Raising Entrepreneurs

Welcome back!

We have always said that young people are capable of much more than we generally expect of them, and I get a thrill each time I find a new example to prove that point.

Today’s young entrepreneur is Josh Buckley, whose internet income topped six figures for the first time this year.

Who is Josh Buckley?

I’m a 15-year-old kid from England, still in school. Just over a month a go, I sold my largest project to date for a high five-figure sum to a company that I have always had a lot of respect for … read the whole interview at Retire@21.

Kids can be self-motivated, entrepreneurial, and successful on adult terms long before the time our culture thinks they can. Josh Buckley was managing staff by the time most kids are starting to think about maybe flipping burgers a few hours a week. One of my 11-year-olds is on a steep learning curve as she manages a writer working on her eBook – how do you get someone to stick to deadlines when you’re not actually paying them by the hour?

One of the greatest barriers to kids succeeding in business is the attitude of their parents. I have been told things like “Kids at 12 or 13 shouldn’t be worrying about responsibilities. They should be in their bedrooms, playing their music, and be called to the table when dinner is ready.”

Of course it’s not desirable for kids to be the family breadwinners at that early age. But we’re not talking about that level of responsibility here. We’re talking about kids who don’t have to do any business activities, they just want to.

My prediction is that over the next 5 years, more and more kids will want to, as the word gets out. Business is a short-cut to adult incomes, because you can start before you are deemed “old enough to get a job”, LOL!

As parents, our challenge is to get our minds out of the last century and come to grips with the new reality. The internet has made it possible for kids to compete on an even footing with adults – and win!

If we, as parents, don’t get behind our kids and give them the tools, experiences and attitudes they need for this new reality, if we persist with the old-fashioned mantra of “study hard, get a good job, save for retirement”, then we are crippling our kids financially. It’s not that the old-fashioned values and principles are completely incorrect – they just need to be reconfigured to a new reality, a new paradigm, and a staggering new array of vehicles. Otherwise, you are doing the equivalent of teaching your kids to drive in a horse-drawn cart instead of a motor-car.

It’s a challenge, because our generation were only taught the old-fashioned mantra.

But rising to the challenge will not only equip our kids for success in the New World Order, it will provide each of us with a whole new sense of possibility and excitement. Release those tired old fears of business, of technology, of sales and marketing, of the ever increasing pace of change. Learn with your kids, learn from your kids, and rest assured that your hard-won wisdom will be valued in return.

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