Kid Entrepreneurs

They say that today's children are tomorrow's leaders. We say, why wait?

In May last year, Clunes kids did a roaring trade in the Kids Village at Booktown. A team of showbag entrepreneurs sold showbags full of comic, picture books and teenage fiction. A budding cartoonist sold his own self-published comics. Next to him second hand traders popped up re-homing their favourite books.

With Booktown’s help, those same kids and many more would have been doing a similar trade this year. In fact, Creative Clunes had partnered with Clunes Neighbourhood House to help grow this child-led retail hub so that children could have a chance at developing other business ideas related to the festival.

Sadly this won’t happen now until next year, but in the meantime we have a town of kid entrepreneurs who’ve got more time to develop their own business ideas.

Hepburn Shire Council knows that business ideas are not just the provenance of adult brains.

As you know, younger minds are full of them, so they’ve partnered with us to help opportunity-minded young people in Clunes kick start their own business idea now.

Here is how:

Step 1:

Register your interest - we'll be in touch to set you up and match a mentor to you
Free Lemonade Stand Online enrolment - launched in 2019 for Australian high schools, and recently adapted to an online at home program

Step 2:

Develop a business plan and budget – entrepreneurs will be supported by a child safe mentor
Pitch your business idea – to secure $250 funding per business. We currently have funding support for up to 6 businesses. Conditions apply.

Step 3:

Start your business – with ongoing support from your child safe mentor

Suitable for 8 – 12 year olds. But if you are older (or younger) don’t let this stop you. One of the first rules of being entrepreneurial is not hearing no. Instead you hear not now, ask the question another way, maybe you need to change your approach. What we are saying is, if you are keen, then just ask us and together we’ll find a way for you to be a part.

Got Questions? All Good Entrepreneurs Do.

Do I have to pay to enrol in the Kidpreneurs Academy? No. This $150+ course is funded by our partnership with Hepburn Shire Council. You just have to make a commitment to develop your business idea once you’ve completed the online course at your own pace.
What if I never come up with a business idea? That is ok. You just need to answer a short survey about your Kidprenuers Academy experience and write a creative quick-write starting with this paragraph – “It came to me in the wee hours of the morning. An idea I’d never imagined before. It filled my mind with possibilities I wasn’t even sure could happen, but I was going to try.”
Is there a time frame? Yes. And No. You can do the Kidprenuers Academy course at your own pace. At the beginning of Term 3 we will be opening for Pitches to secure the $250 seed funding for your business idea. That will close at the start of Term 4. Only 6 business ideas will secure funding, so the sooner you get your idea pitched the better.
Do I come up with the idea on my own? Yes. And No. Kidprenuers Academy will help you start a business plan and budget, but locally you’ll be assigned a child safe Mentor too. They won’t do it for you, but they will help you explore your ideas and find the best way to pitch them.
How do I do a pitch? It will depend on COVID-19 restrictions but all good pitches usually involve a mix of different media/mediums. You will definitely have a written plan and budget. But you might also do a video pitch. You might use lots of images. Remember the point is to get your business idea across and persuade us to fund you to start your business – so do what you think you need to do (safely) to make that happen.
Do I have to give that money back? No. And Yes. If you launch your business and it makes a profit of more than $500 in six months, then you’ll be asked to repay the $250 loan. If you never make a profit of $500 in six months, then that is the risk the funding partners (Clunes Neighbourhood House) take. We are hedging our bets that you will, and that when you repay that $250 we can start this program again and fund another Kid Entrepreneur idea.
Do I have to do it alone? No. Lots of businesses are partnerships. Your child safe mentor will help you set up your partnership model as you develop your business idea.
Can I keep the profit I make from my business? It’s your business. Even if you are only a young person, you can be entrepreneurial. There are laws to obey, but your child safe mentor will help you with that.
What if it takes me a long time to launch and run my business? When will this activity stop? This activity happens in stages. Kidprenuers Academy in Term 3. Business idea pitches in Term 3 – supported by a local child safe Mentor. Term 4 and beyond you can get cracking. You’ll have access to a child safe Mentor up until the end of May 2021. After that the program is over. But if your business keeps running after that, during the 12 months you’ll have developed the support network you need to keep running if your idea is viable. Why is this important. Because no matter how smart your idea might be, good entrepreneurs know that they can’t do it all alone.
Why Kidprenuers Academy? Because they have a ready to go online course that can introduce even the youngest kids to the basic principles of being an entrepreneur. It has its weaknesses. It’s very American. Australians are more laidback so some of the language can be a bit over the top. Calling business minded kids 'Kidpreneurs' is probably not something we’d do in our culture. America is going through a horrific COVID-19 crisis and it may take a while for the hardcopy resources to be sent to you. But the knowledge they are sharing is good, and it’s easy to process so you can focus on what is important – and that is your idea!
Got more questions? Email manager@clunesnh.org