By Jordyn Wright
Author & Kidpreneur
Three tips for helping your ‘kidpreneur’
As a kidpreneur, I have definitely had my share of being underestimated because of my age. Sometimes adults can brush off a child’s idea of starting a business by saying things like, “Oh, that’s cute” or maybe, “You should be focusing on school right now.” Or, even worse, ignore them all together. For most people, the idea of a kid running a business sounds a bit far-fetched. I believe this is because for generations, people have been raised to believe that in order to achieve the American dream, you have to go to college, get a good education, and get a job working for someone else. These ideas can easily cloud one’s vision of seeing a young person start a business so early on in life.
I am glad, however, that I had parents who were supportive of me in this area and saw my potential as a business owner, even at 10 years old. Perhaps you have a son or a daughter that wants to start a business, but you don’t know how to support their drive for entrepreneurship. No worries, I’ve got you. In this blog, I want to give you three tips on how you can help your child, or any young entrepreneur, pursue their passion of running their very own business.
Tip #1: No matter how simple, extravagant, far-out, or impossible their business idea sounds, just listen to them and take them seriously.
The fact that you take time to hear them out will build their confidence. And when you do a bit of research, you will often find that their idea isn’t so crazy. I mean think about it, Marsai Martin was 14-years-old when she produced her first movie! Nothing is impossible. There may be a few flaws in their initial plan to be sure, but as a parent, you will be able to help them work through those issues and move to the next phase of starting their business.
Tip #2: Help them out, but don’t do the work for them.
As a parent, your instinct may be to take over whenever your child comes across a challenge. However, if you do the work for them they will never learn for themselves. Also, it can be a bit frustrating (love you mom) when you don’t let them figure things out on their own. A butterfly has to struggle to break out of its cocoon. Let them work through the struggle. However, be ready to assist when they tell you they need your help.
Tip #3: Be patient. Rome wasn’t built in a day (at least that is what my dad says).
Building a business takes time, and your child may get easily frustrated when things don’t work out the way they thought. If you encourage them to stick with it, and if they are passionate about whatever it is they are doing, the reward will come. There’s a lot of failure that goes into being successful. This is the most important time to show your support.
There are so many kidpreneurs building great businesses and doing amazing things all around the world. It is important that adults, especially parents, don’t underestimate what is possible for kids like me. It’s time everyone sees entrepreneurship as an attainable possibility for kids today. The sooner we all learn that turning our passions into a real business is possible, the sooner we can turn those possibilities into realities!
Jordyn Wright is the 14-year-old founder of J. Brielle Handmade Goods and best-selling author of “The Clean Truth About Starting a Business for Teens.” She is an advocate for youth entrepreneurship, a K-POP fanatic, and a serial artist who loves every dog she sees.
Watch Jordyn Wright on the April 20, 2022 episode of Wealth Wednesdays on the Good Reason Houston instagram.
