ZachsWebDesigns.com<\/a>,\u00a0were struggling. That\u2019s because at this stage of his life, Zachary\u2019s business has more value as an educational resource than as a source of income. In fact, I\u2019m not ashamed to admit that he is learning more in his professional life than he is in school.<\/p>\nScandalous, right? Actually, no. At 13, Zachary has learned how to converse with clients, whether through email, by phone or in person. On any given day, he\u2019s thinking about monthly maintenance contracts and recurring revenue streams. If his site goes down, he calls the web host not his daddy.<\/p>\n
No, I\u2019m not saying he should forget about high school and head to Silicon Valley. But let\u2019s not pretend that the kinds of skills he\u2019s developing as a young businessperson are any less critical to having a fulfilling, prosperous life than what he\u2019s learning in the classroom. Why should he wait until after college to learn the ins and outs of the business world?<\/p>\n
He\u2019s already come to realize the enormous value of networking. He was lucky enough to attend a Maverick1000 networking\u00a0event this summer and connect with many of my mastermind friends. Being surrounded by a group of successful, generous businesspeople changed the way he viewed connections. The meeting taught him lessons that most young people don\u2019t learn until they’re well into their 20s or 30s — if ever.<\/p>\n
But the most important thing he\u2019s learned as an entrepreneur is how to identify his passions and pursue them without hesitation. And it\u2019s this skill that I would encourage most parents to cultivate in their kids.<\/p>\n
If your child has an idea for a business, let him or her give it a go. If the child succeeds, then great. If he or she fails, even better. Indeed, teaching a child to not\u00a0fear failure is one of the best ways for parents to prepare their kids for success in life.<\/p>\n
Before Zachary started building websites, he tried his hand at dog walking, lawn mowing, shoveling snow and an ecommerce site that never took off. With every unsuccessful venture, he learned from his mistakes. It was just a matter of time before one of his passions paid off.<\/p>\n
Without a doubt, his having a dad who’s an entrepreneur doesn\u2019t hurt. We talk business all the time. But whenever he asks for help, the first thing I say is “What do you think?” I\u2019ve learned that I need to let Zachary do it his way first, whether he succeeds or fails.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not discounting the value of formal education.\u00a0Zachary has an A average and loves to socialize with his school friends. But I wouldn\u2019t for a minute let him think that his academic work is any more important than his professional responsibilities. He rushes home from school many days to do his homework, so he can get to his real work, which as far as he\u2019s concerned isn\u2019t work at all.<\/p>\n
Many parents are appalled by this view. \u201cSchoolwork should always come first,\u201d they insist. \u201cWhat about college?\u201d As they see it, disagreeing with the accepted wisdom about education is tantamount to child abuse.<\/p>\n
But formal education isn\u2019t always the bargain that many people pretend it is. In the case of college, the sticker price is about $200,000 and rising. That doesn\u2019t include the opportunity cost of spending four years insulated from the pressures and demands of adult life. Plus, there\u2019s no guarantee that a job will await today\u2019s college students once they get a diploma.<\/p>\n
For many young people, college might provide\u00a0the path to a satisfying life. But for those like Zachary, who are already moving forward with their careers, it\u2019s not obvious that four years of dorm life, term papers and multiple-choice exams are in their best interest.<\/p>\n
In the same four years, an entrepreneurial young person could be earning money, gaining valuable life experience and building his or her network. When you consider the costs, it would be a disservice to today\u2019s youth to not consider if skipping college might be a better investment.<\/p>\n
If you’re\u00a0genuinely concerned about educating your kids,\u00a0nurture their entrepreneurial side. Help them find an idea that ignites their imagination and let them find a way to turn that idea into a business. Give them the tools and emotional support they need but don\u2019t hold their hand. And be ready to let them fail. It\u2019s the best preparation for success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
First, here’ a warning: I\u2019m about to brag about my child\u00a0but I promise it\u2019s for a good reason.\u00a0My 13-year-old son Zachary earned more this past weekend than most of today\u2019s recent college graduates can hope to make in a week. He\u2019s also his own boss.\u00a0 Zachary builds websites and not just for his friends. He\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/contaminasian.com\/dir1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/contaminasian.com\/dir1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/contaminasian.com\/dir1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/contaminasian.com\/dir1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/contaminasian.com\/dir1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1187"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/contaminasian.com\/dir1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1189,"href":"https:\/\/contaminasian.com\/dir1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1187\/revisions\/1189"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/contaminasian.com\/dir1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/contaminasian.com\/dir1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/contaminasian.com\/dir1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/contaminasian.com\/dir1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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