Lately, a conversation with a client has me thinking about something I’m excited to explore… not only with her family, but with my own kids, too.
She and her 12-year-old daughter recently attended a leadership and business event together. Her daughter came home inspired, full of ideas, and interested in finding ways to make money.
She loves to read. She has an incredible imagination. She loves to draw, and her attention to detail is impressive. She’s largely a self-taught artist, with a few online art classes along the way. Her mom asked whether I could help give her some direction and homework… something they could work through a couple of days a week as part of their homeschool learning.
And my brain immediately started thinking...
An encouraging coloring book for girls, featuring her original artwork with affirmations or scripture. Journals featuring her designs. Seasonal window art for local businesses. Her mom is even willing to give her a page on her website to showcase what she creates. There are so many possibilities.
But before we get into names, logos, colors, supplies, and pricing, I think there’s a simpler place to begin: Helping our kids recognize the possibilities in what they already love doing.
We’ve Been Having These Conversations at Home, Too
Positive self-talk is a conversation we have often in our house. My daughter and I have talked about creating things that could help other girls practice it, too. We’ve discussed heartfelt sticker packs with faith-based encouragement. Now that she’s into volleyball, we can picture designs for a girl who loves Jesus and volleyball.
We’ve talked about a journal for girls and a digital download with positive affirmations paired with our favorite essential oils. We pictured a resource exploring aromatherapy alongside encouraging words and simple practices for pausing, noticing self-talk, and choosing a kinder response.
She also wants to make Christmas ornaments with yarn and popsicle sticks, with little miniature ornaments adorned in the center. She could sell bundles of three or six and offer custom orders from a selection of designs or themes.
We’ve had the conversations. We just haven’t taken the time to turn those ideas into a plan… YET.
Maybe you can relate. Your child says, “I could make that!” or “Do you think someone would buy this?” You get excited together, and then school, work, dinner, practice, and everything else happens. The idea stays an idea.
My client’s question reminded me that I want to make room for these conversations to go somewhere.
Letting Kids See Different Possibilities
Last summer, shortly after my daughter turned ten, I took her to a business convention in Utah. It was a network marketing event, and she sat in on conversations and spent time around people exploring additional income streams and different ways to work. I appreciated that she could hear people talking about ideas, goals, and building something of their own.
There’s nothing wrong with a traditional job. I’ve worked in corporate America, too.
But, I want my kids to know there are different ways to use their abilities and earn an income. They can ask questions, solve problems, create something useful, and explore what it might look like to offer it to someone else.
Those skills can serve them in a business, a job, or whatever path they choose.
I’m Sharing What I Know and Still Learning
I put myself through college working in retail, starting as a sales associate and working my way into store management. I managed stores and helped open new locations within our district. Later, I worked a corporate nine-to-five in insurance… sitting in a cubicle was my least favorite job and worked in outside sales, managing a five-state territory for a whole-food nutrition company.
I earned a degree in marketing with a double minor in business and communications. Two of my favorite college classes were Apparel Entrepreneurship and Small Business Entrepreneurship. I loved learning about what it could look like to build and run a business of my own.
Since graduating, I’ve continued investing in my education through business coaching, a life coaching certification program, webinars, podcasts, and books. Today, I apply what I’ve learned in digital marketing and web design, helping clients create websites and resources that support their businesses. I’m also a health and wellness advocate and a conscious caregiver, and those parts of my life shape what I want to create and share.
In full transparency, earning six figures a year is a goal I’m working toward. I haven’t reached it yet, and there have been times when I wished my progress looked different. But I don’t want to measure success only by a dollar amount.
I earn money from home using my skills. I get to create, help people, and continue building something of my own. I’m living in a season I once prayed for, even as I work toward what comes next. I will always remain a student. And that’s something I want my kids to understand, too: we can have big goals, appreciate the progress we’ve made, and keep learning.
I’m coming into this series as a mom, a business owner, and a web designer who wants to apply what she knows and learn from other families who are doing this along the way.
The Life I’m Working Toward
When I think about the business I’m building, I picture everyday moments with my family. Being there when my kids get on and off the bus. Getting in the car line so I can take my son to tutoring without having to leave work early. Being home with my daughter when she’s out of school, like she is today, without asking a boss for permission.
This summer, we spent three weeks in Hawaii with our family, and I could still work from my computer wherever I could connect to Wi-Fi. I’m grateful for that flexibility.
I’m also grateful for my husband, who is our family’s primary provider. His support has helped make this possible, and one of my biggest goals is to grow my business enough to ease that responsibility for him and eventually give him more choices, too. And then there’s the dream we’re working toward: five acres, our little dream house, a chicken coop, a pool, space to host friends and family, and room for our dog to run.
I believe we’ll get there someday. In the meantime, I want my kids to see us dreaming, making plans, learning, and taking steps toward it.
That’s part of why these conversations about entrepreneurship matter to me. I want them to think about what they enjoy, what they can contribute, and what kind of life they hope to build. Then we can help them connect those dreams to small, practical steps—and keep going as they learn.
Start With Curiosity and a Notebook
If your child has shown interest in making or selling something, grab a notebook and sit down together. You can also use a simple Google Doc so you can add ideas, sketches, photos, and lessons as you go.
Start with these questions:
- What do you love doing? Think about what you choose to do in your free time or could happily talk about for an hour.
- What do people ask you to help with? Maybe it’s drawing, making gifts, organizing something, or explaining how something works.
- What would you like to learn or get better at? An interest can be a starting point even when the skill is still developing.
- What could you make or do that someone else might enjoy or find helpful? Write down a few possibilities without deciding immediately.
- What would you enjoy making or doing more than once? Creating one ornament is different from making several bundles. That’s something worth exploring.
Leave room for their answers. Let them sketch, think out loud, and surprise you.
You don’t need to purchase supplies or choose a business name today. For this first step, the goal is to notice their interests and write down three ideas they might want to explore. And if they decide they want to keep an activity as a hobby, that’s a useful discovery, too. Their creativity has value whether or not they sell what they make.
Let’s Explore This Together
Over the rest of October, I’ll share a series about helping kids explore a business idea... from choosing something manageable and making a sample to branding, market research, pricing, and testing an offer with a parent’s support.
We’ll explore how to look at two or three businesses offering something similar, compare what’s included in their prices, and use that information alongside our own costs and experience to plan a realistic first offer. We’ll take it a step at a time. The goal is to give our kids room to be curious, practice useful skills, and see what they can learn by trying.
Have you helped your child start a small business or earn money from something they enjoy? What did they try? What surprised you? And what would you teach them first if you were starting again?
Share in the comments. I’d love to learn from your experience and bring some of those ideas into the conversations we’re having with our own kids.
AFFILIATE DISCLAIMER:
I’m a proud affiliate for some of these tools and products that are suggested on this page and throughout my site. Meaning if you click on a product and make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you. My recommendations are based on knowledge and experience and I recommend them because they are genuinely useful and helpful, not because of the small commission that I may receive.
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