Kids Business Plan

If your child is looking to earn their own money, helping them to develop a kids business plan can encourage them to make their goals into realities. It is also an excellent way to start teaching your child about business, money management and work ethic, while doing something they are excited about.

Regardless of what type of business or service your child wants to begin providing, a solid kids business plan can help them to put their goals into perspective and help them to understand what they will need to do to make the money they want and what their new responsibilities will be.

Brainstorming and Forming a Plan

To begin creating a kids business plan, sit down with your kids and have a serious discussion with them about their ideas and goals. As you talk with them, ask them different questions about their new business and help them by taking notes that you can later help them type into an actual ‘business plan’. Questions and information you should discuss include:

What service will you provide?

If your children have an idea of a service they want to provide, now is the perfect time to discuss it. Do they want to have a weekly lemonade stand? Do they want to provide pet sitting services? Let your kids tell you about their idea. They may even have more than one, and that’s okay. Explore these ideas with them and help them narrow them down to one that both you and your kids think is a suitable option.

Do you have the skills to provide this service?

While your child may have big dreams about starting their own babysitting business or being an errand boy for neighborhood adults, sometimes these ideas are not an option due to their level of experience. For example, if your son wants to start his own grocery service for the elderly but is not old enough to drive, he may want to consider other alternatives before finalizing his kids business plan. Encourage him to pick a ‘business’ where his abilities and skills will shine. If your daughter is great with animals for example, pet sitting may be an option that would be very appropriate for her.

How much will you charge for your service?

Ask your child what they would like to charge for the service they want to provide. If they have unrealistic expectations, use the internet to do some research and find out what others providing this service are charging and adjust their original figure accordingly. Likewise, if they are setting their standards to low, encourage them to raise the rate a bit if you think it is appropriate.

Are there any necessary supplies or start-up costs?

In some cases, the service your child wants to provide will require them to have certain materials of their own that they may or may not be able to afford. Ask your child what they think they may need and whether they already have these materials. Also, if you’re looking to teach them a little about the world of business, discuss with them the possibility of taking out a loan with you for the materials with the stipulation that they must make regular installments to pay off the loan.

What do you plan to do with the profits?

This is one of the most important questions to ask your child when helping them to create a kids business plan. Converse with them about what exactly it is they are trying to save for and about their long-term and short-term savings goals. Try to convince them to have at least one of each so that their interest does not fade after they reach their initial goal. For instance, they may want to earn enough now to purchase a new pair of school shoes, but they may want to continue saving for a new vehicle or to put money away for a school trip or even college. The more expensive and important the goal is to them, the harder they will likely work to achieve it.

These questions are all very important to a kids business plan and should be included in the final product so that the child knows they are accountable for their actions, and to remind them of what they are trying to achieve.

Write a Plan of Action

Once you have taken notes about the discussion, sit with your child at a computer and help them to draft a document that outlines all of the essentials including:

• Their service
• Charges
• Responsibilities
• Who will be in charge of the money?

In addition, if your child plans on borrowing money from you for materials, write up a “loan agreement” regarding the amount borrowed and a payment schedule that you set up together, before having them sign it. This will help to teach your children about real world money management and financial accountability.

Writing a kids business plan is an excellent first step to helping your child realize exactly what is involved with running their own ‘business’ and can be a great tool for both parents and teachers to help teach children about business, as well as financial goals and responsibilities


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