3 Steps to launch your kid’s first business

I believe the most important life skills can be taught through entrepreneurship.

That’s the entire reason I started Prequel.

Entrepreneurship teaches:

• Confidence

• Financial literacy

• Problem-solving

• Creativity

• Resilience

• Time management

• …and so much more!

So regardless of whether or not your kid is interested in a future career in business, an entrepreneurial project in their youth can set them up for success, no matter what direction their life takes.

Our BETA Camp kids do it every day.

Here are three steps you can take to help your kid launch their first business:

Step 1: Identify their ikigai

Their iki–whaaaaaat?

Ikigai is a Japanese principle that means “that which gives life purpose”.

It’s the combination of:

• What they’re good at

• What they love to do

• What the world needs

• What they can get paid for

It looks like this:

Start by having your kid make a list of the things they love to do and the things they’re good at.

That’s the easy part. 😉

They’ll probably need help from you identifying how those lists can relate back to things that the world needs, and things they can get paid for.

For example, say your kid listed drawing as something they enjoy, and history as something they are good at.

One thing the world needs is more engaging educational content.

So maybe they can get paid to create educational comic books about history lessons.

BAM — there’s their ikigai. 👊

Step 2: Validate the need

Once your kid has an idea for something they can start a business doing, the next step is to validate their assumed need for it (even if it’s a small one).

Remember, the purpose of this exercise isn’t for your kid to make millions of dollars and create a business to carry them through the rest of their life — it’s to take a business idea through from start to finish and make a little money.

Regardless, it’s vital that their idea fills some sort of need:

In the case of the history comic books, they should shop the idea around schools, clubs, and parents. 

It’s important to gather feedback from these potential customers, and allow the idea to transform into something that their customers would seriously consider paying money for.

Step 3: Build a minimum viable product

A minimum viable product, or MVP, is kind of like a first draft. It gets the basic concept out to customers without taking a huge risk, validates the idea through revenue, and procures product feedback.

When BETA Camper Isha Anand had an idea for an insulated bag made of recycled materials, she went through several MVP versions before landing a deal with a $200m company.

For the history comic books, some MVP concepts could be:

• A digital version for download

• A limited press run

• A “first book” of a planned series

All of these MVPs allow your kid to collect feedback from real customers, then make adjustments to the final product.

And they’re off to the races! 🏇