Was Charlie Brown a good entrepreneur? We all have memories of trying our hands at being mini-entrepreneurs, I once made ten pounds painting rocks from my garden and selling them to my parents friends at a party when I was five.
Opening a lemonade stand, selling apples are all the beginnings of entrepreneurial traits. Cameron Herlod, speaking on TED, was groomed as child to be an entrepreneur.His Dad would not allow him to have a job, so he launched a career of mini-entrepreneurial ventures.
- He delivered flower pots to old women playing bridge.
- He got golf balls for golf courses by dredging the pond instead of searching the bushes.
- He sold sunglasses to kids in high school,until his principal shut him down and he moved his business to the local petrol station.
- At 7 years old, he called all the dry cleaners in Winnipeg offering to sell coat hangers, after collecting them around the neighbourhood for weeks.
- At 10, he made pin cushions because Mother's Day was coming up. He realised that by painting them he changed his sales pitch from "Do you want to buy one?" to "Which colour does your mother prefer?"
He suggests that teaching children to be entrepreneurs instead of teaching them to wait for a job to come along can help avoid unemployment.Allowances are breeding kids to expect a regular paycheck, whereas entrepreneurs are constantly searching for new ways.
Every day we are smothered with sob stories, and tales of woe from those who can't pay their mortgages back, because they lost their jobs and regular pay packets.
If you've had an enterprising streak from childhood, why not consider being your own boss with a franchise? Take a look at FranchiseDirect.co.uk's listings.