Top 5 Skills Children Learn From Running a Business

Running a business isn’t just for adults. Kids can gain real-world skills like problem-solving, communication, and money management by starting small ventures like lemonade stands or crafting businesses. These early experiences teach them how to adapt, plan, and improve their work while preparing them for future challenges.

Here are the 5 key skills kids develop through entrepreneurship:

1. Problem-Solving: They learn to identify issues, gather feedback, and test solutions.
2. Customer Communication: By interacting with customers, kids practice listening, speaking clearly, and handling complaints.
3. Money Management: They understand budgeting, tracking expenses, and setting financial goals.
4. Time Management: Balancing school, business, and life teaches planning and scheduling.
5. Product Improvement: Kids use feedback to refine their products and meet customer needs.

These skills go beyond business - they help in school, at home, and in social situations. Parents play a crucial role by guiding their kids, encouraging creativity, and teaching practical strategies like budgeting or scheduling.

Want an easy way to start? Tools like My Lil Startup's Slime Business Kit can help kids dive into entrepreneurship with hands-on learning.

Skills Kids Learn Through Building Their Own Business

1. Solving Business Problems

When kids run a business, they face everyday challenges like setting prices or meeting customer needs. These experiences help them build problem-solving skills that are crucial for personal and professional growth.

Jim Marggraff, an expert in education, highlights the importance of this:

"Leaders must be able to cope with problems directly and effectively, and those are skills that need to be learned in childhood."

Take this example: A young entrepreneur notices that colorful slimes aren’t selling well. They might:

• Identify the problem (low sales)
• Gather feedback from customers
• Develop a theory, like "Reducing the price from $5 to $3 might increase sales"
• Test their idea and monitor the results
• Evaluate the outcomes to adjust their strategy

Customer feedback also provides valuable lessons. If a customer complains about slime being too sticky, kids learn to:

• Listen carefully to understand the issue
• Brainstorm solutions
• Improve their product
• Check back to ensure the issue is resolved

Parents play a key role in supporting this learning process by:

• Encouraging kids to think through conflicts on their own
• Teaching them how to ask thoughtful questions
• Sharing examples of how they solve problems at work
• Offering guidance without immediately stepping in with answers

These experiences help children develop what Marggraff calls the "PTS" (Problem To Solve) mindset:

"Children who learn to identify the PTS from a young age become capable of thinking clearly, taking targeted action and remaining calm even during moments of duress. As they grow older, they emerge as natural leaders."

2. Talking With Customers

Running a business gives kids a chance to sharpen their communication skills by interacting directly with customers. These moments teach them how to express themselves clearly, listen carefully, and handle different situations thoughtfully. Experts agree that these experiences help kids build communication skills that stick with them for life.

Marco Terry highlights the value of these interactions:

"This kid knows how to size up clients, hustle some product, tally up sales, and track inventory. This is the good stuff – and they don't teach it in school."

Take the example of a seven-year-old girl who started a mobile lemonade stand in local parks. At first, she focused on families, greeting them with a warm smile and a friendly pitch. Over time, she noticed young men trying to impress others were also interested, so she adjusted her approach to connect with them too.

Parents can help their children grow by encouraging them to:

• Clearly introduce themselves and their products
• Actively listen to customer questions and feedback
• Maintain eye contact during conversations
• Show appreciation by saying "thank you" after each sale
• Handle complaints with patience

These interactions help kids develop empathy and a solid understanding of their products. This allows them to answer questions confidently and build trust with customers - skills that are useful not just in business but also in school, friendships, and future careers.

3. Managing Money

Running a business helps kids learn how to handle money by keeping track of what they earn and spend. Building on communication skills, understanding how to manage money gives young entrepreneurs even more confidence. As Sam X Renick, co-creator of Sammy Rabbit, puts it:

"Without a working knowledge of money, it is extraordinarily difficult to do well in life."

Take a lemonade stand, for example. Kids figure out the cost of ingredients (like lemons, which are about $2 per pound in the US), equipment, and their profit margins. LemonadeDay.org offers this advice:

"Determine the right price for lemonade by balancing ingredient costs, location, competition and target audience."

Parents can help by teaching money management skills through age-appropriate activities:

For instance, Zandra Cunningham began selling handmade lip balm on Etsy at just 9 years old in 2023. Parents can guide their kids by:

• Teaching them to record all expenses, from supplies to marketing
• Explaining the difference between revenue and profit
• Encouraging them to save money for growing their business
• Helping them set simple financial goals
• Highlighting the importance of saving for future opportunities

These real-world lessons teach kids how to budget, save, and make smarter financial decisions.

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4. Planning and Scheduling

Time management is essential for juggling school, business, and life. As Deanna Ritchie puts it:

"The ability to manage time is a vital skill for success in school, work, and life in general."

When kids balance running a business with school and other responsibilities, they sharpen their scheduling skills. A well-structured routine helps them stay organized and reduces stress. Here's how parents can help their children create a practical schedule:

Writing down tasks on to-do lists can lighten mental strain and improve focus. As time management experts explain:

"Children are encouraged to purge all the to-do lists, tasks, and ideas from their minds onto paper in a process known as cognitive offloading. In turn, this reduces the mental load."

Parents can support their young entrepreneurs by:

• Helping them break larger projects into smaller, manageable tasks
• Using a shared family calendar to organize business activities
• Setting up weekly planning sessions to review progress and set goals
• Identifying the times of day when they are most productive
• Allowing room in the schedule for unexpected delays or challenges

Running a small business, like a slime shop, teaches kids how to allocate time for production, inventory, and sales. They learn that dedicating specific time slots for each task ensures they meet customer needs without becoming overwhelmed.

Starting small is key. Parents can encourage their children to:

• Begin with just 1-2 scheduled activities each week
• Use visual aids like charts or simple checklists
• Track the time spent on different tasks
• Include breaks and downtime to recharge
• Adjust the schedule as they figure out what works best

This hands-on approach to time management not only helps with their business but also strengthens their academic and personal skills. By mastering planning and scheduling, kids build organizational habits that will benefit them for years to come. These skills also tie into broader lessons like problem-solving and financial awareness, creating a well-rounded learning experience.

5. Making Products Better

As kids develop their problem-solving and customer interaction skills, they start focusing on improving their products. Running a business helps them learn how to combine creativity with customer feedback to make meaningful changes.

Kids often bring fresh ideas to the table when tackling challenges. As Tracey Tullis puts it:

"Entrepreneurs need to be creative. Solving complex problems can be tricky. Creative thinking is how new ideas are developed to solve such problems."

Here’s a quick look at how kids can improve their products using feedback and creative thinking:

How Parents Can Help

Parents play a key role in nurturing their child's creativity and business sense. Here are some ways they can assist:

• Ask the Right Questions
  Encourage kids to think critically by asking, "What could make this product stand out?" or "How can we better meet customer needs?"
• Support Experimentation
  As Tracey Tullis advises:

  "You need to let kids make decisions and support them as they make choices. Even when you think it may not be the right decision, let your kids think up their own ideas and try them. Learning something from experience as opposed to instruction is key in developing problem solving skills and confidence in oneself."

• Track Feedback
  Help kids set up a simple system to collect and analyze customer feedback. For instance, a young slime business owner could:
  • Research popular candy flavors
  • Create test batches
  • Ask friends to rate different scents
  • Develop limited-edition seasonal scents

Business Skills vs. Daily Life Skills

Business skills aren't just for the workplace - they can make daily life smoother and more productive. Here's how entrepreneurial skills can enhance everyday activities:

These skills bridge the gap between business challenges and real-life tasks. For instance, business problem-solving mirrors the scientific method - kids can identify an issue, test solutions, and refine their approach. This method works just as well for handling a tough homework problem as it does for resolving everyday challenges.

"Confidence is a natural consequence of effective problem-solving."

Parents can help reinforce these connections by:

• Discussing how skills like budgeting or time management relate to schoolwork or household tasks
• Encouraging kids to use communication techniques during family discussions
• Helping them set personal savings goals to practice money management
• Applying project planning strategies to school assignments

Next Steps for Parents

Here's how you can help your child take the first steps toward starting their own business:

1. Start With Legal Groundwork

Before diving in, make sure to check local laws and regulations. As Mark Williams explains:

"Cities, countries and states have laws that require businesses to secure permits and licenses to operate. Those rules can extend to just about every business, including those owned by a child. For the typical lemonade stand, lawn-mowing business or snow-shoveling operation, young entrepreneurs will need to check with local officials to determine the compliance requirements."

2. Plan the Timeline

Start planning 2–3 months in advance by:

• Researching local business rules
• Drafting a simple business plan
• Looking into funding options

3. Support Their Journey

Let your child take the lead, but stay involved by:

• Encouraging their interests
• Asking questions that inspire creativity
• Sharing your own goal-setting experiences
• Highlighting real-world examples

"Learning something from experience as opposed to instruction is key in developing problem solving skills and confidence in oneself."

For a practical starting point, consider My Lil Startup's Slime Business Kit. This kit provides 20 different slimes, marketing materials, and step-by-step instructions to help kids earn their first $100.

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