How Do You Train Your Kids To Be Business Owners? – Part 2

How do you train your kids to be business owners?

How do you train your children to love business? In the last post, we talked about Tip #1: Watch Your Words.

Today, let’s talk about tip #2: Communicate your trust, not your fears.

I met a long time employee.  Let’s call her Cindy (not her real name). She is very smart and very ambitious.  In high school, she passed the UPCAT and was excited to enrol in her dream course. But, at the last minute, her mother said: “No, you will study here in Zamboanga because I am afraid that you will be an activist if you go to UP.  I don’t want you to get killed.”

Frustrated, Cindy enrolled in a local school for a year. And then, dropped out. She has an ok life now, but not the life that she dreamed of, and, not the career that she could have succeeded in.

I have heard the same story about parents who did not allow their kids the freedom to choose their course, or to go to the school they wanted.  It’s all because of their own fears. And, because of this fear, the kids’ dreams were shattered, and their lives destroyed.

We all love our children. We are all afraid that they will make mistakes or they will be harmed. This is why we warn them.  And it is our duty as parents to do so.

But then, we need to know when to let go. We have to know that one day, our kids will fly out of our nest whether we like it or not. And we have to prepare them early for their freedom.

As I said, my kids are not perfect and neither am I.  But even when I am scared most of the time, I allowed them to take baby steps and learn:  to take public transport or walk home by themselves, even in grade school.

Slowly, they gained confidence by doing things on their own.  With each little mistake they made, they learned, and they grew.

We trusted them with handling their own allowance. They faced the consequences when they overspend or when they lose their money. They learned to be careful and to be responsible.

And when they grew up, we allowed them to choose their own schools, courses, careers and even where they wanted to work. We allotted a small amount of capital for each one to open their own baby business if they want to.  We believe that in biz, they have to learn from their mistakes so that they become better biz owners the next time around.

As we let go of our children, slowly, step by step, we communicate our trust, instead of our fears. And surprisingly, as they succeed, we also let go of our own fears and become more and more confident and successful. Do you agree?

You’ll find out Business Parenting tip #3 on How I trained my kids to love business on my next post.

Let us know what you think and what questions you have in the comments.

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