Teaching and Cultivating Entrepreneurial Skills in your Children
The Importance of Teaching and Cultivating Entrepreneurial Skills in Children
A while ago Things to Do with Kids featured an article listing activities that parents can do with their children to help foster entrepreneurial skills.
Why are these entreprenerial skills so important?
Claire Winson, the founder of EntrepreneurMom - an informative platform to help mompreneurs to start, grow and create awareness of their home businesses - says the question goes back to nature versus nurture.
“So many of the moms whom I work with have developed a mindset that may initially preclude them from launching their own successful business,” says Claire. “It is not that they cannot do it, but they would need to first work on their mindset.”
These moms have characteristics that include a fear of failure and an inability to see solutions for a problem. They need to be taught to see and approach tasks differently.
Linda Wilson, founder of Young Entrepreneurs Pocket Money Market (YEPMM), which focuses on nurturing a spirit of entrepreneurship in young children, believes that these character traits can serve the child well into adulthood.
“Bad financial habits are hard to break; a source of much conflict and expensive. Acknowledging financial responsibility in a child comes with some relief but also an increase in their autonomy as when they will make their own buying decisions one day,” says Linda.
Linda has a few suggestions to help develop good financial habits in your child.
“When a child wants a new item but their allowance or savings are not enough, encourage them to think broadly about how they can find a solution,” says Linda. ”It is important to stand back a bit and see how far they can get without your help. Be supportive and enthusiastic, intervene if you see a problem, but do not do too much.”
Linda launched YEPMM in Cape Town as a safe, nurturing space for a child to learn the skills associated with being an entrepreneur. Each child who participates receives a certificate and even if their sales are lower than anticipated, the child feels he has achieved something. It is also a great learning experience, as they will obtain ideas of how to improve themselves next time.
This article originally appeared in our holiday guide for parents www.thingstodowithkids.co.za/magazine
