I am teaching a short 6 class course on business for kids starting in January. Ages roughly 12-16. They will be 45 minute classes. My goal is to get them thinking out of the box to see how the world works from a business owners perspective and how they can do something for themselves vs simply being a wage slave for life. Obviously I won’t be as brash with them as I am here. ;-) There’s so much to cover in such a short time that I’m not to sure how to pack 45 minute classes with as much info as I can. Do I work towards something for the final class or do I keep each class independent in casee a kid misses one class so it won’t affect their overall experience?

What are some of the main things I can cover with younger kids as far as business goes that will stick with them when their older?

Do I cover six basic topics regarding business ownership or starting a business? Do I have them interview business owners? Do I have them come up with a business idea and develop that business over the six weeks?

Do I break them up into teams and have them develop a business together?

There are so many ways that I can take this, but unfortunately not very much time.

What are your thoughts?

Good one NE.

Just my opinion here:

*Break each into separate subjects like you said. That way the subjects are easy to review if they miss one.

*Only 6 classes of 45 minutes will likely only give time for an outline and maybe a couple paragraphs on each topic in the outline.

*I'd use bullet points (like here) then explain the point and give them info on where to find more info on it. If they are interested, they will follow up.

* Since we know schools don't teach about money or managing it or business in general, I'd make those parts of what I'm teaching/presenting.

*I'd show them the difference between being a wage slave, a self employed person, owning a business and being an investor (Kiyosaki's 4 quadrant outline).

*With so little time, maybe challenge them to come up with a side hustle that could be turned into a business. Show them how to set up and execute a business plan, especially the execution of it. Start with some simple plans. (Cutting lawns, snow removal, window cleaning, trash hauling, flipping furniture, rental clean-outs,etc. There are many possibilities.

* Kids always need money. Emphasize getting their own, on their own. Independence. (There are few things sadder to me than seeing able bodied people saying there's no way to make money and feed families because they have only one way to make money--work for someone else.)

*Emphasize the pay yourself first and invest it logic rather than spend first and save what's left that most people do.

*Point out that the old ways of our parents and grandparents are gone. There is little company loyalty anymore. Workers are treated like a commodity by many companies. The new generations need to be nimble and realize that it is their own responsibility to take care of their lives. They need, nay, MUST HAVE several skills. Side hustles and multiple streams of income are necessary, like it or not.

I'm thinking they might get a lot more from it if you challenge them to create ways to make money and to get others to work with/for them. (Heck, Tom Sawyer did it, they can too).

Again, good for doing this.

Following

I think if you get them to connect the ideas of "I want to do x" and "I can earn money to do x by doing y", they can appreciate it better than if it was abstract.

So--- I'd probably try and come up with six (or twelve) real-life examples of kids who have successfully gotten into business, and break down how they did what they did, to give your audience the understanding that they might be able to duplicate it as well. In the process of breaking down the steps, you can use it to illustrate more general principles, but you've gone from making them abstract and no-context to making them concrete with context.

For example-- I was talking to an animal trader the other day ago. Until disease wiped him out, he was raising quail. He suggested it would be a really awesome business for my kids to get into--- they reproduce so fast, get to butcher weight so quickly, and you can sell eggs, pickled eggs, fertilized eggs, meat, or live quail, so it's versatile. The first two weeks, the baby quail require a lot of attention to make sure they don't kill themselves, but by 6 weeks, they're ready to eat. In his case, he would sell as many quail as he could to a DFW chef. "All he does is cook them, and put three asparagus on the plate, and a little swizzle of sauce, and he sells that for $35/plate." I don't know what price he was selling them wholesale, but the price he charged me was $13/each. (Ouch.) (I was expecting more like $5/each.)

He also suggested we consider bobwhites as an option for something that's easy enough for kids to get into. In the Rolling Plains, there used to be a ton of bobwhite all over the place, but the numbers have declined (due to disease?) and in order to keep the season going, the ranchers supplement their wild bobwhite with pen-reared bobwhite. They're not as sharp and ideal with their habits as actual wild bobwhite, but at least it keeps their business going, and all the other businesses that depend on happy hunters. Yeah, it requires a gamebird license from TP&W to raise bobwhite, but it's mostly just the state getting its cut. Presuming you get $7/bird for a flight-conditioned bird... yeah, it adds up fast.

So that's kind of the thing--- talk about a solid, relatable, I-can-do-this kind of pursuit. Add numbers into it-- cost of materials, cost of infrastructure, time commitment. But also talk about how you reach your market, so that they're not left with all this awesome product (in whatever form it exists) and not have any way to convert it into money to (a) keep their business running, (b) grow their buisness, and (c) have profit left over to do fun stuff that appeals to a kid.

As a former HS teacher, which is right about the age you'll be addressing or close enough, the three main pricniples I would follow are:

1) Keep it simple.

2) Keep it relevant.

3) Talk about goals.

95% of kids (and probably 90% of adults) don't think it terms of "the future" or being "wage slaves." That's something you have to figure out on your own, mostly. Most people graduate and get jobs. Few are cut out to be entrepreneurs, so keep that in mind. Plenty of wage slaves do far better in obtaining financial goals than entrepreneurs who stagger from failure to failure because they simply are not cut out to do all the necessary things to succeed. So before bashing working for someone else, keep in mind only 1 in 5 might be cut out to run their own business. I certainly had no interest at that age and would have tuned you out if you started calling me a future slave. Respect where they are and show them the options: let them figure out if X or Y is the better path.

Topics I would cover:

1) Needs vs. Wants - How to identify and prioritize spending.

2) House hold budgeting. Make it zero base a la Dave Ramsey.

3) Home Owning vs Renting Pros and Cons.

4) Pros and Cons of owning a business vs working for someone else.

5) Investing Basics - keep is super simple here. Go for high level concepts like inflation eating up the value of money and why that means they will need to invest. Teach them WHY they need to invest and they'll figure out the how.

6) Setting Goals. Teach the SMART acronym - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timeliness.

Good luck, Mr. NE!

NE, I did not realize you had a softer, kindler, more gentle side!

Kidding aside, most businesses fail because of poor financial management. You can have the best business idea, but, without good financial management, the business will fail.

A strong financial plan can make a poor business idea look like a great business.

Good business financial management and good personal financial management go hand in hand.

A friend has been a small business owner for 40 years. The business has a lot of potential and from the outside, it looks very successful. My friend is not a good financial manager, so, they are struggling in retirement.

Dave Ramsey has a “teen entrepreneur tool box” that you might give you some ideas. If it is too expensive to buy from his web site, try eBay for used packages.

Start with a box of donuts. Hire a kid (in front of the class) to sell your donuts to the other kids. Tell him you'll give him $3 for the 5 minutes he spends doing it. Arrange it so you keep most of the profit. Give the other kids "NE Notes" or "B Bucks" or whatever for payment.

The next class, let the kid decide whether he wants to sell the donuts for you, or buy them wholesale and let him keep the profit.

You could keep the lesson going over several weeks. Let a competitor undercut him. Create a donut shortage. Keep a chart of who has the most money as the weeks go on.

1. How to balance a checkbook

2. How money works, power of compounding

3. Evils of debt and credit

4. How to invest in stocks/bonds/RE

Real Estate is an IDEAL investment

Income

Depreciation

Equity

Appreciation

If this is truly how to do a business? Explain what a business plan is and why it's needed. Then try to split off to some groups: Doctor Office, Attorney Office, Management of RE, Laborer group, Farm group, rock and roll band, entertainment group. The groups will have to develop their plan in class under your supervision.

Last class critiques plan of one other group.

Start your class by setting a base line with a W2 job and compare the business owner back to the W2 employee.

With the W2 job, show the potential of the Roth IRA. If a 16 year old puts $6,000 into a Roth IRA, it could grow to $800,000 when they are 65 - TAX FREE.

But, the business owner can also invest using the Roth IRA.

Life choices? History of those in modern days, high income ... Pull some nuggets

Hubby piped in to say you would likely be using computers?? cuz kids in that age group are all on computers. The kids could set up their own profit/loss strategy for comparing expenses and profit/losses for an eventual short business pitch for the final class.

Class 1: Using the selling doughnuts business scenario The business owner position (you, NE)...buys them at XX, you pay Johnny XX to sell doughnuts at XX. If all are sold you make XX profit. Maybe all are not sold, ... breakout groups or whole class brainstorm on what to do with that scenarios.

Then each class is a step toward the final class. Have kids work independently or preferably as a group toward developing a business:

class 2 - research

class 3 - development

class 4 - costs, expenses and control of

class 5 - marketing

*add or delete the above per class to fit what you want to teach

Class 6 - Each kid, or group, presentation of their business idea, with brief explanation that ties in to the learning of each class above.

It sounds awesome. Most of the same suggestions for the kids are found in the business course outline at a university class where I work! Education is ageless and timeless.

You could also consider myob's critiques of other groups. I like that because it teaches strategy with real-time social interaction during a deal.