CAREER CLINIC: Starting Young: The kidprenuer movement

In a deep state of entrepreneurial-reflection, I cast my mind back to the day I made my first buck. As a child, my Mother used to occasionally treat us to Pizza at a delightful little place on Ocean Road. The old Italian man that owned the restaurant had a grubby menu pasted on a wall for customers to pick their order (which for all intents and purposes only offered two items reworded repeatedly).

As a 7 year old, armed with a pack of marker pens, I pitched the idea of creating new menus to the owner – note, this was way before access to computers – to which he agreed and commissioned me to design two new menus.

I diligently worked on delivering the best product possible; with fluorescent pictures scrawled alongside the food items. My client was a happy man to say the least, and paid me TZS 6000 for my work. The money was swiftly confiscated by my Mother (who was on a monthly salary of TZS 30,000 at the time) but this wasn’t the point. It was the joy of seeing an old man’s satisfaction generated from my commitment and hard work.

Fast-forward to 2017, and think about how you can harness the energy of your children in this era of globalization and the tech revolution. At Empower, we have recently started a Kidpreneurs Club, where we host children and immerse them in the world of business. Whether your children aspire to be entrepreneurs, or want to increase their future employability; there are keys concepts (that aren’t taught in schools) that will pave the way for their success. Understanding Business Basics – Understanding the fundamentals of business will help a child to view the world in a more holistic way.

The old man needed to sell more pizza for his business to survive (and thrive) but he wasn’t doing himself justice with his grubby menu. Improving the menu allowed customers to fully understand his offerings and increase the chance of higher sales. Spotting opportunities – Good business is about solving a problem or providing something in demand, and the unfettered imagination of a child has the power to find solutions to problems in ways that us adults cannot. Allow them to share openly (no matter how wacky the ideas can sometimes sound) and encourage them to follow-through on viable ideas with your support. Applying yourself – When commissioned to do a piece of work (irrespective of your age) you experience a sense of responsibility.

You learn the concept of trade – give to receive – you learn to generate income from services rendered. Most importantly, your kids will learn that they need to apply themselves to get ahead. We all love that ‘Hard Work Pays Off’ feeling at the end of an assignment or project.