If Your Kid Started a New Business, What Would it Be?

Have you ever asked your son or daughter what kind of business they would start? You've probably asked them what they want to be when they grow up, or someone has for sure.

Why not try a new twist on the old, extremely dated, industrial age question? Instead of asking your kids "Who are you going to work for?" why not ask them what they would create? Without limitations?

Interesting, huh?

Here's what a bunch of really great kids came up with this week - all between the ages of 7 to 11 years old:

Teach adults how to use their "smart" phones. Need I comment here? Do you know how to use all the functions on your iPhone or BlackBerry?

Vending machine business - placed at factories and business centers. He's donating revenue to a Women's Center.

Computer game creator. I won't give the name or concept away but it will be "the newest and awesomest game around."

Children's party planner - hosting parties for kids up to 8 years old. Donating a large portion of revenue to Haiti.

Online fashion for kids. Clothing and accessories. This adorable 10 year old from Australia "Quite likes spending time with younger children."

Fitness for kids all around the world. He's donating some of the revenue to local children's hospitals after seeing his 6-year-old friend die from cancer.

Video advertising for business owners. He will video interview people "in the real world" about their experience with your business and post it to YouTube.

Using social media in 20 minutes. He'll help you set up Twitter and Facebook and show you how to advertise your small business on your Facebook page... in 20 minutes.

Breed and raise pheasants & quails. Target market gourmet meat companies and hunting reserves. His 8-year-old sister will be selling designer flip-flops and hair bows online.

When it comes to ideas for new businesses kids can be creative and open-minded. They are incredibly future driven as well. Kids seem to get that a business is not built overnight and that they are building for tomorrow. They have no boundaries to their thought processes. Anything is possible.

Can we take a lesson from these kids?

How about you? Are you ready to believe that anything is possible? Do you realize that just about anything can be turned into a business?

Will you take the challenge and ask your kids what kind of business they would start today? Will you support them in believing they can do it? Intrigued? Leave me a comment over at my blog. Hope you have fun with this!

All of my best to you and your family,

Theresa Bradley-Banta
Theresa Bradley-Banta, co-creator of www.bigfishtopdogs.com, is a musician, award winning graphic artist, mentor, coach, blogger and owner of multiple businesses. She blogs on how to think and act like an entrepreneur.

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7 Tips For Better Decision Making For an Entrepreneur

Making difficult decisions are what will decide if as a business owner that you can succeed. Notice I did not say that making right decisions would decide if you succeeded or not, but just making the decisions. Many times business owners fail because of analysis paralysis. This is the most deadly disease a business can get. As a friend of my taught me many years ago, not making a decision is making a decision to not decide. These 7 business tips will help you avoid this deadly disease.

Tip #1 Be willing to succeed:

Start out with a plan and plan to succeed. If you have built a true business plan before you started your business and you have tweaked it as time goes by, you will have the best tool to help you make a decision. Go back and read your plan often. Look for places where it can be improved when it does not need to be. Solve problems before the arise and you will not have them arise.

Tip #2 Do not get delusional in expecting overnight success:

It is easy to dream that success will com easy, but the reality is that a lot of hard work goes into the making of a great business. Many people have proven that all the money in the world does not make a business succeed. A lot of business owners believe the "lottery winner" mentality. Understand that you will have to make the decision and then make it work. Not making a decision will create a situation later on that will be worse to solve.

Tip #3 Learn and practice the basics:

Most business models have very basic procedures that make them succeed. Most decisions will be based around those procedures. Never make wholesale changes away from what you knew would work when you started. Decide what will have to be done for the decision to improve your situation. Then do it.

Tip #4 Always ask for input (whether there are agreeing or not agreeing)

Having a tough hide is important in being an entrepreneur. You have to be able to see all sides of a topic and at times we get to close to the topic. Sometimes our best advisors will be those that argue the hardest will be those that will help use succeed.

Tip #5 Do not get defensive about your decisions:

When you are defensive it is a normal response to not fully believing in your decisions. When you know that what you have done you do not have to get loud. I have learned that normally the louder the defense the weaker the decision.

Tip #6 Ask Stupid Questions:

It is not more true than it is as a business owner, the only stupid question is the one that does not get asked. If you have a question in your mind, there is a doubt somewhere in your mind. Not having the answer will make your decision weaker and you want the strongest decision possible.

Tip #7 Give yourself a break:

Give yourself a break in several ways. First give yourself a break about your decision. When my dad passed away several years ago the one thing that everyone said about him was he never had any regrets about any decision he had made. He lived with the outcome no matter if it cost him money or made him money. The key was he made his own decision.

Next, while it takes hard work to make a business succeed, you need to give your body and your mind a break. You deserve it, being fresh and strong makes it easier to make those tough decisions. So reenergize and get ready to tackle the tough decisions.
To learn more about Mike and Becky Shipman's nearly 50 years in business and how they keep a fresh outlook on growing their businesses visit them at www.threepercentbusiness.com

Becky has been a business owner and Registered nurse for over 35 years. She brings two successful careers in focus by helping others reach success. She and her husband are currently restoring a 160 old home in east central Alabama.

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3 Reasons It Is Better To Own A Business than Work A JOb

There are pros and cons with everything, but the benefits of being a business owners far outweigh the cons. Here are 3 reasons why owning a business is better than working at a job.

1. You do not own your job. It is only being rented out to you temporarily. You may think you are safe and secure on your job if you have been employed for awhile, but you better believe as soon as your company needs to cut back on expenses for whatever reason that they will not hesitate to drop you like a bad habit.

2. The tax laws are made for the small business owner. A business owner gets to spend his or her money first and then pay taxes. Small business owners also get to deduct a lot of their expenditures from their taxes.

Employees get taxed out of the ying-yang every time they get a paycheck. Then if they are lucky at the end of year, the government might give them a little bit back on their tax returns.

3. It is hard to get rich working at a job. It is not impossible to get rich working at a job, but it is a challenge...especially if you are financially illiterate.

You also have no leverage at your job, so it will more than likely take you much longer to acquire wealth.

One of the simplest forms of leverage a business owner has is the ability to leverage the time and resources of other people. One way that they can do this is by hiring employees.

If you want to own a business, it is important to realize that there is a learning curve to go through.

An employee may spend anywhere from 4-8 years and tens of thousands of dollars to acquire the skills and knowledge to work at a "good job".

You must also be willing to commit to acquiring the skills, mindset, and knowledge necessary to become a successful business owner.

Much Success,
Jeremiah Carstarphen
The Cartoon Coach

Get FREE Marketing Training at http://trainingbyj.com

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