Raising Entrepreneurs

We had a rush of people coming to look at the competition rules last week, so I am guessing that someone has been publicising the competition, or the press release - or maybe we have had some press coverage that I haven’t heard about yet.

If you happen to have seen a new story about the Cash-Smart Kids YouTube video competition somewhere, please drop me a line in a comment on this blog, or via the contact page and let me know!

We’re still waiting to hear from the publisher we like the best, after an initial warm response - who knows how long it might take them to come back with an offer?

In the meanwhile, though, keep the entries coming in - so far I have seen about one percent of the entries that people have spoken to me about actually materialise, so I know there are an awful lot of good intentions out there.

Let’s see those good intentions turning into some ACTION!

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait…

Ben Casnocha posted an interesting link on his blog last week, to an essay by Joseph Epstein. Epstein is a university professor, and in his essay he was reflecting on the shift in parenting styles among middle-class parents, and the effect of that shift on the behaviour and attitudes of the “Millennials”, or Generation Y - the kids currently in high school, college, and up to about age 25.

Those kids have grown up with an unprecedented level of parental attention and involvement, and they continue to expect a high level of attention, praise and affirmation from other adults as they enter college and the workplace.

Epstein’s observations echoed those in that fabulous ode to the kids of the 50s, 60s, and 70s - the kids of yesteryear who had lead-based paint on their toys, rode in the back of station wagons without seat belts, and went out to play on the weekends - unsupervised - without a mobile phone or any expectation that they would be dropped off, picked up, or in communication between leaving home after breakfast and returning at sunset.

Epstein’s essay also evoked a longing for those simpler times, when parents were just parents, and weren’t expected to also be their kids’ chauffeur, best friend, counsellor, performance coach, careers advisor, and lender-of-first-resort. Back before the advent of encounter groups and “inner child work”, kids got on with their lives and adults got on with theirs.

I’m not advocating a return to that lifestyle - there were some major disadvantages to living in families which simply never discussed or acknowledged emotions.

One advantage of those times, however, could be reclaimed.

We could return to thinking of kids as capable.

The pendulum has swung so far in the direction of protecting and nurturing kids that there is a reasonably widespread phenomenon called “helicopter parenting”. This refers to the form of anxious hovering and over-helping which flowers, in the fullness of time, with parents phoning their college-aged kids who are living in dorms to wake them each morning so they are not late for class.

The message kids get from this type of parenting is not that they are loved and respected. The message they get is that they are incapable, and that the world is too much for them to handle on their own.

One of the greatest benefits to my kids from their business activity is the sense it gives them of being capable - of being able to do adult tasks in way that adults respect and acknowledge.

Business activity also breeds emotional resilience. Kids who have active businesses have all tried things that didn’t work out, processed the disappointment, and moved on to try something else. In most cases, they get accolades for trying, whether or not they ever make much money.

Who is better placed for a life of accomplishment - the child who has tackled adult challenges, and learned that failure and disappointment are part of life, and part of the process, or the child who believes they are incapable of getting out of bed without outside assistance?

Image: silver.and.gold

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait…

Eight-year-old Nzinga Ajamu has her very own jewelry-making business.

“I discovered my passion for making jewelry during my jewelry-making class in school,” she told the Daily News in Memphis, referring to a cultural arts curriculum course she took last year. “I enjoyed making jewelry so much that I asked my parents to buy beads for me so I could make more jewelry. Also, I made a necklace, bracelet and ponytail holder to wear to school. … When I would go places people would compliment me on my jewelry and they would say, ‘Where’d you get that jewelry?’ and I’d say, ‘I made it,’ and they could not believe that I made it.”

Nzinga’s creations were so attractive that people asked her to make jewellery for them as well, and before long she has a thriving business.

Nzinga comes up with the designs for the jewelry – sometimes, she said, the ideas come at night while she sleeps. She also sets her own prices and keeps up with all the orders.

“It’s her company and she handles everything herself,” Veda said. “And we do everything we can to keep it that way.”

But school always comes first, Nzinga’s mother, Veda, told the Daily News.

Education, Nzinga’s parents are teaching her, is the foundation to achieving the high goals the girl has set for herself. Nzinga doesn’t see Queen Nzinga’s Creations as just a fly-by-night business. This is just the beginning for what she hopes to achieve as a “grown-up.”

Already, Nzinga is envisioning having her own retail space to run her business, and developing a broader market and a larger production capability.

Meanwhile, she markets her creations through her website, www.nzingascreations.com.

Keepin’ it brief today - we have the flu in the house.

We have had a nice, positive response from at least one publisher about the book, the project, and this competition. Peter and I are going to be interviewed by Costco magazine in a few weeks’ time - this goes out to over SIX MILLION readers.

If you want a chance to have your business mentioned in that interview - get off your tootie and put your entry in!

Check out the competition rules if you haven’t already. The rewards just for entering are very, very worth it.

Shonika Proctor, teen business coach, shares her knowledge of ways for kids to make money, even when they are under 16.

Po’ No Mo’

5 Tips on How Youth Under Age 16 Can Make Money

In his internationally best-selling book Reallionaire: Nine Steps to Becoming Rich from the Inside Out, Dr. Farrah Gray, a self-made millionaire by age 14, discusses how, in one of the first of his many business ventures, he painted rocks and sold them as door stops door-to-door for $1.50 each when he was only 9 years old.

Despite common misconception, you do not have to have money to make money. All you need is a great idea and a persistent willingness to put that great idea into action. Here are 5 ways you can make money in the 21^st century, even if you’re not yet 16 (or 14, for that matter), and even if you don’t have a dime to your name.

1. Competitions: Enter business plan competitions such as the ones offered by NFTE.com and BlackEnterprise.com. All sorts of contests and competitions exist for young budding entrepreneurs, and the cash or scholarship prizes you may receive are only half the benefit. The other half is the name recognition you can carry with you into your burgeoning business life as being the chosen winner amongst all the many entrants in such illustrious, business-related competitions.
2. Advertising: Seek sponsors and advertisers for your product or service. For example, sell advertising space on the flyers, postcards, and - yes - websites you put out there to promote your own business. The advertising funds you generate will pay for the production, printing, distribution, etc. of your own promotions, essentially making it free advertising for you!
3. Sharing Your Experience: It doesn’t matter how young you are. We all have expertise in something, even if that something is simply being ourselves. We’ve all lived unique lives and we all have an important story to tell. Get the word out about your endeavors by writing articles on the subject for your local newspapers. Write about the subject of your business. Write about your own experiences starting a business. Usually small local newspapers are looking for filler content. With just a single publication credit, you will instantly start to become known as an expert at whatever you do. You may even get paid a few dollars or more for your efforts, though that isn’t the point. The point is to get more free advertising for your business by writing about what you know best - you and all that you are up to.
4. Technology Training and Consulting: Put that way it sounds so lofty and complex, but it isn’t. As a member of the younger generation, you have natural abilities to work with computers that may seem like nothing but second nature to you but are a hot and valuable commodity to people of older generations who didn’t grow up with all this newfangled technology in their homes. You’d be surprised how many people older than you don’t know how to make a web page (or maybe you wouldn’t be surprised). The point is, even if you can do it in your sleep, there are people who will pay you big bucks to teach them how to do it, or more - do it for them. YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, and all the other social networking and bookmarking sites as well as blogs, newsletters, and ezines are the new media. And guess who the experts are in this new media? That’s right - you are! And as a related bonus tip, you can even offer a free course for small business-people at your local library on the importance of having online presence, and then at the end of the class offer to sell your expertise to build their pages. Give them a discount if they order your services on that day.
5. Odd Jobs: This is one suggestion that never goes out of style. Random odd jobs like cutting grass, raking leaves, dog walking, shoveling show etc. may not be the most exotic, novel, or interesting forms of making money. But they’ve been around forever for a very good reason - because they work. This type of work may not be directly related to your business or business idea, but you can take heart that the entire time you’re toiling away at some seemingly boring task for some extra ducats, what you’re really doing is serving a much higher purpose - raising valuable funds for your business’s success.

Tired of being po’? Of course you are! Well, get over it - literally! Because you can easily be po’ no mo’. All it takes is a little innovation and a willingness to make it work. Problems equal opportunities. Be resourceful and creative. Make money by solving problems that exist around you, and before you know it you’ll have solved the problem of being poor and well on the way to your well-deserved riches.

Shonika Proctor, aka the Nika’Nator, is a youth and teen entrepreneur coach. She helps aspiring and emerging young entrepreneurs to demolish drama and build dreams. www.renegadeceos.com.