Encouraging kids in business?

Let's make it relevant for this section then; does he have a good attitude towards money? Does he know how much he wants to make? Does he just want "lots of money" or does he have a certain aim? Is he just after making a few bucks to spend on stuff or does he want to start building a real and valuable business? It's probably a bit early to be putting too much financial philosophy on him but is a PMA book reader? Does he have a PMA?

He could do a lot worse than listen to an interview I posted a few days ago about a 19 year old who owns several companies and started when he was 15. It might provide some inspiration. My advice would be to get him to start listening to some of the more positive financial speakers (available on audio and video) to get his attitude to money and self belief aligned.

One thing's for sure, with a mother like you, asking questions like this (if he's willing to listen to the answers) he has a bright and surprising future ahead of him. Your job would be to encourage self belief and expose him to the right mindset. You have to remind him at every opportunity (which may not be every day - you'll know when to step in) that he's going to be a very important person who will go on to help millions of people and because he's starting so young and with such a great attitude (tip: it's not about becoming a "millionaire") he's bound to become a super star in anything he really puts his mind to and effort behind.

Never let him hear your doubts about his ability or direction. It's his life and he has to travel down all his own roads but tell him that if anyone can do this it's obviously him and he should let you know if and when he needs any assistance or advice you're there for him and will share anything you know if asked. You might also give him the freedom to make mistakes and try new things and he can do no wrong (illegal and immoral actions aside) - it's all good experience. Tell him that success (and money) loves speed so whatever he does he should do with all his might, time and effort. It really does require a lot of effort but when you do something you like doing it doesn't seem like much effort and is often quite fun and exciting.

where your son is already interested .. in making money online . and where he is still your dependent so you cover the living expenses for him .

because he has yet to learn a lot of the stuff that is in this section teaches people to unlearn ..

support from you is what he needs ..if he learns to make money online and without ever needing a real job..accept to learn skills to help his business ..if your son choses in three years to get on a plane an travel around the world from the money he makes online ..instead of paying for and expensive degree ..

what your son want to do is not odd .. you may be better off ..hunting down stories of others close to his age doing this.. because there are lots of stories and lots of piers for him .

here is and idea for you.. start a forum or some website for moms of teen entrapenuers ..or get in touch with other parents in your situation .

I think introducing kids to entrepreneurship early on is a great idea. When you start your own business, making mistakes is part of the learning process that you can't avoid. Starting them young (if they're really interested in it) would allow them to make these mistakes early on, at a time when they can still afford to make mistakes.

It is a wonderful idea to expose kids to the world of entrepreneurship early on. Many children grow up without even knowing this is an option. My kids were 9 and 6 when they started their business! They began making paracord bracelets for their own use, but soon their friends wanted them also. So they started buying in bulk and going to various fairs and festivals and did quite well at it. I noticed when they viewed it as fun they enjoyed it more than when they had to view it as a business and fill orders! They only did it as a business for about a year, but learned some valuable lessons and made some money at the same time. Good luck to your son, and it's great that you are asking the question!

Peace

encourage not force

At 15 he should spend his time developing essential emotional skills and not so much focus on money. That's the age at which I've started and it is hard to do them both.

I've realized this rather quickly so I've balanced them but you don't want him to focus on money and slow his evolution into a functional adult.

I would suggest instead of IM to suggest him self-development. How to date a girl or how to handle the 99 types of emotional problems that will appear at that age is far more important than making money at that age. I know this from my own experience - because when other kids were going out in the park, I was studying NLP. When kids were spending time being kids, I was writing lead gen reports. Now, 8 years later, the effects of those decisions are sometimes influencing my life in a very negative manner.

The goal of a father, even if I'm no father is to teach his son or daughter to be happy. How?

It may be through online marketing, performance sport or simply enjoying life.

Of course that any parent wants his kid to earn money, to be responsible about them, to understand the value of money but I've been on this road. It is like giving a plant water but not sun or sun but not water. Think about it.

And if you will say that money builds self-esteem, money earned by himself, that is true. It does. But life is not black and white. It is similar to a wheel. You need to be rounded in many things, not in just earning money.

Quite interesting post and opinions.

If the kid has interest in business, it is a good thing. Beside the motives behind this intention is crucial. If you he/she wants to earn money via solving a problem and offering value thats a good intention to start from. To be honest kids can be great in business since they look it as a game.

In my opinion. Having a purpose of making money + enjoyment + offering value I beleive thats the mindset which kids needs to implement first.

I started internet marketing at 15 and I only wish I could have started sooner. At 16 I was making $600+ per month and I was enjoying life to the fullest. I think internet marketing taught me many very valuable life lessons, and I think it improved my spelling, grammar, creativity, and self confidence significantly. I don't see anything wrong with starting young. I had a loving girlfriend and my high school life was great.

Show him real life stories about kids that have already done it so he knows its possible.

Neil

I would say that you should tell him that business means that his future is in his own hands to a greater extent and the limits to how far he can go are infinite; employment means his future is in someone else's hands and there are clear limits to how far one can excel. Then, let him decide.

Thanks, everyone. I thought this thread was deleted. I had posted it in another section and when it was gone I thought it had been removed.

Thanks to Mr. Bill for bringing it to my attention.

There is a lot of great advice and I'll talk with him about it. When I grew up, it was without any kind of financial role model and it shows with our personal money habits, etc. It's something we have been improving, but we have the debt to show for it too.

I'd like to encourage him to make money while he shows interest so he doesn't end up making the same mistakes we did through the years. We have had a good life, but it would have been better to not get ourselves into debt, etc.

I like the idea of the podcasts, etc and will see if he's interested. I'd thought about having him and his sister use one of the methods I ran across here selling things from Amazon on Ebay to make a little money. Then, build a website (as mentioned above) to chronicle their progress as another branch of building their own little empire.

Either way, I don't want to force them and I'd like to make personal responsibility something they value while young rather than wait until they are half way through their lives like we did.

Thanks again for all the great replies, I definitely appreciate them.

Btw, I'm actually a guy (with a girls name, lol). Not that I've never been called a mother.... before.

Good to hear our suggestions helped. Actually, eBay is a great way for kids to start making money. They can start by selling their own stuff then reinvesting that money into buying things from garage sales in the area or doing local neighborhood garage clear outs on a share basis where they share in the sale proceeds (usually 50/50 but they could offer it for less given they don't have too many costs).

If you're son is good with technology he can walk around with his smart phone hooked up to eBay and he can search the completed listings for the item he's considering buying to see what it previously sold for. That way he can make reasonable judgements and maybe even do deals for "job lots" based on his approximation of possible profits. I've seen people do this and make $1,000 in one day's rummaging through thrift stores with a smart phone at hand.

Then as his father you can make the joke about "I bet you wished you hadn't dozed off in maths class now!" or the more encouraging..."Now, let's put that brilliant mind of yours to work!"

Book mark this thread and if he decides to make a move we'd love to all hear of his first sale success.