wanted to mention Printify as one of the go-to print on demand sites. This is such an easy way for your child’s creative talents to be displayed and monetized on nearly any kind of surface, from tees to tote bags, journals to mugs. My background is the fashion industry, and when I exited the industry roughly ten years ago, print on demand was starting to gain momentum. The idea that you can print even one item? Unheard of in the manufacturing world where there are always minimums.
The pros of Printify include:
Easy set up. No designing experience is necessary
No minimums. Literally you can print one item
No inventory that you would need to hold. Once integrated onto a store, Printify will do everything from production to shipping
Print on Demand (POD) is a huge industry and only going to get bigger. The smart way to capitalize on this business model is to find a niche i.e. a specific audience that you’re targeting and help them find you through your marketing channels.
These are just a few tips to help lay the foundation for your child’s 2024 lemonade stand. By kindling an entrepreneurial spirit earlier rather than later, you’ll open up so many more opportunities for your child to monetize something they love to do rather than something they have to do.
