kids-in-biz.com

1. Make a list of all the things that interest you and what you might like to see a website about. Get the family involved and have everyone write down a few ideas. It doesn’t matter if the ideas seem silly…they should be written down. Ask friends to add to the list. Write down everything that interests you!

2. Narrow down the list to about 3-5 topics you may wish to pursue further. If it’s a few less or a few more, that’s okay.

3. Do some “keyword” research and see what people would like to know about the topics. Go to a site like WordTracker to see what people are searching for on the topics. WordTracker is a service that shows what phrases and information people are searching for on the Internet. There is a free trial available.

This will give you ideas on what to include on your website or blog and to see if a lot of people are actually searching for information on her topic. If the numbers seem small on some of the topics, you may want to choose one of the more popular topics to pursue. By the end of this research, she should have chosen the one topic to create a website about. Brainstorming Products to Promote. Again, it’s time to involve the family, friends and anyone else who will participate. You now know what kind of information people who are interested in your topic are looking for — but what kind of products will they buy?

Let’s say you are going to create a website about becoming a ballerina. Brainstorm everything a ballerina will need to buy…from slippers, to videos, to music to costumes. Again, pass this list around and if everyone writes down a few things, the list can go grow quite quickly.

My girls were 10 and 12 when our business adventure began. My daughter came home from a soccer game and begged me to get her pre-wrap - a headband that “is the only thing that works.” My kid doesn’t really care about hair, so this was an unusual request. I searched high and low for this magic foam and finally turned to eBay to locate it. I bought a lot of 8, and told her that if her teammates wanted to buy the extras from her, she could keep the money. She sold them all that afternoon and came home with a page full of orders! Wanting to encourage their entrepreneurial spirit, I suggested they start a business. The goal was to teach them that money doesn’t grow on trees, and that business can be fun when you have a product you love. An extra $5 or $10 can mean a lot to a kid.

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People often ask for advice on how to get their child started in business. Kids can be taught business concepts without actually starting a business. The lemonade stand is a classic example and it’s even good to use with older kids. I start with a scenario - maybe your child wants to buy an ipod.

Here’s a typical conversation in our family:
1. How much money will you need to buy the ipod?

2. Are you sure that’s all you need? Is there sales tax? Does it come with headphones? Will you need to pay for shipping? Is there anything else you need to go with it?

3. How might you raise money? (Let your child come up with ideas, such as saving allowance, doing chores for you, neighbors, grandparents, dog walking, snow shoveling, babysitting, etc.) Usually they will come up with a lemonade stand on their own).

4. How much can you sell a glass of lemonade for?

5. How many glasses will you have to sell in order to make enough money?

Most kids will assume that mom will buy the cups, the lemonade, the ice, etc. This is where you tell them you will loan them the money, but they will have to figure out what they need and what it will cost. Don’t forget to remind them that they will need signs, change, etc.

After they have figured out the math (for example $150 ipod = 600 glasses at 25 cents each or 300 at 50 cents each) you can add other things into the discussion.

6. Do we have that many cars that come by our house? How many might stop?

If you don’t (we certainly don’t) make other suggestions.

7. Can we do the lemonade stand for more than one day?

8. Can we go up to the ball field on a hot day or at a tournament and set up?

We have even gotten into things like: what if it rains? What if it’s too cold?
Can we sell hot chocolate at the cold morning soccer games? What else could we sell to make more money such as cookies or donuts?

This doesn’t have to be one long, drawn out discussion. We started it and continued it in the car, over dinner, and so on for a few weeks.

Have your child make a plan: 2 days of selling lemonade, 10 hours of babysitting, x amount of chores, etc. and get their money for their goal. You can even match the money they earn as incentive.

Are you interested in starting your own business?  We’ve done it and hope to encourage other parents and kids to do the same!