Simple Ways to Motivate Your Kidpreneur

ByMichelle Garrett

Are you looking for simple ways to motivate your kidpreneur? Often times our young entrepreneurs can get overwhelmed by the demands of running and showing up in their business. Let’s be honest, they’re kids. While they are passionate about the projects they have started, kids will be kids. And that’s okay.

My daughter asked to start her own business when she was about four years old. This was after spending time at home with me and seeing what I did each day as a full-time entrepreneur. Honestly, when she first mentioned it, I did not take her very seriously. She kept coming back to the conversation and so we started small and at a pace that we were both comfortable with.

Are you looking for simple ways to motivate your kidpreneur? Often times our young entrepreneurs can get overwhelmed by the demands of running and showing up in their business.

Start small.

Running a business can be very overwhelming. For a child, starting with a small and simple idea is a great start. This gives them the opportunity to get used to having a product and learning what goes into their business. Also, as parents (and often their primary investors) this keeps the overhead costs low to begin with.

For example, one of my daughter’s favorite and most popular products are the simple Fun Packs she created with items that she liked to use. We were able to use sites I used for my business to create easily put them together.

Simple ways for children to earn money include:

  • selling their art work or photography
  • yard work for neighbors
  • pet sitting
  • dog walking
  • tutoring other children
  • hosting a parents’ night out (with adult supervision and social distancing, of course)
  • being a parent’s helper

The great thing about starting small is that this gives children a simple way to earn money for their larger ideas and projects.

Motivate your kidpreneur by setting goals

Creating a vision board is a fun way to motivate your kidpreneur to focus on their goals

Introducing your child to goals is a great way to motivate them to show up consistently in their business. In our family we set:

  • personal goals
  • educational goals
  • business goals
  • family goals

Family meetings, journaling, creating vision boards and just talking are easy ways to have goal conversations.

The great thing about setting goals is taking the steps to meet them. This simple task can teach your child how to create and track their plan of action. They can, also, learn to celebrate their successes along the way.

Set up a reward system

Setting up a reward system is a great way to motivate your kidpreneur.

Who doesn’t love a great reward? Once your child has set their goals, work together to create rewards for achieving them. These goals do not need to be extravagant. Some ideas we’ve used are:

  • ice cream dates
  • being able to purchase something with their earnings
  • lunch at their favorite restaurant
  • a balloon fight
  • extra screen time
  • an opportunity to have Mom do a chore
  • extra time before bedtime (or my daughter’s favorite – the ability to sleep in a bit)

Over the years we have learned to be flexible and patient with our kidpreneur. There will be times that they lack motivation and inspiration. That’s okay. Many adults face these moments within their businesses, as well. As children, their primary focus is being a rockstar child.

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