In a recent video for my YouTube channel, I go to a school to do a speech about entrepreneurship. I explain to the young people that as a child I was misunderstood and told I was stupid. My parents separated when I was 7 and I struggled severely in school. As a teenager, I was angry and dropped out of school. I lived in a rough neighbourhood and got jumped by a gang of thugs who left me for dead. As an adult, I invested into self education and got a business mentor. I secured my first property deal aged 17 and was a property millionaire aged 21. Today, I help more people become financially free through property than anybody else on the planet.
Children are taught there are two options in life, academics or manual work. It is very important to let kids know that there is a third option: starting a business. This option is open to everyone and can make you very rich regardless of your grades at school. In this article, I will give you 3 ways to inspire an entrepreneurial spirit in your children.
1. Help them start a microbusiness
One thing that children, who become entrepreneurs as adults, often do is start a business when they are young. This is usually something small just to earn extra pocket money. In some cases, this might be discouraged by their school and other adults that are not used to the idea of children earning money for themselves. In reality however, it is an important first step in business and is as important, or more important, than most of the things school teaches them!
Encourage your children to start a microbusiness. Depending on their age and interest level, this could be anything from a lemonade stand to selling arts and crafts online.
2. Take them to business events
If your children are old enough and interested enough to sit through business events, take them along to them. This will allow them to get a head start in the business world and an understanding of how things are done. This will provide them with the type of education that other children simply don’t ever receive. Make sure children are allowed to attend with the organiser and only bring them if you know they will be able to behave as well as any other attendee.
Some examples of business events you could take them to include: networking events, property training events and masterminds.
3. Let them use your name on the paperwork
When I was 17 I bought my first house. But at that age I couldn’t buy it in my own name or get a mortgage. My stepdad let me put the property in his name. When your children are young and in business, you may need to be the one signing the paperwork.
Doing so will put them on the fast track. Most teenagers are not starting their own businesses and many parents don’t want the responsibility of signing the paperwork for them. If you are willing to do this, you are setting your children up for success.
