Welcome to Our Carnival
By Ilene
Like many entrepreneurs, I launched my first entrepreneurial venture in the basement of my parents’ house. I was 10 years old and spending the day with my best friend. We were bored and stuck inside on a cold winter day. After looking around at all the games and sports equipment we didn’t feel like using (note the ping pong table in the background of the photo), we decided to organize the games and activities into a carnival for our neighborhood friends. We didn’t care about making money. I’m pretty sure we donated all the proceeds to a local charity. We wanted to create something that was all our own and wondered whether anyone would want to come to it. While it was a pretty small carnival, we were successful. All our friends came over, we made a little money and we had a lot of fun. While our carnival venture lasted one afternoon, it made a lasting memory.
My friend and I didn’t continue in the carnival business, but we both chose to work for small entrepreneurial ventures. She works in a financial firm, and I work in education.
When I meet people now and tell them about my job, they often stop, smile and say, “Wow, that sounds like an amazing job!” And they’re right. As the Regional Director for Young Entrepreneur Institute, I get to help students in grades K-12 learn about and experience entrepreneurship. I work with teachers, students and organizations throughout Northeast Ohio to give kids experiences similar to my carnival venture.
Here’s a little more about why entrepreneurship is so important.
What Does It Mean To Learn About Entrepreneurship?
It means helping students find opportunities to be creative… by starting a new venture or by developing an innovative solution to a problem. Entrepreneurship is all about ideas. It doesn’t matter how big or small. You can learn about entrepreneurship in a class or school club, but it’s even better if you can learn entrepreneurship by giving it a try.
Why Is It Important For Kids To Experience Entrepreneurship?
The world is constantly changing. We don’t know what jobs will be available five, 10 or 15 years from now. But we do know there are important skills that are universally needed, and you can learn them through entrepreneurial activities and experiences.
Entrepreneurship builds problem-solving skills. Entrepreneurs think of new ways to make things better. There’s no one right answer to an entrepreneurial challenge.
Entrepreneurship builds communications skills. Entrepreneurs need to be able to write a strong proposal and present a persuasive pitch for their idea.
Entrepreneurship teaches financial literacy. If the numbers don’t work, a business can’t be successful.
Entrepreneurship builds resilience and flexibility. Most new concepts aren’t right the first time around. Successful entrepreneurs need feedback about their ideas and are willing to adapt and make changes.
What Are Some Ways For Kids To Experience Entrepreneurship?
A lemonade stand is an incredible way for kids as young as five to have their first entrepreneurial experience. A lemonade stand is really simple, yet it makes you think about all the important components of starting a business – product, price, promotion, target audience, location and competition.
What Do You Recommend For Older Kids?
We encourage middle and high school kids to start their own small businesses. Product businesses offer kids the chance to make their own inventory and sell it at a local event or farmers market. Baked goods, handmade jewelry, soap and candles are a few examples. Many kids enjoy starting a service business like mowing lawns, tutoring, giving music lessons and babysitting. Online websites like etsy.com give kids the opportunity to sell creations through an online platform.
What Are Some Other Ways For Kids To Learn Entrepreneurial Skills?
There are lots of contests that offer kids the chance to present an entrepreneurial idea and win great prizes. Elevator pitch challenges like our Young Entrepreneur Pitch Challenge give kids the experience of brainstorming an original business opportunity and making an elevator pitch (Think Shark Tank). Other entrepreneurial contests, like the thinkBIG! Challenge enable kids to work in teams and put together a full business pitch. Most colleges and many community organizations hold their own entrepreneurial pitch contests. Some programs have a specific focus like the Erie Hack that challenges kids to to identify problems and then solutions involving the Lake Erie Basin.
What About Classes, Clubs And School Organizations?
Yes, yes and yes. Girls Scouts, Junior Achievement, 4H, DECA, school spirit stores and many, many more local and national organizations allow kids to learn about and experience entrepreneurship. There are lots of terrific summer programs, too.
What If I Have Even More Questions?
Take a look at our website – youngentrepreneurinstitute.org and subscribe to our newsletter, or send me a message at ifrankel@us.edu.
About The Author: Ilene Frankel, Regional Director At The Young Entrepreneur Institute
Ilene is passionate about giving young people the chance to learn about and experience entrepreneurship. As Regional Director, Ilene leads the program management team for Northeast Ohio, directing the Lemonade Day, Young Entrepreneur Pitch Challenge and Young Entrepreneur Market programs. She also serves as the head of K-12 entrepreneurial programming at University School. Ilene joined Young Entrepreneur Institute in 2012 to focus on high school entrepreneurship activities. Since 2015, she has led development and growth of Enspire, the annual professional development conference for educators, where participation has increased by more than 300%.
Ilene has more than twenty years of business and marketing experience – most notably as Marketing Director at Cole Vision Corporation and more recently advising start-ups in the Cleveland area. Ilene is a Trustee of the Rainbow Babies & Children’s Foundation, where she has served on the board for 9 years. She holds an Economics degree from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
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