How To Raise Entrepreneurial Teens

We are entering a world in which the foundations of businesses are no longer built from bricks, mortar and hard work. But rather out of the box thinking combined with a heavy online influence. Teenagers are raised by the internet just as much as the schooling system. An entrepreneurial spirit in today’s youth is vital as the freelance economy grows. 

As a parent, you have the necessary influence to foster essential entrepreneurial skills your teen needs such as effective problem solving, comfort with risk, perseverance despite fear and a positive attitude towards failure. Here are three parenting tips on how to help you stimulate entrepreneurial qualities in your teens.

Model Effective Problem Solving/ Responses to Failure

As a parent, you have a huge impact on your teen on how to try, fail, learn and try again. Fostering a positive attitude and effective problem solving skills in your teen will make a huge difference to their ability to spark business ideas, as well as their general attitude towards life in the future. When problems come up in your child’s life, brainstorm solutions together. This could be as simple as coming up with the pros and cons of the situation and identifying the best option. When your teen encounters criticism, frame it as a learning opportunity. Ask questions on what they learnt from that experience. The more parents break down and simplify this process, the easier it is for your teen to do this independently in the future.

Let Teens Make Decisions

An entrepreneur’s ability to make confident decisions is stemmed from early independence. Break down the process of decision making with your teen. Ask questions to help them fully understand the situation, and hear their thoughts on what they think they should do. Giving your teen the freedom to determine their own outcome, for the success or failures, this will stem an important learning experience for your teen later in life. An entrepreneur needs the ability to make decisions for themselves. 

Foster a sense of Mastery

Encourage a sense of mastery in your teen. Whether it’s gaining more knowledge in something or learning a new skill, a sense of curiosity is vital for any young entrepreneur.  Push your teen to step out of their comfort zone into uncharted areas in their life, to develop their growth. This could be as simple as supporting them learning a new sport or helping them with their studies. The ability to be comfortable with uncertainty doesn’t happen overnight, in fact, this is one of the hardest personal challenges people face. By fostering a sense of mastery and setting them up to succeed empowers them to feel confident taking risks.

For more information on how you can help your teenager develop these skills with The Empower U Program, click HERE or call 1300 039 662 today!