Young Beginners’ Guide to Starting Your Business

Do you have kids who want to start a business? Is your child dreaming of becoming an entrepreneur? Look at these tips on how to start a business with your kid.

Is your child glued on the T.V. or their gadgets all day? These days, it’s hard to keep them off these things because parents can get really busy or need a break, too. If you don’t want them to waste time watching T.V., playing games, or simply being idle, why not help them be productive and teach them how to start a business? Yes, you can help them become successful entrepreneurs in the future. With the following steps, you can help your child learn how to start a business at 12 years old.

Help them come up with a business idea

All businesses start as an idea. But with the millions of businesses in the world today, coming up with something unique can sometimes be hard. One of the most common tips for entrepreneurs to be successful is to follow their passion–or, in this case, your child’s passion.

Be it baking, cooking, photography, painting, or other kid-friendly business ideas – turning their passion into a business will help your child have fun and put in more energy in trying to make the business successful. After all, turning their passion into a small business idea is like letting them play and get paid for it.

Who is their target market?

One of the most common mistakes of starting a business is not knowing one’s target market -– even if it’s a child’s business. It would be best to start with the local market such as neighbors, relatives, and friends, who could be willing to support it and give precious feedback. But when things take off, you might want to get into a more targeted market. Find out who else loves your child’s product or service and help him/her learn how to sell it to them.

Make realistic goals that they can achieve

Brainstorm the goals for your child’s business. Provide the necessary items to help get them started. Moreover, it might be a good idea to keep the timeline flexible. A good business plan for kids will help your child stay on track and lessen the stress and pressure of running a business. Don’t forget to have a little celebration every time your child reaches a goal, as a reward for his/her hard work.

Be their first investor

As the parent, wouldn’t it be ideal for you to become your child’s first business investor? This will show young entrepreneurs that you love and support them. In addition, your support and belief in them will surely build their self-confidence. It’s also hard to start your own business with no money since they have no day jobs yet.But if you don’t want to give them the easy way out, there are other ways to create capital for their business. You can organize a garage sale and sell their old toys and clothes. Crowdfunding can also be an option.

Teach them to manage their budget

Speaking of money, starting a business is a great way for kids to learn how to manage their business capital and profit. Without proper guidance, they could find themselves filing for business bankruptcy, sooner than later. There are plenty of online resources you can use to help teach kids about financial literacy.

You can look at Maryville University or the Money Instructor. When they learn the importance of fund management, their chances for success as kid business owners may dramatically increase.

Build their customer service skills

Did you know that businesses lose USD76-billion in the United States from poor customer service? Shocking, isn’t it? That’s why learning how to talk to customers is one of the best business tips of the day. You and your child can practice together and play ‘good cop, bad cop’ to develop his/her customer service skills.

Use social media for their business

Social media is a powerful tool that can help grow your child’s business. You can use it for business promotion, taking customer orders and customer engagement. Moreover, you can pay a small amount to promote your child’s business to a wider market. It can also be used to help grow your child’s customer service skills, as feedback from comments and reviews come in. Luckily, there are plenty of resources such as Entrepreneur and Small Biz Online to learn how to start your own business online.

Be their legal counsel

At this point,  your child doesn’t know anything about the technicalities of the law. To avoid unwanted confrontations with the authorities, it might be a good idea to do some research on laws related to your child’s business, such as copyright infringement, health guidelines, and best practices.

You have to be the one to tell them if what they’re doing is right or wrong, according to defined legal mandates. In addition, you might want to register your child’s business with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), since your child barely knows how to start their own business and to avoid possible complications in the future.

Make sure to pay taxes

If you registered your child’s business with the BIR, you’ll have to learn how to pay taxes properly. Knowing the ins and outs of filing business taxes will be beneficial to young entrepreneurs and their business in the future.

Pay it forward

As your child’s business grows, they might become full of themselves. Teach them humility by paying it forward. Take a portion of their profits and help them set up charity events or visit the house of the aged or orphanages. The change in scenery   them appreciate how lucky they are to have a growing business and, hopefully, stay grounded.

Starting a business can be a tall undertaking for children. With good guidance and these handy tips, your child could be on his/ her way to becoming a successful young entrepreneur. Good luck!