Why Should My Child Start Their Own Business?
"What are the benefits to starting a business?"
If that is a question running through your head, you are not alone! As a high school teacher and Business Guide at The Simple StartUp, I have seen first-hand the incredible mindset and ability changes experienced by kids who start their own businesses.
Let me tell you more about it!
Do You Have A Budding Entrepreneur At Home?
Help your young business owner bring their ideas to life, learn the value of money, and gain future-proof life skills!
Give your 10 -18 year old an unforgettable experience where they will learn the life skills that are the hallmarks of entrepreneurship. The knowledge and skills gained will remain relevant and life-changing, no matter how technology in the workplace develops, or what happens in the global economy.
Are you trying to figure out how to teach your child to be responsible with money? Get them ready for their future by equipping them with the ability to think creatively, solve problems, make smart financial decisions, communicate effectively, and appreciate the value of money.
Start Your Child's Business Building Journey Today!
If you are looking for guidance for your child during their entrepreneurial journey, there is something here for them. We offer a self-paced course which your child can start at any point and complete at their own pace. There are also cohort group challenges where your child can go on their business journey alongside a group of like-minded entrepreneurs starting in the same place as them. This brings great support and accountability for keeping their business moving forward. They can also benefit from the live webinars with Rob to ask questions about their business and get extra advice about growing sales.
Life Skills Learned In This Course
Problem Solving
Recognize problems and challenges in our own lives and others, and then propose solutions.
Communication skills
Communicate a message effectively and convey the value of your business to others.
Organization Skills
Organize & execute tasks in a timely manner, keep accurate records, and improve effective decision making.
What Will Your Child Accomplish?
By the end of the digital course, your young adult will have a business that will begin to earn an income. We will try to start our businesses for as close to $0 as possible, which means our businesses will be profitable almost immediately once sales start.
Learning to manage money is an essential skill for running a successful business. During this course your child will be equipped with financial lessons to manage and grow their income responsibly.
Will my child be able to complete this course if they are in school full-time?
What if we are planning on a vacation during the course?
What is the time commitment like for this course?
What is the format of the course?
Who is the course for?
Can I give this course as a gift?
"The Simple Startup helped me learn how to start a business, and everything that comes with that. It gave me more appreciation for the entrepreneurs in the world."
Ella
Participant
"The Simple StartUp showed me how I can make money in a way that I want to. I think this camp is a great way to start a business for anyone who's interested."
AJ
Participant
"I learned about things I didn't even know I needed to start a business. Rob teaches you to evaluate your product and customer just like larger businesses run by adults."
Becky
Participant
"I loved this course! It was very beneficial even to my business that was already up and running! I have had a photography business for about 2.5 years now and this course was able to really get me thinking of how I can change my business to make it better and what things I could add. It probably would have been even more beneficial if I was just starting my business- so if this is you- DO IT! And it was still a great course to go through with an already profitable business!"
Lucy
Participant
"Rob is dedicated to youth building their first startup business and is there through every step to help them succeed. My 14 year old son had his business up and running by end the of the course! I have no doubt he’ll take these skills into his future."
Jessie
Parent
"This course was very well done and very simple, as stated. I have always wanted to start my own business, but I had never quite had the dedication and experience to start it. Rob Phelan's course enabled me to start my photography business, and it was surprising easy to start! I recommend this course to anyone with hopes of starting there own business."
Lance
Participant
"It was a great experience for Analise. The information Rob provided was comprehensive, actionable and well-presented. Rob encouraged students to be their own agents of change, to work hard and to realistically navigate the process of starting a business. He modeled innovative thinking and problem solving, which in and of itself taught the students an important lesson.
Analise learned that it is fun, yet hard, to start a business, as there are so many areas that need attention. A few times during the camp, she said it was the hardest class she had ever taken, but she also said that she enjoyed being challenged in such a new way.
Another benefit of this experience was its real world nature. In addition to Rob's feedback, the market gave the students feedback, and he supported the students as they processed that feedback. There was no 'A' just for showing up. One had to listen to market wants and pivot/problem solve accordingly.
After Analise watched the final video, she said at least 5 separate times, "Wow, I'm sad that there are no more videos and that the course is ending." The lessons meant a lot to her."
Andrea
Parent
What Your Child Will Learn That They Won't Get In School
At The Simple StartUp, your child will be guided through how to start a business of their own using The Simple StartUp model, as well as learning how to start and running their first business.
It's Project-Based Learning taken to the next level, where your child will learn actionable life-skills to captain their own enterprises, but also, chart the course of their own lives.
The skills they will hone include:
- Identifying problems and then proposing solutions
- Breaking down a solution into a series of goals and actionable steps
- Organizing themselves to fill different roles within a business
- Planning for expected and unexpected events, both financially and logistically
- Analyzing themselves to find strengths and weaknesses. Then moving to capitalize on their strengths while improving or minimizing weaknesses.
- Designing a viable product or service with a little to no startup cost involved
- Researching an idea and producing usable data to support the desire for a product or service, or the need to change aspects of the idea to cater to the market.
- Find ways to fulfill the needs and wants of customers through being flexible and dynamic in their approach.
- Work on communication, orally, written, and with body language
- Explore different ways of determining value and using this to construct a pricing model
- Learn how to bring value to customers to create a desire to purchase their idea.
We will wrap up the course with a business pitch where participants can share their business, what they have accomplished so far, and how they plan to grow for the future.
Why I am the right person to help your teens fire their imaginations and discover their entrepreneurship power
Hi everyone! My name is Rob Phelan and I will be your teen's guide through this entrepreneurship experience. On top of being a high school personal finance and math teacher, I am part of the ChooseFI International Foundation Personal Finance Curriculum team, a NCFE Certified Financial Education Instructor, and the author of The Simple StartUp: A Beginner’s Guide To Starting A Business.
I am the perfect person to help your kids become entrepreneurs and here's why:
When I was in 10th grade, my business studies teacher ran an entrepreneurship project that probably had the biggest impact on my education to date. It is one of my clearest memories from high school and the one I go back to when I am asked for my most influential life moments. In this project, two of my friends and I started a baking company where we sold cookies, brownies, and slices of cake to the students and staff in my school. Over 8 weeks we made over €500 (did I mention this was in Ireland?!) and acquired priceless skills and experience in the process. So I've been there. I've been a teen who started a business with no prior business experience or knowledge. My parents are both employees and did not own their own businesses at the time. All you need is some guidance and encouragement.
Once I became a personal finance teacher later in my career, I came back to the lessons I learned in my own school experience and I became driven to share the benefits of entrepreneurship with my students.
What I quickly realized was that I was not alone in this desire to share entrepreneurship with our school-aged youth, and most personal finance curricula existing at the time did not include entrepreneurship as part of the course, even though increasing your income is one of the core pillars needed to improve your financial well-being and pursue Financial Independence. I was motivated to create a resource that could help parents and teachers bring the experience of an entrepreneurship project to their teens, and The Simple StartUp was born.
The Simple StartUp was published in February 2020, and has already begun impacting the lives of teens around the country and event the world. There have been Simple StartUp Challenge participants from 6 countries and 44 states! Since starting the Simple StartUp, I have guided the creation of over 260 young entrepreneur businesses which have actually started and generated income. Some of them have even gone on to compete at local and state competitions! Now I am even more passionate about getting out there and helping to change the lives of the youth in this country through my work with the ChooseFI International Foundation and The Simple StartUp.
The business experience in this course is a way for me to help parents at home, who maybe don't have the time, resources or interested school district, to give their children a chance to start their own business and learn the multitude of life skills and professional skills that come as a result. What is most exciting for me is I get to leave the confines of my classroom and work with students from all across the world.
I'm so excited to see what your child can create.
You can email me with any questions at [email protected].
