On Monday 5th November I had the opportunity to talk to Norman Park State School Grade 6&7’s about their Busy Kidz programme.
I talked to them about starting my own business, what sort of businesses I thought they could do as part of their project, and I focused on the importance of the Profit and Loss statement.
Here are some excerpts from my talk that may be of interest to you.
It is great that you have the opportunity to broaden your horizons and think about owning a business. I went to school, I went to university, I did my professional qualification and during that journey no-one ever said to me I could be a business owner. I was always groomed to be an employer. Even if I am a manager with people working for me I am still an employee. So it is fantastic that your teachers are planting this small seed. This concept that may inspire you one day to own and run your own business.
Many successful business owners will tell the tales of starting their first business while they were still at school. I have put together a few business ideas / opportunities for generating income that I thought would be suitable for Grade 6&7’s.
But before I go through those, there are two really important things that I hope you take away from this talk.
1. The first is that you have very unique skills, you are able to do something that I can’t do, and your teachers can’t do, and perhaps even you friends can’t do. You need to try and work out what that is, and then work out how you can use it in business to make money. For example – You are a very powerful group in the business world. You are known as ‘pre-teens’ and you have considerable influence over your parents as to how they spend large sums of money on you e.g. from the clothes you buy, to where you go on holiday, to where you go to school. You may not get to make the decisions, but you do get to influence them. If you thought you knew what the people around you wanted you could put together a group of pre-teens (your friends) and offer them up to do market research for businesses that sell to your demographic.
2. The second thing that I want you to take away from this, is that the people around you, are the start of your business network. I suggest you make sure you get the address and phone number of all of your friends. If when you are 26 years old, you go into a business of selling silvery jewellery, you can contact them, and maybe they can help you, set up a web site, legal advice, accounting advice and so on.
Some business ideas for Grade 6 & 7’s
DISCLAIMER : parents permission / school permission / insurances etc.
· Selling artwork
· Modelling
· Hair braiding
· Writing a small book pamphlet on topics that Grade 6&7’s are experts at :
o How to negotiate with your parents and win!
o How to get a mobile phone / x-bot
o How to be cool at school
· Tutor students in younger grades – e.g. offer assistance at OHSC
· Make jewellery
· Offer to teach basic computer skills to older people.
· Write a blog on the internet, and earn advertising revenue
· Grow lavender / herbs in your garden
· Keep chickens & sell eggs.
· Teach dancing
· Collect corks from the bars / restaurants in the area, and make cork boards and sell them
· Collect used coffee granules from the bars / restaurants in the area, and sell them to gardeners.
· Sell stationary at school
· Get NPSS stickers made up (e.g. stickers.com) and sell them
Good Luck to all the students participating in the programme.