Do you ever wonder if your child will be ready for the challenges of adulthood?

You’re not alone. As homeschooling parents, we have the freedom to shape our kids’ education, but that also means deciding which skills matter most.

We all want the same thing for our kids.

To see them grow into happy, healthy, capable, and kind people able to handle themselves in adulthood.

But how do we help get them there? What classes and skills are most important?

A hundred years ago reading, writing, and math were the basics needed for adulthood. But today those basics aren’t enough. Kids need practical life skills—independence, financial literacy, and problem-solving—skills that prepare them for an uncertain and evolving future.

When I was in high school everyone was required to take one practical skill.

Instead of typing, I wrote a letter to the state governor petitioning to accept my credits in orchestra and band as my practical skill. My petition was granted. Realizing I still needed to know how to type, I bought a $5 book and taught myself on my mother’s old-fashioned, manual Smith-Corona typewriter….

And reconsidered the value of practical skills.

In college, I worked in a student-run vegetarian food co-op my first year. My experience opened my eyes to the set of practical skills needed for adulthood. They were the skills needed to run a business…

These skills are vitally important. They are life skills that often feel intangible but are the ones that can have some of the biggest impact on a child’s development. Without them, kids risk entering adulthood unprepared, struggling with independence, and possibly overwhelmed by real-world challenges.

This set of skills prepares kids for life by building a core set of practical abilities: independence, resilience, financial literacy, and problem-solving. Think financial literacy, project management, communication, collaboration, and problem-solving, among many others.

You can help your child acquire them by teaching them how to start and run a small business. Teaching your child entrepreneurial skills can help them develop these abilities in a real-world, hands-on way.

Here are 5 key benefits of teaching your child entrepreneurial skills as a form of practical life skills:

1. Teaching independence and responsibility

When your child runs their own business, they learn to manage their time, make decisions, and take ownership of their work. These activities teach them to think and function independently and take responsibility by being accountable for their decisions—even in small, low-risk ways.

Imagine your 12-year-old running their own dog walking service, for example. They likely gave their business a name, maybe made flyers, contacted neighbors, and set their rates and hours. They likely had to assure prospective ‘clients’ that they would be responsible when walking a dog…

In effect, your child took a series of decisive actions, showed follow through, and is teaching themselves how to act independently and handle responsibility. Something they might not otherwise learn until after high school. And something a textbook or class can’t teach.

2. Learning financial literacy

Money management isn’t something kids should learn only after graduating from college when faced with credit cards or apartment rentals…

Running a small business helps kids learn budgeting, expense tracking, and understanding profit margins. They learn how to apply math lessons to real life and learn the value of both math and financial literacy.

As soon as your child earns even a small amount of money, they have a vested interest in understanding how money works. And if they have to spend their own money and invest it in their business to grow their business, they will learn financial literacy faster than any other method could teach them. Even if (when) they make mistakes.

Likely, they will make small (low-stakes) mistakes along the way. The mistakes made early on, say with a dog walking business or a tutoring business, might be things like paying too much money for flyers or supplies like leashes or paper. They might also be things like under or overcharging for the service.

Making small, low-stakes mistakes is the fastest way to learn and gives kids immediate feedback that they can use to change course and improve their understanding of money and financial growth.

Imagine the difference in impact between a hard-learned lesson about undercharging for say a small logo-making business and losing a small amount of money as an industrious middle schooler versus taking a class in accounting as a high schooler and being faced with spreadsheets and lengthy explanations of profit margins. Go a step further and imagine the difference between learning financial literacy as a middle schooler versus being a young adult with no idea how to handle even a personal budget.

The person who gained practical skills as a kid, when the stakes were low, is better prepared to face adult life.

Would you rather have your child learn financial responsibility by making a $10 mistake now or a $10,000 mistake as a young adult? Early, low-stakes money lessons pay off for life.

3. Encourages problem-solving and innovation

Starting a small business is all about problem-solving.

Imagine working with your child to help them develop an idea for their business. Maybe it’s a friendship bracelet business. Say your child wants to make enough money to go to a summer camp. They love making bracelets and are good at creating various designs in different colors. They’ve had initial success selling a few to friends.

But now they have to figure out a business plan: how much supplies cost, how long it takes to make each bracelet, how much can they charge for each? What will their profit margin be? How many bracelets do they have to sell to make the money they need? Is there enough time?

So many questions… and problems to solve. Your child will need to get creative if they want their fledgling business to work.

And just think, even if their business idea doesn’t work out, your child will have spent time and effort teaching themselves how to solve problems and get things done. They will be highly motivated because the idea and the goal—is theirs.

From business idea to tackling a range of challenges, your child will develop creative thinking, problem-solving, and adaptability.

4. Builds Confidence and Resilience

Running a business isn’t always (rarely) smooth sailing.

Imagine your high schooler has started a summer lawn care business. You’ve agreed to let them use the family lawnmower and basic gardening tools. They’ve put together the list of services, and pricing, sent out flyers around the neighborhood, and gotten a handful of clients.

It’s early June. They’re off to a great start and have high hopes they’ll make some decent money before the end of summer.

But the woman on the next block has just texted telling your child they clipped her favorite bush too closely and mowed over some of her flowers. Yikes. To keep her as a customer, your child needs to figure out how to handle the situation. To make matters worse, your kid just spilled gasoline when filling the mower… and you’re not exactly thrilled… They’ll need to clean up the mess.

And… your kid has discovered they don’t like doing lawn work in the hot midday sun…

But they really want the money they think they can earn. And, the neighbor down the street with the huge backyard has just told your child they want weekly lawn care plus car washes plus will spread the word... *Big win*

How will your child handle the small failures and the wins? The wins are motivating but can also feel daunting because your kid has to make good on the service. The ‘failures’ are opportunities for improvement. If your child is motivated, they’ll build their confidence and resilience through both.

They will improve their skill set, including professionalism and ability to meet expectations. They’ll learn how to handle themselves, speak with adults, and see themselves differently.

Those experiences are huge. Life changing. Your child will build self-esteem and grit—some of the keys to successful adulting.

5. Prepares Kids for Real-World Success

Imagine your child running a small business—dog walking, lawn care, friendship bracelets, tutoring.

Imagine the time and effort they put into developing the idea and taking all the steps, having the follow through (that many adults find challenging) to go from idea to an up-and-running business…

Imagine the number of conversations, the vision and leadership skills, and the communication skills they develop when they have to sell their product or service…

Think of the collaboration skills when they work with you or friends or clients…

All of these skills are transferrable. They will help your child succeed on any path they choose, whether it’s college, a career, or running their own business.

It doesn’t matter what the product or service is. Your child will be teaching themselves core practical skills needed for adulting.

Your child is teaching themselves how to prepare for real-world—adult world—success by developing and running a small business.

There is no better class to help your child learn these skills than learning to be an entrepreneur.

Takeaways

Let’s re-envision the skills we want to help our kids learn as practical life skills. Let’s move beyond limiting beliefs about different skill sets and work toward helping our kids gain the skills they need for adulthood.

By teaching kids entrepreneurial skills—we can give them a set of transferrable, practical, and life skills that will benefit them tremendously whatever route they take.

Imagine your child leaning into their interest in baking and selling cookies, or their interest in auto repair and apprenticing at a mechanic shop with the goal of owning a business, or small-scale farming…

Did I use my skills in musicianship to make a career in music? No, but when I petitioned the governor to let that count as my practical credit, I gained skills in advocating for myself.

Did I use my college bread-baking skills to open a food-related business? No, but I took the practical life skills I learned and applied them to starting a different business.

Transferrable real-life skills. They will help your child in countless ways and give them the confidence, resilience, grit, creativity, and problem-solving abilities to dream big and take effective action… whatever they choose to do in life.

Want to help your child start their entrepreneurial journey? Here’s how to start:

• Identify their interests and passions.
• Brainstorm a simple business idea they can manage.
• Provide guidance but let them make decisions and learn from mistakes.

Pick a simple business idea—baking, tutoring, dog walking—and let your child run with it. Guide them, but let them make their own decisions and learn from their mistakes.