By the time they graduate, my kids are already entrepreneurs. My husband and I both come from families of entrepreneurs. It’s not a set of steps we follow throughout life but rather, just the way we think.

The spirit of entrepreneurism

Our kids live in an atmosphere of risk-taking, independence, and self-motivation. It’s not that they have seen us take chances, but it’s that they have been a part of the process themselves. We share our dreams and hopes with them, and they have celebrated our successes right along with us when they came.

They celebrated because they understood the magnitude of that success and how much was accomplished. By including our kids in our plans, they understand entrepreneurism from the roots up.

Experiencing the epic fails together

They get that we are scared to take chances, but we do it anyway. They get that some of those chances are epic fails. Oh, yeah! We share those, too. They’ve eaten a diet of beans and potatoes for a week because a risk failed, and they knew why they were eating them, too.

They saw us trust each other and ourselves and, after weighing all the odds, they saw us step out in faith and achieve. They’ve helped brainstorm and have actually come up with many helpful ideas themselves.

Living it and not just watching it

They know what empowerment feels like and are comfortable with it. Oh, they could work as employees, but eventually, the entrepreneur spirit would likely overtake them as they see the bigger picture of their lives.

Our kids have received an allowance for chores and been guided to make wise purchases with it. They have also been allowed to spend it foolishly and feel the disappointment later. Terms like “passive income” and “target audience” are a part of their vocabulary as preschoolers.

We know that if we decided to retire early, our kids would still be set for success. As we support their pursuits, they will be confident and capable of providing for themselves, and hopefully a bit for us.

We taught them the tricks of the trade because they possess the most powerful tool needed to make their way in the business world. They have the spirit of an entrepreneur in them.