Creating a new breed of entrepreneurs–‘Kiddo-preneurs’

MANILA, Philippines—It all started with an idea—to teach my 6-year-old daughter Brielle about money on a level that the textbooks at school could not.

Not to discredit her lessons at school, which are great by the way; I simply needed something to enhance them. I quickly realized that what Brielle really needed was practical experience.

I wanted her to learn about money the same way I did as a kid: by starting a business. In my case, it was a lemonade stand. Now, this was easy for me because I grew up in the suburbs in the US, where kids often put up little businesses in their front yards.

Unfortunately, this is not the norm here.

So Brielle and I got to work… with the goal of carving out a unique learning opportunity not just for her but for all the kids out there who want to learn how to earn.

Thankfully, our first choice for a venue, the Rockwell Club, was as eager to get this project going as we were. They even offered to tie up with us for the event and to this we readily agreed.

We made a quick logo with our talented friend, Patrick Ilog, and instantly The Kiddo-preneur Bazaar was born–the first of its kind, a bazaar for kids by kids.

But learning how to earn isn’t all that’s in store for the participants. Within the bazaar, there will also be opportunities to learn how to save, invest and donate to charity.

To make this a more well-rounded event, Brielle and I also invited banks, the Philippine Stock Exchange and charitable organizations to set up educational booths at the event.

So the Kiddo-preneur participants will have the option to learn about opening a bank account, investing in the Philippine Stock Exchange and donating for a charitable cause.

Apart from that, there will also be prizes and trophies for categories like Best Booth, Highest Sales and Best Service.

With this, Brielle and I would like to take this opportunity to invite all of you to join or visit The Kiddo-preneur Bazaar 2011–an exercise in entrepreneurship for young minds.

This bazaar (open to all kids ages 4-16) will take place on Sunday, December 4th, 12 p.m.-6 p.m., at the Palm Grove function hall of the Rockwell Club.

For more details or for an application form, call or text 0917-580-0216/ 889-9100 or email [email protected]

Since the idea is to learn how to earn, even simple items like macaroni necklaces, homemade sweets, art projects, etc., can be sold.

I’d also like to remind all those who attend the bazaar to buy from each concessionaire and to please count your change before you go. It may not be exactly correct, but hey, our concessionaires are doing this for the very first time, so please be very patient with them.

“May we, the participants, all go public one day,” says Brielle.