Developing the entrepreneurial talents and dreams of younger people may seem a little silly since full-grown adults are more likely to fail than succeed, but there are some that think entrepreneurial teaching and success may come at a young age. There are organizations out there that are set up to help students get the right skills and funding they need to become future entrepreneurs. There are quite a few initiatives out there that will help younger people and students to develop entrepreneurial potential; it is just a case of finding and qualifying for them.
1. Your local chamber of commerce
Most countries have their own version of the Chamber of Commerce. In Britain, they do not discriminate by age, which means any person of any age may attend the same functions, lessons and courses. In the US, there are schemes and projects that help small businesses and younger people. For example, in the US there is the Small Business Nation, and the Chamber of Commerce Foundation that may help younger people. College students may take advantage of more than high school children may.
2. Child and youth finance international
This company helps to enhance the financial capabilities of children and it has currently helped, in some way, over 18 million children in over 100 countries. They use their global partners and influence to help teach younger people about business in order to prepare them for the business world when they become older.
One of their initiatives in the USA involves a University in Florida. The University of Florida offers nurture to potential among their youth. They work on children both in college and beforehand, with an emphasis on building talent before a child goes to college. They feel that research regarding youth development in business is severely lacking, and they feel that offering help prior to going into college may help a child excel in the long run.
3. The office of disability employment policy
They offer help when it comes to younger people and entrepreneurship if they are disabled. It offers education, opportunities to exercise leadership and to develop interpersonal skills. It helps them develop financial literacy skills, planning skills and money management skills. There are others that help younger people with disabilities too, such as the Abilities Fund, the Coleman Foundation, the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education, the DECA, Inc. and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
4. http://www.mindyourownbiz.org
This is a company that works in association with the US Small Business Administration and Junior Achievement. They help younger people make their entrepreneurial dreams a reality. They have a website that walks younger people through the five steps they need in order to build their own business.
5. NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation
From lemonade stand to 100 grand, this is a wing of the NFIB that they call the YEF, and it helps young people become entrepreneurs. It also has competitions and rankings so you may see the most successful cases of the previous years. They work to help students on a group level and are even lobbying to have more entrepreneurial skills taught in schools in America. They have many initiatives, such as continuing to push the “Take your kid to work” days in the US, and just to stay “in with the times” they have started a YEF blog.
6. Junior Achievement
They claim to have affected over 4.4 million students and are helping those as young as kindergarten to 12th grade students. Their work is voluntary; they receive donations from larger companies to help initiatives and younger entrepreneurs. They help to equip younger people with the skills they need to win in the business world.
7. The United States Department Of Labor
It has federally-funded programs that are there to teach and train people of all ages, and some of them include training younger people to survive in the business world by giving them access to education around the skills they need.
8. The SBA (US Small Business Administration)
This is the US Small Business Administration, and they do discriminate when it comes to giving out loans to people for small businesses, but there are some success stories with students. They do examine credit factors, but they are not as rigid as your local bank will be.
9. Minority Business Development Agency
This is a wing of the US department of commerce and they offer help to smaller businesses that are within the realm they deem to be minority businesses. They also help minority groups within North America, be they young or old, and they have dedicated saving accounts for minority groups too.
10. Entre-ed
This is a small group that seems to help students learn how to become entrepreneurs. They offer what they call a “toolkit” that provides a framework a student may use to develop his or her entrepreneurial skills. They help you embark on what they call a lifelong learning experience.
About the author:
Cindy Bates works at http://www.bestessaytips.com as the freelance editor. She’s also the member of one of the world youth organization so she knows how they work and what kind of impact they do.