The US economy not only thrives on small businesses, it survives because of them. Entrepreneurism not only feeds the economy and strengthens communities, it fuels innovations and provides financial stability.
The skill sets learned in running a business are plentiful and those who own their own businesses can attest to the positive benefits gained through experience. When a child learns business acumen by running a business at a young age, he or she is placed light years ahead of those who do not have the opportunity to learn.
Leadership
Business ownership requires leadership, allowing young entrepreneurs to begin sharpening this vital skill.
Problem Solving Skills
Entrepreneurs are problem solvers. They create products or services that solve problems and make the lives of others better. When practiced, a child learns that there are positive solutions to problems using a little creativity.
Decision-Making Skills
Running a business provides young entrepreneurs with the ability to learn how to make thoughtful decisions by seeing the cause and effects of their efforts. Trial and error is a vital component of business ownership.
Communication Skills
Building self-esteem is an intrinsic reward for a young entrepreneur. Through a heightened sense of self-awareness, young entrepreneurs are better able to improve their communication skills, both written and oral, simply by learning how to better connect with their customers without having a crippling fear of rejection.
Networking
Networking involves building solid relationships and trust. It enables people to step outside of their comfort zones, engage in active listening and find ways to help others professionally.
Earning a Living
Today's youth are ill-prepared when it comes to knowing how to earn a living which will financially sustain themselves over the long term. Running a business at a young age helps teach that hard work pays, how to budget money, how to make a profit and how save for future endeavors.
Creativity
Kid businesses provide young entrepreneurs with a true sense of ownership, and through ownership they have a chance to express their creativity freely as well as find solutions to challenges that may arise.
Accountability
Young entrepreneurs learn early on the importance of being held accountable to their customers. This also transfers over to other parts of their lives, such as school, where they learn there are rewards for being responsible.
Learning how to run a business isn't something you learn overnight. It's similar to riding a bike; it takes practice. Experiencing entrepreneurship at a young age gives kids an advantage and sets them apart from their peers as they mature.
Occupation: Entrepreneur
Melissa Rose grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. She started her first business, a marketing company, while still in college at the age of 20, and spent the next 20 years self-employed. In 2008, Melissa took her formal and informal business training and experience wrote a workbook for her 12-year-old daughter so that she could learn about entrepreneurship. Her daughter’s business, Plants, Paws and Pacifiers just survived its first year and she recently started a second business. Melissa is the Founder and President of Boxx Productions, a company that produces an interactive, independent, educational tool called, Biz In A Boxx, which gives kids ages 7 to 18 hands-on experience in starting and running their own business. She is driven by the knowledge that there are vital skills sets to be learned from entrepreneurship and that every America child deserves to have a brighter, productive future.
Melissa received her BA in Journalism from the University of Arizona in 1991 and her MBA in 2003.
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