At age 10, Drake created a blog featuring video tutorials he had created. He shared his skills with other kids in making fun projects with duct tape and other household items. He received moderate traffic and learned how to communicate with followers and respond to what they were interested in. 

Over time, his interest waned in this project, but he still had a creative bug. He learned more about promotion on social media and more elaborate means to engage followers while refining his projects to a higher level of professionalism. He dabbled in a couple of other ideas along the way and was not discouraged when they didn’t pan out.

By the time he opened his Etsy shop in his junior year of high school, he had already established a social media following and had generated a large amount of YouTube content. He learned how to monetize his hobby, set up payment options, and find a niche market for his skills. 

The orders came in faster than he would have anticipated, and he created a steady part-time income for himself that exceeded what he would have made flipping burgers or any other the other part-time jobs his friends were doing at the time. 

He was also building entrepreneurial skills that would serve him for life!

Savvy parents who have sharpened their skills as entrepreneurs want to pass them along to their kids. Some kids seem naturally drawn to entrepreneurship, while others benefit from some mindful guidance. So what steps can parents take?

The first step, according to Nadia Goodman of Entrepreneur, is to model effective problem-solving. Having problems crop up along the way is a given, so parents can use the opportunity to model effective brainstorming.

This key step helps children to learn how to step back from emotional responses to problems and keep a cool head while considering options. Further, it teaches them not to become discouraged too quickly.

Dr. Andrea Vazzana, clinical assistant professor of child psychiatry at New York University Langone’s Child Study Center explains it this way: “The more parents can break down what’s needed within that problem-solving task, really verbalize it, and talk it out with the child, the better off the child will be,” 

Money Revealed expert Robert Kiyosaki realized at the age of 9 that he wanted to learn more about money, and maintains that schools teach students to be employees, not entrepreneurs. 

He adds that real teachers are, “somebody who is actually doing the real thing in real life” and he encourages anyone wanting to grow their wealth to seek these kinds of people out. The lesson for parents is to both be and to seek out the life teachers that will build entrepreneurial skills in kids. 

Tom Foster of Inc.com magazine adds an important point: fostering an entrepreneurial spirit is not about grades. Focusing on straight A’s, he points out, creates an environment that emphasizes remediating weaknesses instead of developing strengths.

Foster drives his point home by saying that, “I’d much rather have a kid who’s passionate about one thing and gets a few good grades than a kid who is not excited about anything and gets good grades in everything.” 

The next step, according to Chris Meyers of Forbes.com, is to foster creativity and take a child’s ideas seriously. ”More often than not,” Meyers advises, “these ideas will be outlandish and hilarious. Whatever you do, don’t discourage them. Take their ideas seriously, no matter how silly they may be.” 

Instead, use the idea as an opportunity to brainstorm action steps and help your child visualize what it would take to implement the idea. Perhaps there is a portion of the idea that can be acted upon – the lessons inherent in this are invaluable!

Simply by taking the idea seriously and looking at it from various angles, children know they can come to their parents with their ideas, and that their creativity will be supported over time as ideas develop into more plausible alternatives. 

Further, it’s time to land the helicopter, counsels Matt Stewart of Forbes. Resisting the urge to overprotect helps children to develop problem-solving skills. He adds that parents should not be afraid to let their children experience a little stress. 

Stewart suggests that parents should, “Give guidance when necessary, but let them fall on their face every now and then.” 

Because young entrepreneurship may involve an online presence, this is one area parents should take the helm. Help children navigate the online world, monitor communications, and activities, and use any technical challenges as a learning opportunity. 

Parents should educate children to recognize and quickly shut down any predatory, scamming, or bullying behavior they encounter in the online world, and parents should be willing to step in to manage situations before they get out of hand. 

Brian Davis of BiggerPockets.com advocates for some basic money management approaches. Children should have a bank account, budget their money, and set financial goals. 

From there, parents can teach them about the basics of ROI. Davis suggests guiding them to invest in a private note that pays high returns.  This provides a tangible object lesson and inspires children to seek further such rewarding opportunities. 

The freelance economy is growing thanks to social media and online empowerment. Encouraging kids to be mavericks and think creatively about the opportunities that are all around them will serve them well; fostering the skills to act on their ideas will encourage them to aggressively pursue their dreams in true entrepreneurial fashion.