How Parents Can Support Young Entrepreneurs

I think you and I would agree that the world is a better place when more successful entrepreneurs create jobs for everybody. In this video, I get into ways for parents to support young entrepreneurs. So if you’re a parent of a teenage or young person that’s an aspiring entrepreneur, this message is for you. It’s also for teenage entrepreneurs that want your parents’ support. I want you to watch this video and then sit down with your parents and watch it with them.

So let me get right into it.


I'm speaking to the parents right now. Parents, here are a couple of things I want you to keep in mind if your son or daughter just shared this video with you.

1. Don't Project Failure Onto Your Kids


First, if you've never been an entrepreneur, or if you've failed as an entrepreneur, or had family members that have failed as entrepreneurs and lost everything because of it, that doesn't mean your kids will fail as entrepreneurs.

2. Life's Expensive


Next, here's something I want you to think about for a moment as a parent. I have three kids myself, and life's expensive. Diapers are expensive. Marriage is expensive. Raising kids is expensive. Taxes are expensive. Paying off debt is expensive. I think you can agree with me that life is expensive.

I hope you can also agree with me that kids need to make more money. So if your kid can possibly position himself or herself to make more money, wouldn't you want that for them? Do you want them to be financially free so they don't constantly come to you for money, and so you don't have to constantly support them?

So having said that, just bear with me in this video and article. If it makes sense to you, do these things, because potentially you could have the next kid that does something very, very big for him or herself. Then for the rest of your life you can say, "That's my son. That's my daughter." You'll be able to brag for free, forever.

3 Phases of Successful Entrepreneurs


Your teenage entrepreneur will go through three phases:

Phase 1: Skeptical


The first phase teenage or young entrepreneurs go through with their parents is the skeptical phase.

They may come to you and say, "I'm starting a business and I'm going to be a millionaire, Mom! Mom, guess what Mom? I'm going to buy you a dream house one day! Hey, Dad! Guess what? I'm going to buy a Ferrari or a Lamborghini one day."

How do you respond?

Do you say something like, "Oh, Son, please! Money doesn't grow on trees."

You may not know it, but words have a lot of power. You just effected that kid's dream with those words.

You Have a Right to Challenge Your Kids

If your kids are living under your roof and you're paying for everything, you have a right to challenge them. I'm giving you the support to do that.

Test Them

I recommend that you test them to see if they're really serious about being an entrepreneur. So if they say, "Mom, Dad, I need money to start a business," don't give it to them.

Instead, say, "Son, no problem. If you can show me that you can get out there and make $300 this week, I'll match your $300. If you're willing to work hard and sell some of this stuff that we have in the house that we need to get rid of, I'll match what you make." Then, if they, for example, get out there and spend 12 hours selling things in a yard sale, match what they make.

Paying for College with Cows

My real estate agent, Karen, is incredible at what she does. One day over lunch she told me how she raised her kids. When they were young, she told them, "I'm going to show you how a cow will pay for your college." She bought the kids a cow and taught them how to milk it. They kept the cow for years, and with the money the kids made from the cow, they bought more cows. All of a sudden, the cows paid for their college education. The kids are now all entrepreneurs because she taught them what it is to become an entrepreneur.

You can have a very big impact on your kids, and one way for parents to support young entrepreneurs is to test them.

Encourage and Support Them

The next way parents can support young entrepreneurs is to encourage them and give them referrals. For instance, let's say your 14-year-old wants to start a landscaping business. They can start with your lawn. And then you can call six neighbors and say, "Do you mind if my son comes over and mows your lawn? You can pay him for the good job he does and help him out. If not, I totally understand."

Or, "Hey, my daughter just got involved in this. Do you mind if she comes and presents it to you? I just want to give her some support."

So test them first to see how serious they are, and then give them encouragement and support.

 Phase 2: Survival


The next phase where parents can support young entrepreneurs is the survival phase. When your kids go through the survival phase, it's make or break.

Let me tell you what kinds of kids are out there.

First, there are ones that respond well no matter what you tell them. They are going to win, period. No matter what, they'll figure out a way to make it work, because they're just determined that way. Let's say that's 10% of the audience has a sheer obsession to  make it work. I believe there's also a group of people that do nothing, no matter what you tell them. With them, there's nothing you can do. If you test your kids properly, you'll know who's who.

The Huge Impact of Words

Then there's a group in the middle that your words have a huge impact on in the survival phase. You need to be their last appointment of the day. Here's why.

Let's say your kid is excited about being an entrepreneur and they go out fired up. But during the entire day, no one bought. Everyone rejected them. Then they come home and say, "Mom, no one bought from me. Everyone rejected me." If you say, "I told you you were wasting your time doing all that kind of crap. That stuff doesn't work." Guess what? You crushed their heart, and they will quit. The survival phase is make or break, and your words will determine if your kid says, "Mom, Dad, you're right. I'm not meant to do something great. I'm just going to apply at Burger King."

Then one day, they'll be 49 years old, working a regular job, and come home every day and sit on the couch and eat potato chips. At one point, they had a dream, and you could have lit up that fire.

It's Not all On You

Now I'm not telling you that it's all on you. What I'm telling you is that as parents, we can do a better job breeding some of these kids to be entrepreneurs rather than putting them in a box that won't work for them.

So be your kids' last appointment of the day. Listen to them, support them, and speak powerful words to them.

Phase 3: Successful


Once your kids become successful, you'll know it. Yesterday I was looking at a home. I have family in town, so they came with me. It was a 15,000 square foot home located in an exclusive community that costs $6.9 million. When my mother sees a home like that and a $400K Lambo, she can't believe it. She says, "What is going on here? When you were a kid, nobody thought you would do anything. But now you're successful."

Once your kid becomes successful, get out of their way. Listen to them and support them. If their ego is too high, don't feed more into it. If their belief is low, build them up. Just keep them right in the middle. Remind them to stay humble and focus on the important things in life.

Teenage entrepreneurs

Teenage entrepreneurs, if you haven't yet shared this video with your parents, do so.

A Final Challenge for Parents on How to Support Young Entrepreneurs


Listen in here for my final challenge to parents.

 

With that being said, thanks for reading and watching, everybody. If you have any questions or comments, leave them below, and if you haven't yet subscribed to my YouTube channel, click on the button below to subscribe.

 

 

Tags:

Related Posts


Entrepreneurship


Patrick Bet-David
Facebook
Twitter
Visit Us
Follow Me
Instagram
YouTube
YouTube
LinkedIn

©Patrickbetdavid.com. All Rights Reserved 2022. You should assume that products that I recommend (books, movies, etc.) May result in compensation paid to me Patrick Bet-David by the sellers I recommend. If you would rather that I not be compensated for these recommendations, go to google and search for the item and find a non-affiliate link to use. You should perform your own due diligence and use your own best judgment prior to making any investment decision. You are fully responsible for the purchases you make and any outcomes that may result from their purchase.

TOP