An article by Fast Company delivers some useful tips on how entrepreneurial parents can pass on the ideas and values associated with their entrepreneurial experiences to their kids. Emphasizing the importance of fostering entrepreneurial traits in kids, they note, “It’s been estimated that just five years from now, more than 40% of the American workforce will be freelancers, part-timers, contract workers, or otherwise self-employed. Regardless of what your kids grow up to do, they’ll need an entrepreneurial skill set in order to do it well.”
Many people will agree that the future is unpredictable at best, and preparing kids for the future has never been more challenging. The article goes on to provide some great tips for entrepreneurial parents, but how do you foster those skills in your children if you aren’t an entrepreneur?
At the end of each lesson in our Young Entrepreneur Learning Labs, we give kids a take-away “real world application” so that in the following week, they can connect what they’ve learned in the lab with their day-to-day interactions and experiences. Examining existing businesses, their names, logos, the service or products they provide, which customers they target, the types of people employed and their career choices – these are real world concepts that all parents can support and engage in with their kids.
Simple exercises like discussing a service experience after a meal out, or looking for examples of successful products or businesses and discussing what problem they solve for people are valuable learning opportunities that everyone can relate to. A parent’s support and involvement with these types of ‘real world applications’ can help change the way kids see the world – and their opportunities within it.
