The Project

I wanted my kids (12 and 10 years old) to have an entrepreneurial mindset - be financially literate, understand the world of business, and have the right attitude. I documented my journey step by step using what I learnt to upskill myself and to teach them.

The Project
Teaching Kids Business | Instilling the Entrepreneurial Mindset in Kids

Objective

I want my kids to

  • Be financially literate (in addition to what they learn in school)
  • Understand the world of business.
  • Have an Entrepreneurial Mindset.

Read more on what I mean by Entrepreneurial Mindset in children.

As part of this, I needed to identify the skillset that kids need... and find a way to teach and train them in a constructive environment.

The main objective is to learn complex topics in a simple and easily understandable manner... gradually, one topic at a time, every day.

One new topic each day.

Build knowledge slowly and gradually to lay a strong foundation.

I wanted to start with the basic accounting principles. So I started with bookkeeping - not just teaching, but making the kids do the actual bookkeeping.

I also needed to learn, train & upskill myself in a multitude of aspects - to teach and train my kids.

Before Starting Project

Be clear with the below before starting the project.

  • Explain the basic concepts of Accounting. And set the context around bookkeeping. We will do bookkeeping to gradually learn the terms and business concepts as we start recording transactions in bookkeeping software.
  • Set up a bookkeeping software - I use Xero. [Read more on What is Bookkeeping? What Bookkeeping softwares are available?]
  • Kids should have access to their own email accounts
  • Discuss the salary structure. Yes, be clear about how much the kids will get paid for their work. We started with a non-paid training period of two weeks.
  • Identify the optimum working hours per week that the kids will be able to commit. How many hours will they work? how many days in a week? We started with a trial of 4 hours per week.
  • Identify a workspace in the house. We sit next to each other when working so we can see each other's screens.
  • A challenge that we as parents need to be able to manage is teaching kids who learn at different paces. How do I manage kids learning at different paces? Plan your sessions accordingly.
  • Set rules on how we record the working times. Identify a template for Time Sheet (a timesheet is a way to record the time spent on tasks by a person) - how does the timesheet look like? What will be documented in the timesheet? how often does the timesheet need to be updated?
  • Identify a mechanism to share files internally within the team - we use OneDrive. Yes, now the kids and I are a team!

Getting Started with Bookkeeping

I wanted the kids to start bookkeeping - I believe this will give kids an insight into the basics of accounting.


Upcoming Topics - yet to learn: