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Teaching Kids the Entrepreneurial Spirit

November 24, 2010

Startup Princess Business Development Director, Michelle McCullough shares the following advice:

When I was in 6th grade, I started my first “business”.  I LOVED to babysit and had a ton of experience, but after reading all the “Baby Sitter’s Club” Books (By Ann M. Martin) my friends and I thought we could create a babysitting club of our own.  But, alas, it was a flop.  No one ever called.

That didn’t stop me from trying to find other get rich quick schemes (I also got some great ideas from Zack on “Saved By The Bell”.  He always had a plan up sleeves to make money quick!) or other kid-friendly business dreams.  Fast forward to High School when I took a DECA class (DECA is a national marketing education club) and we also participated in Junior Achievement where we had to create a product, sell it and account for all our costs, profit and losses.  It was a great experience.  I never would have started my first “grown-up” business, Doodads Promotional Products,  if I hadn’t found my love for marketing in High School and then studied it in college, which led me to work at an advertising agency that had promotional product needs.

Where did you first catch the entrepreneurial bug?

What inspired this jaunt down memory lane?

I just watched this fantastic TED video and couldn’t wait to share it with
you!

I love the ideas Cameron Herald offers of ways to nurture the entrepreneurial spirit in kids, and especially love that he’s taught his
kids to look for opportunities to make something better or cleaner in their own home for pay.  How powerful is it to teach your children to LOOK for what needs to be done?

I also love Herald’s reminder to give your kids opportunities to learn how to speak, because communication skills are so important in business.  I really couldn’t agree more.  From a really young age, mom used to make us give talks and learn to put lessons and presentations together on religious topics to share with our family.  I attribute that (and 5 years of competitive debate) to my feeling comfortable speaking in front of audiences and actually really enjoying it.

Click here to see this video
http://www.ted.com/talks/cameron_herold_let_s_raise_kids_to_be_entrepreneurs.html

Thanks HP for Small Business (@HP_smallbiz on Twitter and HP for Small Business on Facebook) for sharing this link with me.  It enlightened my day!  My kids are only 2 (almost 3) and 11 months, so I’ve still got time, but I’m already thinking of ways to implement some of these ideals at a young age.

Check out the video, and let us know what ways you help your kids foster their creative business juices or better yet, what things did others teach YOU as a kid that made you the savvy business person you are today?

Michelle McCullough, Doodads Promotional, Michelle has spent the last 11 years working in marketing and advertising. She’s worked in all aspects of the industry from production to creative and sales to management. On top of her full-time jobs, Michelle has cultivated her love for entrepreneurship by running a successful side business, Doodads, a promotional products company. Michelle is also the Startup Princess Business Development Director.

Written by Fairy Godmothers · Filed Under Startup & Grow 

  Startup Princess is an international network committed to empowering Women Entrepreneurs by offering resources for women in business to support, mentor, collaborate, learn from, and inspire one another. In 2006, after struggling to raise funding for an initial startup business venture, Kelly King Anderson recognized an important market niche existed for reliable resources educating women desiring to start and grow successful businesses, thus Startup Princess was developed.

Successful women entrepreneurs understand that for every business venture, they are in charge of creating, organizing, developing, managing, and assuming all the risks associated with their enterprise. That can seem quite intimidating but as other women business owners will tell you, it’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it! Success is within your grasp and Startup Princess is here to help.

First, join as a member of Startup Princess and start building a solid foundation. Membership entitles you to a listing in the Startup Princess Online Directory where we list women owned businesses. You’ll also access exclusive content like articles, videos, and audio straight from your email inbox. Coupled with feature interviews, discounts on events, networking connections, and press opportunities, your Startup Princess membership will give any woman entrepreneur a great start for her business!

Then, take advantage of Touchpoint, our annual business conference for women entrepreneurs. Practical planning meets sky-high inspiration at this high-impact event for women business owners to network and develop their approach to business with wisdom and creative direction from other women entrepreneurs across the country.

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