How to encourage a budding entrepreneur

Dane Carlson We were interviewed recently over on Dane Carlson's Business Opportunities Weblog and I was quite pleased with the resulting post --- I always make more sense in an email than when speaking. As part of the interview, I wrote:

Mark told me just yesterday that he wanted to be an inventor at the advanced age of seven. Unfortunately, his parents weren’t keen on the idea, so he followed a more traditional path, spending a few years in the Navy, many more years working as a copier repair man, and then a few years working constructon. He really knows what the rat race is like and never wants to go back.

Later, Mark told me that his parents didn't officially discourage him from inventing, but that their lack of encouragement amounted to the same thing. When I asked him what they could have done differently, Mark jumped straight to the idea of giving him some capital to market his first invention. At a few years older than seven, Mark built a basement flood detector that was clearly a worthwhile product --- he saw a similar concept being sold by a large business not too long thereafter. Now he wishes his child self had $500 to $1,000 so that he could pay for a few ads in magazines, beating the big company to the punch.

Although I think that Mark's flood detector was a great idea, I tend to disagree with the approach of giving a kid capital. From my limited experience with kids (I was one once...), it seems that handing over a wad of cash is no way to get the entrepreneurial wheels rolling. Instead, could Mark's parents have helped him sell his first prototype for a profit, so that he could buy more parts and build more models? Mark was already working at the time of his first invention, beating the pavement to sell subscriptions to a local newspaper. How hard would it have been to carry his flood detector along with him and give those housewives the hard sell after pushing his paper?

In Microbusiness Independence, I admonish folks fleeing the rat race to start small, paying for supplies a few at a time even if you think you can save money in the long run by buying in bulk. If your first experiment is a failure, you'll have to reenter the rat race if you sank your entire savings into the project. On the other hand, if you only spent a couple of hundred bucks getting started, you can try out several ideas before you find one that really sticks. By giving a child capital to market his or her invention, I think you would be doing that child a disservice by channeling him away from the microbusiness approach.

But as I said earlier, my experience with kids and businesses together is extremely limited. So, I'm curious --- what do you think is the best way to encourage a budding entrepreneur?

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Wetknee home Microbusiness ebook Appalachian ecology ebook Chicken ebooks News Recent comments Blog archive Tags Contact us Links Our sister sites: Homestead blog Deer deterrent Chicken waterer Cosmic cookout Nature art	How to encourage a budding entrepreneur We were interviewed recently over on Dane Carlson's Business Opportunities Weblog and I was quite pleased with the resulting post --- I always make more sense in an email than when speaking. As part of the interview, I wrote: Mark told me just yesterday that he wanted to be an inventor at the advanced age of seven. Unfortunately, his parents weren’t keen on the idea, so he followed a more traditional path, spending a few years in the Navy, many more years working as a copier repair man, and then a few years working constructon. He really knows what the rat race is like and never wants to go back. Later, Mark told me that his parents didn't officially discourage him from inventing, but that their lack of encouragement amounted to the same thing. When I asked him what they could have done differently, Mark jumped straight to the idea of giving him some capital to market his first invention. At a few years older than seven, Mark built a basement flood detector that was clearly a worthwhile product --- he saw a similar concept being sold by a large business not too long thereafter. Now he wishes his child self had $500 to $1,000 so that he could pay for a few ads in magazines, beating the big company to the punch. Although I think that Mark's flood detector was a great idea, I tend to disagree with the approach of giving a kid capital. From my limited experience with kids (I was one once...), it seems that handing over a wad of cash is no way to get the entrepreneurial wheels rolling. Instead, could Mark's parents have helped him sell his first prototype for a profit, so that he could buy more parts and build more models? Mark was already working at the time of his first invention, beating the pavement to sell subscriptions to a local newspaper. How hard would it have been to carry his flood detector along with him and give those housewives the hard sell after pushing his paper? In Microbusiness Independence, I admonish folks fleeing the rat race to start small, paying for supplies a few at a time even if you think you can save money in the long run by buying in bulk. If your first experiment is a failure, you'll have to reenter the rat race if you sank your entire savings into the project. On the other hand, if you only spent a couple of hundred bucks getting started, you can try out several ideas before you find one that really sticks. By giving a child capital to market his or her invention, I think you would be doing that child a disservice by channeling him away from the microbusiness approach. But as I said earlier, my experience with kids and businesses together is extremely limited. So, I'm curious --- what do you think is the best way to encourage a budding entrepreneur? Want to be notified when new comments are posted on this page? Click on the RSS button after you add a comment to subscribe to the comment feed. Add a comment