As a preteen I rejected the notion of getting an allowance 🙅🏾♀️ because my mom was a single Parent. She insisted that this wasn't my problem but it became my concern because she'd often tell me how we can't afford this or that, or that money doesn't grow on trees-you know.. things the typical parent would say to the child pointing out a toy or another expensive item when they're young and don't quite understand the value of a dollar. Well.. thanks to her sharing these things I became incredibly modest with my requests and the idea of getting an allowance sounded ridiculous to me. In my 11 year old brain I figured I ought to be doing my chores anyway and not just for money. Shortly after I rejected this offer, I needed money for lunch and sold my first bracelet for 25 cents (that was the price of my school lunch) because I was too embarrassed to ask my mom for it. I literally became an entrepreneur at 11 years old because I wanted to first escape my embarrassment by doing something creative and making a bracelet for myself with my name on it. That bracelet got the attention of some kids in my school with unique names like mine and so I became known as "The Bracelet Girl" in middle school because I created name bracelets. I went on to continue this venture as a teenage entrepreneur, and gained recognition in two magazines.
So now I'm an adult and honest to God I still don't believe in allowances but I do believe in the principles. First of all, giving your child an allowance will teach them to be responsible to do an effective job when working for someone else. However I stepped into a whole different realm when I refused that notion and began to solve my own problem with my own creative prowess and set my own price. Instead of living allowance to allowance I learned to sell a product, invest in the business by buying materials, and save up for bigger things I may have needed or wanted like my first sewing machine which I bought at 16 years old or at just 14 how I paid for my own cellphone. It was a tracphone but it did exactly what I needed it to which was ring so I could stay connected with clients. I got picked on for that phone but making money was more important to me than having an expensive phone.
The Bible says in Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." We often limit this scripture to only nurturing them and giving them guidance in Jesus, but honestly we need to realize it's Gods will for us and our children to prosper.
So you're probably wondering what you can do to encourage your child to be an entrepreneur or just focus on skills in general and I'm here to tell you some things I know that aided me along the way and molded me into the person I am. Even if you are not raising quite the entrepreneur these tactics will absolutely be necessary for their lives anyway because they are so basic, you're going to wonder why you didn't think of this before.
Invest in their creativity(Special Gift)
As a kid my mom was highly invested in my creativity. As parents we sometimes have this belief that our kids are going to be so gifted and we sign them up for every extra curricular activity thinking it'll make them more "cultured" or more "well rounded". If we consider it logically all this really requires is for us to recognize some of their special gifts and invest in it. Tell your kids they're not just doing something cool but that they're learning a skill that could someday be credible on a resume. My daughter is 7 and I have written her resume already. Right now she's employed at Kana Wear as a Trainee. (Yes that's my business) and in fact she has some earrings she created on my website and they're selling 3 pairs for $5!
Whatever that special gift is that your child has, hone in on it. My daughter already calls herself an artist, so part of her training includes drawing. She does mostly fashion croquis or kids drawings that I leave for her to interpret to me, but the idea is to develop the gift she has into something she can later use. By the time she's 18, lessons in college would just be a review of what she knows already because I've given her a head start. Getting a college degree would be easier considering the amount of experience she already has.
Teach them to Earn, Tithe, Save, and Invest
The other day me and my daughter were in a music store. Like most kids Anya pointed out a toy she wanted and inquired how much it cost. This toy was a skull with candies in it. It cost $3.25. With big puppy dog eyes my daughter looked at me in hopes I'd purchase this but I switched on a new thought.
"Anya is this really something you want to buy?🤔"
"Yes."she said.
"Well… your earrings are on my website and I'm selling them 3 pairs for $5. If you buy this you might be left with a little over $1 if you get it. Are you really going to play with it? It'll be your money 🤷🏾♀️after they sell."
After this Anya thought about it differently. She slowly backed away from the toy with the candy. I think she was disappointed because I didn't just take out my card and buy it. I told her without telling her "Buy it yourself but use wisdom". I didn't have to go on a long rant about how money doesn't grow on trees and I don't got it like that(which I've been guilty of doing multiple times) because this time I had leverage. She'd made a product and hadn't yet earned her keep. If she sold her earrings she could've bought that toy with her own money, but the value of that toy had to be reconsidered because it was coming out of her own earnings she labored for.
Turn Dreams into realistic Action
I cannot stress this enough. Faith without works is dead and Works without Faith is just Hard Labor, and not always SMART. Making a vision board of Goals to accomplish in your journey can keep your kid stay on track. Using this as a device can show them they are truly accomplishing their goals whether its selling, creating or even building a skill.
Check this out. If I had put my plan together and knew I would've made my jewelry and had a website at 14 years old. It wasn't until I was in my 20's with kids that I invested in a url on Google domains for just $12/yr and a free website host. I tried building them in the past but I had no knowledge and now worth time these things have become a lot easier to build with no help. If your kids are 10+ they can pretty much figure out the technical stuff if you can't (but with your supervision of course).
To begin try making a LIST of SMART goals with your kids which means:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Timely
Go through this list and ask yourself "Is this doable? And if so how can it be done, and when?"
So make goals with your kid concerning their skills and business. Even if it's as simple as wanting an expensive toy. Ask them why that toy is important to them and what they will do to get it. It'll really put them in more of a creative head space, and teach them to drive results rather than depending on you to always produce results for them. In Anya's case she could write a goal that says "I want to sell 3 pairs of earrings for $5 so I can buy a new toy." Eventually it could be I want to save $12 so I can buy a url and build my own website. She'd have to be at an age of accountability to understand this is a yearly fee.
Do things to make setting up your kiddos business real. Go get an LLC with the secretary of state and set up an EIN for their business. Make their business legit so their thinking changes concerning the value of a dollar, and that'll also give them confidence seeing they are there ones changing their own lives. If you start now it won't be difficult for them as adults to set goals and get into a course of action because they've seen what it's like to put together a plan and follow through.
We need to raise our children with wealth strategies so they won't be overcome by a system of belief that has them bound. Living pay-check to pay-check isn't fun and to me that's the mentality we're teaching our kids to have when giving them an allowance. I'm not saying it's a bad thing to give your children an allowance if these things I'm saying are taught, I'm saying it's bad to teach them to live in a pay-check cycle without any real plans in mind. Yes it's secure for the most part but it doesn't offer the freedom being an entrepreneur does or give your kids the running start they need to truly understand the value of a dollar. By following these 3 things you've just given meaning to every cent your children make and shifted them from dependent consumer to independent creators of their own opportunity.
Entrepreneurship has a lot to offer children if we allow it as parents. It develops lots of skills such as leadership, money management, understanding of keeping stocks and inventory, and not to mention customer service and business skills. It is an excellent opportunity to develop a child with more than just a little responsibility. It teaches them management overall and how to make executive decisions. Most of the things written on my resume are things I did in my own business. Even if I wanted a 9-5 job most employers trust me because of what I've built on my own. In fact regular places of business are now hiring people with the entrepreneur mindset because they aren't afraid to be responsible for taking risks when trying to develop a brand long term. They know they can't accomplish this what they desire with a conservative way of thinking. The entrepreneurs fearlessness is often inspiring and admirable, and their persistence is a rare trait among others as well.
Giving your child the gift of entrepreneurship doesn't just develop the skills they need in life, but also their, character, passions, and interests which is why I think it should be considered before an allowance is offered. You could also give them an allowance and build them as entrepreneurs so they can understand they don't have to depend on you for very long, and that there's nothing wrong with having a regular job within their skills to further develop them. Either way we must teach children wisdom about how to select work because if we don't we'll constantly be pushing them in this direction where they don't know themselves or what they can do. I know my strengths and my weaknesses and settling for a job outside my skills would make it frustrating to me and my employer. Imagine if we told our kids to go for what they knew though because they had a passion for it. Excellence in customer service would be a constant thing, and employers would have better relationships with their employees in the future, and maybe...just maybe it could make this world a better place.
