The future is a place of uncertainty. By the time our own kids are adults, the jobs we count on today as secure careers may no longer exist. Additionally, some individuals are just not suited to being an employee. Some people are born with traits that are better suited to forging their path in the risky and exciting world of entrepreneurship. If you think you have such a child, here are some tips for helping them get a leg up on a successful future:
Teach your child at home
Entrepreneurs often start life by being bad at school. They tend to be a poor fit for the regimented world of the public school system. The school system was designed to prepare people for normal jobs in factories and offices. It was not designed to create entrepreneurs.
Whether you choose to pull your child out of the public school system to homeschool them or just teach them lessons during normal parenting hours, it’s important to teach your child entrepreneurial skills. You can teach your child about money, making social connections, adding value and looking for opportunities in the world around them. These are all things that are poorly addressed by most schools. They are also all items critical to entrepreneurial success.
Help your child develop a schedule that works for them
They say, “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” This may be true for some people, but one of the benefits of being an entrepreneur is that you can create a schedule that works for you as an individual. That means you do not necessarily need to be an early riser.
Some well-known entrepreneurs do not get up early. They typically have a daily routine, but the daily routines of successful CEOs are custom fitted to the needs of each individual CEO.
Look for non-drug approaches to problems
Bipolar disorder is nicknamed “the CEO disease.” Some well-known examples of founders who had or have this diagnosis include Ted Turner, Steve Jobs and all three founders of Netscape. They were square pegs in a round world. They broke new ground and created new things that enhanced the world.
Instead of medicating every socially problematic issue that a child may have, look for outlets where their risk-taking tendencies and other traits are an asset instead of a liability. If they like arguing, let them join the debate team and get really good at it instead of trying to get them to simply stop. Try to look for their strengths and help them learn to play to their strengths instead of focusing so much on their weaknesses.
Give them relevant experience at an early age
There are an abundance of opportunities for making money in the world. Even at a young age, kids can be taught to sell the toys they have outgrown and left behind. They can be taught to sell their old possessions in a yard sale or even an online venue. Help them figure out how to price things and how to negotiate. When kids learn that their trash is another’s treasure and people will pay for it, a whole new world opens up for them. It is something they find fun. It isn’t drudgery for them pursue the art of learning to make money, especially when it will go in their own pocket.
Don’t give them an allowance
A regular allowance teaches kids a paycheck mental model for how to relate to their money. Let them earn money by doing chores around the house or help them make money some other way, but don’t train them to expect to spend a set amount of money every week. It will not help them manage their money as entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurs often begin life as social misfits. However, that does not mean they won’t one day run the world Parents can give these young misfits experiences that will help them be successful later in life.
Lindsey Patterson is a freelance writer and entrepreneur who specializes in business technology, customer relationship management, and lead management. She also writes about the latest social trends, specifically involving social media.
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Great points! When my now 10 y-o son was about 5, I started giving them a weekly allowance. It didn’t last for more than the first month, as I saw how it was actually disconnecting him from his abilities to produce money for himself.
I’ll add that as parents we can also help by encouraging extended family and friends to *gift* our kids with opportunities to earn money, instead of just giving them a check.
Monica–
I love that idea of “gifting” them with opportunities to make money! I’ll have to try that!
Melinda