Are your kids constantly asking for money? Instead of caving their demands and teaching a sense of entitlement, why not encourage them to earn their own money by starting a business? For example, Salomon’s son Ezra has a snow cone stand to make some extra cash. In fact, he takes it with him whenever they go to the park because Ezra has learned to spot attractive business opportunities. But Ezra didn’t get the idea to start a business all by himself. Kids’ books about entrepreneurship like the Tuttle Twins series helped show him the way!
Setting the Foundation with Kids’ Books About Entrepreneurship
Like Salomon’s son Ezra, your kids will get some great business ideas from kids’ books about entrepreneurship like the Tuttle Twins series. The best kids’ books about entrepreneurship transform business ideas that may seem intimidating up front into adventures that are not only fun but also relatable and engaging.
Characters solve neighborhood problems or build small businesses for themselves, teaching readers that they don’t have to wait until they are adults to dream big and to make those dreams come true. Such scenarios also cultivate creativity, resilience, and problem-solving skills, starting from a young age.
Some Tuttle Twins books about entrepreneurship include The Tuttle Twins and the Messed-Up Market and The Tuttle Twins and Their Spectacular Show Business. In the former, the twins decide to create a Children’s Entrepreneur Market to invest their hard-earned cash and help other kids start or grow their businesses. They quickly learn about incentives and certain motivations that drive people in what they do, which can cause the market to become messed up.
The latter installment in the Tuttle Twins series has the twins establishing a show business, learning that being a small business owner isn’t easy, especially when the competition is tough.
PHOTO: Tuttle Twins
Building Upon that Foundation
Once your kids have started to dream big thanks to kids’ books about entrepreneurship like those in the Tuttle Twins series, you’re ready to start building upon the foundation you laid. If you own a business, keep your kids close by whenever you’re working on it so that they can see what you do and be inspired by you.
Also encourage a growth mindset by emphasizing mistakes and then solving the problem created by those mistakes to turn it into a learning opportunity. Let your kids handle their own allowance money and teach them about budgeting, spending, saving, and investing. Explain how profit and loss works in a business.
Next, you can start helping them come up with small business ideas of their own. Here are some quick ideas to help you get started:
- The old classic: a lemonade stand
- Cotton candy or snow cone business
- Lawn mowing or other yard work
- Pet sitting
- Tutoring
- Help with cores
- Making handmade crafts or goods like jewelry or custom greeting cards
- Baking and selling cupcakes or other homemade goodies
- Tech support for seniors
Encourage your kids to look for business ideas in places where they have natural strengths and interests. Keeping the business interesting for them will make it more likely that they will follow through with their ideas because they will enjoy doing it!