Ka-Ching! Business Parenting Course

What you will gain, What the course emphasises, Course Outline and Tips

WHAT WILL YOU GAIN FROM OUR COURSE?

In our Ka-Ching! Business Parenting course we are going to:

  1. Introduce you to the concept and practice of teaching entrepreneurship and business awareness to your child.
  2. Give you a number of ideas about how you can use pocket money to teach financial management skills.
  3. Provide you with the outlines of a variety of business projects- suitable for different age groups – to build business skills.
  4. Develop the long-term bonding of the family unit through communication and interaction between parents and children as they work together on business projects.
  5. Make you aware of the success skills that will be of great benefit both at school and in the world of business and show you how to develop them.
  6. Provide you with a vast and detailed list of excellent additional resources than you can refer to as required.
  7. Help you entrench important family values, such as respect, honesty, integrity, commitment.

TIP

It is important (and we will emphasise this repeatedly) that you fully appreciate that the value of the course is directly related to the quality of the time you spend interacting with your child. Your influence in this respect is what makes the difference. Ka-Ching! Business Parenting will constantly stimulate you with numerous ideas and suggestions on effectively interacting with your children.

Like What You Hear So Far?

TIP

Your child will reap rewards through:

  1. Your interaction
  2. Your communication
  3. Your life experiences
  4. Your involvement

Ka-Ching! Business Parenting emphasises:

  1. Schools can’t do it all
  2. You, as parents, are better qualified than you realise
  3. You are capable of filling in the gaps
  4. Your influence is crucial
  5. Start early
  6. You will effectively develop, in your home, a classroom where
    there is ONE teacher for every child! Imagine what can be achieved!

Children need to be allowed to make mistakes. They need to discover that this is sometimes the way one learns. They need to be given opportunities to grow in confidence and to contribute their own ideas.

They need to be given the opportunity to solve their daily problems and not have them [immediately] resolved for them. They need to learn to consider other points of view, to learn that ‘different’ does not mean ‘inferior’; and to learn to listen but also to be proactive.

Teachers, social workers and psychologists often relate emotional and behavioural problems to poor communication between children and their parents. The Ka-Ching! Business Parenting course promotes communication and interaction on a level that emphasises the building of a strong relationship between parents and their children.

Don’t be afraid to discuss topical issues, such as the pros and cons of plastic bags at supermarkets, the importance of “green belts”, the disadvantages of overcrowding, the problems of transportation in a big city. You should also start talking about costs, savings, and investments and about the fine balance between quality and price.

Children between the ages of 6 and 14 are at their most influential stage. This is the time to instil sound values, community awareness, a love of music, of drama of business- and of life itself! This is the time to make them more aware of what life is about but they should still be protected from the extreme harshness that reality can bring.

You should teach them to try and solve their daily problems themselves. Consult, communicate, introduce but beware of dictating and dominating.

The Golden Rules

When your children come to you with a problem, ask for their opinion, ask how they feel about the problem, ask what they think should be done- before advising them of your opinion.

Part One – Projects and Finance

  1. Pocket Money and Savings
    This is a good place to start. Work out from your child’s normal spending how much money they need and then hand over to them, but help them to record all spending. Take note of some of the suggested categories like “giving” and “charities” and “IGAF – the Income Generating Asset Fund”!
  2. Business Models
    There are five levels, each becoming a little more difficult. Start with the Bronze before moving on to the Copper, Silver, Gold and Platinum levels. Each level is divided into a number of logical, consecutive steps to help you work through each stage or level with your children. Each consecutive level requires the young entrepreneur to work for a longer period of time and to keep recording all details on the provided forms.
  3. Business Ventures
    Examples are given of seven possible businesses (three-manufacturing; two-service and two-retail). They make interesting reading and con stimulate other ideas and odd to the many possible businesses listed in the Business Models and Pocket Money sections.
  4. Investments
    This section explains how the Johannesburg Stock Exchange works and describes three stock market games you con play with your children to show them how to make (and lose) money on the stock exchange. This is a great way for all the family to get involved and to compete with each other using the stock market reports in the daily newspaper.
  5. Wealth Creation
    Seven principles about creating wealth are described in this section. The principles are as relevant to you as to your children – read them so that you can pass on what you learn.

Part Two – Success Skills

Eight valuable success skills are described. They can be learnt independently of the Ka-Ching! Business Parenting course but some of them are incorporated into the Business Models section. A brief explanation is given of each and references provided for additional reading and extended work.

The skills are:

  1. Brainstorming
  2. Mind mapping
  3. Thinking Skills
  4. Self Assessment
  5. Problem Solving
  6. Meetings Procedure
  7. Public Speaking
  8. Memory Training

Part Three – Resources

List of relevant websites, software games, books and board games are provided. The Ka-Ching! website will regularly update these lists and also provide reports on selected resources.

Workbook

This is a separate book, which contains all the forms needed to complete the Pocket Money and Business Models exercises. Less detailed information is also given of what to do. To see how a form should be filled in, one can go to the relevant section of the manual to find a fully completed example. Each step in the exercises requires one to fill in a particular form before proceeding to the next step (and form). Each step is listed in the manual AND in the Workbook.

Well done on getting this far- we are almost finished the introduction but wish to end with some tips and advice resulting from the experiences and comments of the families who tested the course for us. In this way we will help you avoid some of the problems they experienced- so keep reading!

TIPS and ADVICE

  1. The manual provides the theory of the course and explains, with examples how to proceed with any particular stage.
  2. You could initially cut out some of the reading and start by going straight to the Workbook! If you get stuck or get confused then go back to the manual for more detailed explanations and examples.
  3. The Workbook relates to THREE sections:
    1. Pocket Money and Finance
    2. Business Models
    3. Success Skills
  4. The manual contains the above three sections as well as
    • Business Ventures
    • Investments
    • Wealth Creation
    • Important Resources
  5.  The Ka-Ching! Business Parenting Course is written for the parent and the child but is not to be given to the child to get on with alone! YOUR involvement is crucial to the success of the course – you should do the reading and THEN help your child complete the exercises.
  6. Don’t bore your child by reading each section of the manual to him/her! Do the reading alone so that when you meet with your child you can merely explain what it is that they have to do.
  7. Throughout the manual the main concepts are REPEATEDLY emphasised to remind you of your role in this course. It is your interest and enthusiasm that is going to get your child involved and going to keep them involved!
  8. Don’t be afraid to use your common sense to adapt or change the course to suit your need and the need of your children. Abilities differ considerably even at the some age- a child of 6 years is unlikely to be able to work out a pocket money budget or to effectively control their spending. Your help is needed to draw a budget for him/her and to help record the spending. It might be necessary to put a week’s pocket money in on envelope so that he/she can visually see when nothing is left. One parent reported that her child spent everything in the first week! That’s great- it will probably be the last time they do that once they realise there is no more money for the next three weeks!
  9. The course might seem focused on making as much money as possible but this is NOT the aim. The aim is to learn how to make enough money to cater for ones future basic needs of food, housing, and medical and lifestyle requirements. It is therefore important to emphasise future planning, careful recording and sensible investment.
  10. Don’t make your sessions with your child too long. Children have very short spans of attention. Stop before they lose interest. Take one step at a time and plan many short sessions rather than fewer longer ones.
  11. The manual has been directed at the parent and the workbook at the child BUT only the older or more advanced children will manage the workbook on their own. Go through each step WITH them to keep them focused and motivated. Older, more able children might very well be able to manage the manual and the workbook – BUT still need your involvement to keep them going.
  12. Where to start? We suggest implementing a simple pocket money system first. It will and should be reviewed regularly with your child and altered if necessary. You can then start on the Bronze level business sections as soon as you would like – this can be used effectively with your youngest children but in their case you would need to do the recording for them. The success skills can be tackled whenever you feel the urge although some of them will be incorporated into the business models and pocket money sections.

Remember, Ka-Ching! Business Parenting stresses that parent involvement is essential to maintain interest, enthusiasm and momentum. If you’re excited – they will be! Don’t forget too, to highlight and praise all that is well done and play down the mistakes that will be made from time to time.

Want to Get Your Children Started on the Road to Success?