Raising Entrepreneurs....

Late Night

So this past Saturday my wife, my daughter and I were lying on the couch watching a movie.  Well, my wife and my daughter fell asleep so I shut off the movie.  Now we have Roku, not regular TV.  If you dont know what Roku is, it is a device that you hook to your TV and it allows you to watch "channels" via your internet connection. 

Anyways, there are always new channels coming out, so I was browsing through the new channels to see if I was missing anything super important.  And Lo and behold, I was!!! There was now a TED talks channel!!! Now, if you don't know what TED talks are, PLEASE click on the link right now!!! TED talks are one of the neatest things I've ever come across.  10-20 talks on all sorts of topics.  It allows you to learn about alot of difference subjects and new, cutting edge ideas in those subjects in a short space of time.  It's fantastic.

Anyways, so I download the TED talks channel and start browsing through the talks.  I found some really great ones.  I watched the Simon Sinek TED talk, which is absolutely mind blowing! That should be watched monthly by everyone!! AWESOME info! 

The talk that pumped me up...

Then I came across the talk that really pumped me up.  The talk was given by a gentleman by the name of Cameron Herold. (You can follow Cameron on Twitter @CameronHerold) His talk was titled "Let's raise kids to be entrepreneurs".  This talk was absolutely amazing!  There's way to much to just summarize it, so I'd encourage you to watch the entire thing, then I'll share what I got from it!

 Enjoy!

Mr. Herold makes some great points.  The first that I noticed that is absolutely true is that our school systems are focused on making all of us great employees, but we don't recognize and develop kids who may be wired more towards being entrepreneurs.

He gives alot of examples of what he did growing up, but what really stuck out to me were the ideas he suggested for teaching our kids to be more entrepreneurial.  Some of the suggestions he gives that I am going to implement with my daughter are:

No Allowance

He says allowances teach kids to expect a regular paycheck, which is a job, not entrepreneurial.  He suggests you teach your kids to look around the house and find things on their own that need to be done, then have them come to you and explain what you want to do, then negotiate a price.  This teaches them to look for a need and negotiate a price to fulfil the need.

Don't just read bedtime stories

Reading has a place.  But he said to take a few nights a week and have your kids tell you a story.  Give them a few items and have them make up a story.  This teaches them to think on their feet, to imagine, to create, to sell.

Stand infront of groups and talk

Give your kids opportunities to speak infront of groups, even if its just their friends or your friends.  This helps them learn how to speak, how to present to an audience, etc.

Point out Good and Bad Service and Employees

When you're out and about, point out when you receive poor service, explain why the service wasnt very good so your child learns by observation how to serve and how not to serve.  Do the same with employees so they know what a good employee looks and acts like and how to spot bad employees.

Craigslist

When you're getting rid of old toys of your childs, don't just give them away, have your kid put them on Craigslist, ebay, etc.  Teach them how to write a description, have a good picture, determine and set the price, spot scammers, and negotiate. 

My Take Away

It seems that his point was that there are so many every day experiences with our children that we just overlook that could be HUGE learning opportunities for them! 

I was blown away with these ideas!  What great ways to teach and train our children to look for and fulfill needs around them. 

I believe if we can teach our kids some of these principles and thought processes we'll raise a generation that will power this economy.  A generation that will provide jobs rather than looking for someone to give them a job!  A generation that will be self-sufficient, confident, and successful! 





Question: What every day experiences do you have that could be used to teach success principles to your children?




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Twitter: @Skropp2