Does Your Child have “The Entrepreneurial Mindset”?

Posted by Debbie | 0 comments

Does Your Child have “The Entrepreneurial Mindset”?

Many of us that started homeschooling 15-20 years ago didn’t quite know how or where to start, so we ended up bringing the public school home. Over time, and by trading notes with other homeschoolers, we discovered better ways to teach our children at home. By the time they graduated, IF we were brave enough…or crazy enough… to homeschool all the way through high school, maybe by then we had it figured out.

In much the same way that the public school methods don’t really work for homeschool, traditional business training doesn’t really work for home business-or fit into the homeschool setting. What does fit quite well in a homeschool setting is the hands-on project of starting a home business. It has the makings of the perfect unit study, writing ad or web copy for English, business accounting for Math, learning the roots of the industry for history….well, you get the picture.

My husband and I have had our own business most of our married life, giving us a small advantage. An entrepreneur at heart, practicing out of necessity, homeschooling and home business sort of morphed together into a way of life for our family over the last 20 years. Three homeschool graduates later, we can look back and see exactly how our personal experiment worked. (Long term results won’t be in for many years, however…

Without giving you all the details of their personal lives, (you’re welcome) the one common denominator evident in all our children is their Entrepreneurial Mindset—even our 16 year old that hasn’t graduated yet. I believe all three of my graduates see the work world through different eyes. “That would be a good idea for a business!” is a common phrase in our conversations, when a need or a gap in the marketplace catches their attention.

They know what it takes to start and run a business from scratch, and on a shoestring (however, my youngest graduate is more interested in big business, and is planning to get his MBA in another year). In all their jobs over the years, they’ve always seen what they do more from the owner’s point of view than their co-worker’s POV, making the most mundane of jobs feel more purposeful. I’m not saying learning the entrepreneurial mindset made them better or smarter than any one else…not by a long shot. It just gave them another life-tool for their toolbox.

I feel so blessed to be a new contributing writer here at HOTM, to be a part of the HOTM vision! Amy and Amy (HOTM editors) are perfect examples of entrepreneurial thinkers, and whether they realize it or not, I’m sure their children are absorbing it, too. They saw a need and are filling it in such an inspired way, understanding and integrating the spiritual, emotional and practical needs of a homeschool mom in a “One Stop Shop”. I’m so looking forward to sharing our stories with each other!

I have to warn you….I am of a mind that all high school homeschool-curriculum should include business basics. Every one of your homeschool graduates will eventually bring home a paycheck as an adult …. either working for themselves, or working for someone else. (Duh.) Even SAH moms may someday want to have a home biz, or teach it to their children. Non-profits and ministries need to understand business principles to stay afloat. It even comes in handy raising money for mission trips. Regardless, they’ll understand the risks, have an idea of what to do, and what NOT to do if they ever decide to start a business. You’d be surprised how many people don’t have a clue how to start a business. I was!

Unfortunately, many of the traditional business courses will teach them all about big business, corporations, and other facts and figures that will bore them as much as they did those of us that endured those classes ourselves. Leaving a bitter taste in their mouths, ‘business education’ is promptly shelved on the ‘dry and boring’ shelf.

That’s why making it fun by actually starting a business is so ideal for home schoolers. So many skills they can learn rolled up into one profitable activity. Of course, they don’t have to wait for high school, many kids have started much earlier! It can start as simply as a summer lemonade stand.

J.T. Gatto emphasized

 …learning with purpose dispels boredom while increasing their motivation to learn.

Homeschoolers are creative…and infamous for camouflaging math, history, English and other subjects within fun, constructive projects. Once your brain starts churning, you’ll see new opportunities around every corner, too. The best part of creating business ventures with your children are the scenarios that will present themselves for moral discussions. You disciple them in a Godly home life, now you have the chance to disciple them in Godly entrepreneurship. Sometimes it’s as easy as bringing them along side as you work your own business, if you have one.

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article, “Entrepreneurs Can Lead Us Out of the Crisis”. Economic thought leaders seem to agree on this, with more articles just like this coming out almost daily. It looks like there’s no better time to start your new unit study, “Home Business 101”!

I’ll be here at HOTM the first Saturday of the month to share ideas on how to get started, mini projects and more.  Do me a BIG favor, and share earning projects you’ve done in your homeschool, and we’ll share them right here. You can email me at deb@homeschool-entrepreneur.com.  Thanks!

Bob & Debbie Maubach live in middle T and have been homeschooling for 20 years. With three of four of their ‘entrepreneurs’ graduated (all homeschooled, of course!), they are now spending more time helping other homeschoolers make home business a fun and profitable part of their homeschool. You can read more about them at their website, www.Homeschool-Entrepreneur.com.