How would you like to hear a 9-year old kid talk about marketing strategies, loan agreements, supplies, wages, taxes and…uh…thinking out of the box?
Henry Ong, president of RFP (Phils) Institute has cooked up another project — this time to teach children how to be entrepreneurs. No, they won’t be asked to listen to lectures or even interactive classroom discussions. They will actually be asked to think of a business and run it for a day.
Cool, huh? Read all about it here. Before I even mention something in MoneySmarts, I go through it, test it, see if it works. There’s too much at stake and no, I am not being paid to advertise it. So there. Nothing can be more precious than integrity.
Entrepreneurship is what this nation needs and we have got to teach our children to be fearless, to jump not with their eyes closed but with senses fully alert and with loads of research and analysis on their back. We have to show them that there are tools they can use to start a good business, to sustain it and even to close it gracefully, if needed, so they can start a new one.
Shrug. I personally think failure in one business is not a reason to stop trying!
Since this bootcamp is the first of its kind, however, I have no objective analysis yet if it is really effective. My basis is the program’s list of activities and the qualification of their speakers.
Day 1 is like this:
“There will be activities that [will teach kids] that they can do almost anything they set their minds to…”
They will begin thinking of a business plan! Talk about getting your feet wet on the first day 
Day 2 will have them discovering the costs of running a business such as marketing, supplies, wages and taxes. Big words for our little businessmen, I’m sure!
“Campers will learn that just because they may own their own business, it does not mean that they will become rich automatically.”
On day 3, campers will really get into the thick of things with more big words like “loan agreement” and be taught that the more they borrow, the more they have to pay back. They will make posters, flyers and business cards after they secure financing for their “business.”
Day 4 is THE day. They get to run their business for a day. They find out if their strategies work, network with “business contacts” and try to make good calls under pressure. They will present their business plan and do a marketing pitch. I can imagine young faces scrunched up with the hard decisions they have to make, but before the day is done, they will still have to analyze their performance.
Day 5 is tough. Guest entrepreneurs will tell them what they did great or point out mistakes. Toughest part is the party at the end and getting their certificates, hehe.
Memories of my peanut-selling days when I was in elementary school still make me smile. I learned the values of hard work, diligence, and the strength to get up even if I fell smack on my face many, many times. (You guessed right, I burned a lot of peanuts haha!)
October 9th, 2008 at 10:27 am
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Thanks
April 3rd, 2007 at 6:53 pm
Entrepreneurship in the 80’s meant red tape, merciless taxes, grease money to City Hall, and earnings festering with inflation. And all these assuming the CPP-NPA doesn’t confiscate your business and property “pro bono publico”
April 3rd, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Kids?? It is better to start at early age. Yes, i respect that theory. I am just wondering if they have already produce such activity for adults, because we must start actually not with our kids but with us adults. Because actually many pinoy would like to start business but lacks proper education and training. Economic development will only be achieve thru increase entrepreneurship. The gov’t should encourage small business by giving incentives, tax exemptions, etc.
April 3rd, 2007 at 6:45 pm
There weren’t any of these enterpreneurship stuff for us kids in the 80’s, what with worries of capital flight in RP, money becoming worthless in Latin America, and communism still being an alternative for RP hehehe
Our valued trait then was docility, whether to employer, Uncle Sam, Big Brother (1984!), Macoy, or whoever, all for the sake of lifetime employment and gov’t-sponsored pensions. Enterpreneurship then meant red tape, merciless taxes, and earnings festering with inflation.
But oh well times change, communism’s gone, “to get rich is glorious” ika nga, so time for us yuppies to shake off our old socialist habits, today financial independence and enterpreneurship is definitely in!
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:33 pm
from a news item rather…