Entrepreneurship and High School Dropout Rates

I happened upon a great article by Julie Silard Kantor from the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship. She writes about the foundation's mission to educate low-income youths, the high dropout rate (1.2 million) and the effects of teaching kids entrepreneurship.

When we think of exposing kids to the business world, we tend to think that it's a topic they are far too young to comprehend or something they don't need to be involved in at such a young age. Let's let kids be kids, right?

But teaching kids entrepreneurship is so much more than outfitting a kid with business cards and letting them dabble for a day as "business owner." Not only are kids exposed to a menagerie of important skill sets, but it's an opportunity to be creative in a relatively free-flowing environment. Furthermore, preparing our kids to lead independent, productive lives is a major component of youth entrepreneurship, just as much as it's a valuable component to our economy.

Kantor writes, "Many also fail to see the correlation between the health of the economy and the people who have a vested interest in its health: entrepreneurs."

Kantor continues with the fact that the US high school dropout rate could be positively impacted if entrepreneurship is introduced to kids early on. John Bridgeland's research in The Silent Epidemic reports that 81 percent of high school dropouts said they would not have left school early if the subjects being taught had more relevancy to life.

Go beyond the obvious benefits of entrepreneurship and the skills sets learned like decision-making, risk-taking, creativity, financial management, strategic planning, etc., and look at what it can do to heighten one's self-esteem. If you ever started a business as a kid you know what I mean.

When I created Biz in a Boxx, I didn't have any of the information on hand to support the value of entrepreneurship. I was 20 when I started by first real business and I remember everything it taught me. I remember walking on the UA campus with a stack of fresh business cards my dad had made for me and feeling as though I could conquer the world. I had no idea what I was doing, but the feeling was empowering and life defining. The data I have found fully supports everything that Biz in a Boxx is designed to do.

Check out Kantor's article at http://bit.ly/8vJR82.

For more information about youth entrepreneurs and how you can set a foundation for child's future, click here.

Teaching Kids the Value of a Dollar

By, Reba Rose, Guest Author

Well, I guessed I have arrived, am with it or perhaps even a cool grandma. Considering that this is my first time blogging and only last year I thought it was called blobbing, I think I have come a long way!!

Being a grand mother seems to have many specific obligations and responsibilities which are great because at the end of the day you can give these children back to their parents and you can relax. However, when did grandparents also become banks? In my golden years I seem to have become the National Bank of Grandma. Unlike real banks, I seem to issue no loans, I get no interest and just seem to pass out money to buy “stuff” whenever I am pressed with those infamous words….I need and I want. They kind of work like triggers or passwords. “No,” is a word that is very hard to say to grandchildren. I don’t know why as it was so easy to say to my kids.

The most logical way to teach kids about the value of a dollar is to let them earn that dollar. There are many kids in business today. They are called young entrepreneurs. Some are making thousands of dollars and some are making very little. But, they are all learning valuable life skills that are not taught in our schools. Biz in a Boxx teaches these skills and along with it the value of a dollar.

My grand daughter has started her own business and I hope one day to be able to say to her…I need and I want.

Grandma Reba

P.S. Listen, do yourself a favor, go here, check this out: www.bizinaboxx.com

Another Successful Young Entrepreneur

By, Andi Fox, Guest Author

Jodi has a rash in her armpits.

I think she has too much time on her hands; she’s lazy and bored, even though she’s out and about every day playing with her brothers and her friends. Maybe she needs to have a job to keep her busy and productive. Sure, the economy is awful right now, and she might have a devil of a time finding work, but what if she didn’t have to work for someone else? I’m sure she must have at least one good idea for her own business. Yeah, but she’s just a kid and would never know how to follow through on making the business become a reality.

I heard of something that would certainly teach her the fundamentals of starting and running her own business and she wouldn’t be so dependent on me for money. She’d have her own money to spend on toys and treats and other stuff that would make her happy and give her the freedom I know she relishes. She’d certainly have less worries and no more rashes.

I mean, why not? There have to be lots of kids’ businesses out there. OK, that’s the answer. I’ll get a Biz in a Boxx for her, let’s see that was www.bizinaboxx.com She will be another successful young entrepreneur. Oh, wait, that won’t work…..Jodi’s a basset hound.

How Kids Can Make Money - Start-up Businesses For Kids

I must have been about 7 years old when my sister and I dragged our neighborhood friend out to the curb alongside our house to set up a makeshift lemonade stand on a sunny, Saturday afternoon. Visions of cars lining up to buy our homemade juice danced in my head as I tried to conceive what I would spend my share of the money on. To me, and like thousands of other kids, this was serious business.

To most parents, the lemonade stand is more of a way to get the kids out the door and occupied for a few hours. It's cute to see these little entrepreneurs mimicking business owners as they set up their products and position their cash register, cups and signage. Deep down, each parent is more concerned with who is going to clean up the mess once business hours are over.

In reality, that lemonade stand is more than a weekend project. It's the first stepping stone to gaining important life skills.

There's almost a 100 percent guarantee that every one of us, at some point in time, will need to know how a business functions, whether we become employers or employees later on in life. And yet, learning how to earn a living, independently or dependently, is largely ignored in our school system. If we know that our kids need these vital skill sets in order to survive financially as adults, how come we aren't preparing them before they leave the nest?

The common myth that many parents have is that to foster entrepreneurship, their child has to exhibit an entrepreneurial spirit. It's akin to excluding a child from taking math classes if they don't like math, or not encouraging a child to read if they don't like to read. While some kids show early signs of business acumen when they are young, others may not express an interest until they are older. If your child doesn't walk around with a briefcase, request business cards from Santa at Christmas, or dream of dollar signs while asleep, does it mean they don't have an entrepreneurial spirit? Does it mean they do not need to learn how to make a living?

If you had asked my parents whether my sister and I had an entrepreneurial spirit when we were young, they would have likely said "no". Neither one of us spent our youth plotting out financial opportunities. I started my first real business at the tender age of 20 while in college and spent the next 18 out of 20 years self-employed. My sister writes children's books. What transpired are two entrepreneurs whose parents never noticed an entrepreneurial spirit in them as kids.

Why is youth entrepreneurship so important? As Baby Boomers retire, Gen Xers and Gen Yers take over. The US economy not only thrives on small businesses for economic growth and employment, it survives because of them. As a community, we are great at product development, but because we largely ignore teaching entrepreneurship at the elementary and high school levels, many are left without the skill sets to know how to take their innovations to the marketplace. As we move towards a global economy, how do we compete effectively? Think about the long-term ramifications it could have on our economy.

Our youth have amazing ideas and their sense of risk is different from their adult counterparts. It's not that our youth can think outside of the box any better than adults. They don't even know a box exists. They don't have a family to support, a mortgage payment to make, or a utility bill that's come due. Their business allows them to take full ownership over something they've created, allowing that ownership to transfer over to responsibility and accountability.

When we teach youth entrepreneurship, we not only show them that their future can be different, but we provide them with skill sets that make them able to compete in a competitive economic environment. And when we teach our youth how to run a business the right way with the right tools, we set them up to succeed, not fail. All kids deserve the opportunity. http://www.bizinaboxx.com

Kids starting their own businesses Young entrepreneurs have amazing clarity, insight and confidence; and the number of successful CEOs under the age of 20 is growing everyday. And they're not prodigies. They're simply kids who took a chance. If you're ready to read more about how your child, grandchild or a child you know can start and run their own business, visit our Open for Business, Getting Started page.

Join the many people who have helped a child start a business and gain a sense of ownership.

Visit us today at http://www.bizinaboxx.com/Getting-Started

The best resource for a kids business will be written so he or she can take the workbook and start and run a business by themselves.

Visit us today at http://www.bizinaboxx.com/Getting-Started

M. Rose, MBA
President
Biz in a Boxx

Preparing Tomorrow’s Business Leaders