Over the years, I have parents reaching out to me asking for business ideas that are easy for kids to start with. I thought it would be appropriate to compile a list of doable business ideas that are easier to adapt, especially in Southeast Asia. A number of the ideas have been proven by some current young entrepreneurs as well.
Let us now take a look into some of these interesting ideas and there could be a lot more to explore with these inspirations.
1. Greeting Cards
An excellent way to kickstart a business if your child is an artistic incline. Designing and creating greeting cards allow your kids to practice his or her craft. Cards can be for holidays and events and can be relatively easy and quick ways to make money. Hand-painted or stamped with a handprint. The possibilities are endless.
2. Beads Bracelets/Necklaces
Another easy way for any child to start producing something that makes excellent fashion accessories. Beads Bracelets starter kits are easily available in most places. Those off the shelves kit generally comes with alphabet beads that your child can use to customize it to specific names. Specialized craft shops are likely to sell more unique beads that allow your child to create one-off kind bracelets or necklaces.
3. Garage Sale
As your child starts to grow up, there are bound to be some old toys and clothing that they do not need anymore. Online selling has become easier these days with an online platform like Carousell that allows users to sell their pre-used items. Another way is to use our marketplace platform in our My Little Big Boss portal that is a safe environment for kids.
4. Toy Reviewer
Kids love watching videos of other kids unboxing and reviewing their toys. So why not create a YouTube channel of your child providing reviews of their new toys? Who knows, your child might be the next Ryan Kaji, the highest-earning YouTube star in the world. An 8-year-old kid who makes millions reviewing toys online. Even if your child is not making money, this is a great opportunity for your child to sharpen his or her presentation skills.
5. Making Slime
Slime has become an extremely popular toy among children. Many kids are also making their slime at home but the process can be pretty messy. A great way to help parents to cope with the mess is to provide ready-made slime for their kids.
6. Artist
If your child has a flair for art and creates incredible art pieces. They could even start their art businesses by painting or drawing their artwork and then selling it directly to customers. They can sell their art pieces online and even expand to a wide range of products with their artwork, such as t-shirts, mugs, or notebook covers.
7. Home-made Soap
Soap making is an interesting business idea as people are getting more environmentally conscious. The entire process allows your kids to have fun and produce something unique for their customers. Packaging the product is another process that allows your child to be creative. There are some local providers in Singapore that conduct regular soap making workshops for kids.
8. Recycling Service Provider
Your child can even set up a recycling service where you pick up things like paper, bottles, and cans from people who don’t have time to do their own recycling. Adults are happy to support a good clause especially to motivate a young entrepreneur as well. Kids can start off from nearby neighbors and establish contact with local recycling providers to collect their collections for money.
Well, the ideas can be endless as we have read and come across many more inspirational stories on how kids have turned ideas into businesses. From these 8 examples above, these activities also help to develop beyond just entrepreneurship skills but character qualities and competencies that we introduce in our learning framework.
Recognising the paradigm shift from the importance of “the skills to have” to “the way to think” that help your child build inquisitiveness which is an important skill that allows them to continuously seek new opportunities to learn and lay the foundation for lifelong learning.
