Children’s Entrepreneur Market debuts in Covington
Children, like adults, strive to be entrepreneurs. In 2017, Connor Boyack founded Children’s Entrepreneur Market in Utah after the state passed a bill in which children are allowed to operate a lemonade stand or any type of business without a permit. Since then, the market has expanded into 24 states, including Ohio and Kentucky.
On May 19, Covington and Northern Kentucky will host its first market, at Goebel Park in Mainstrasse, as part of Maifest. Children aged five to 17 are eligible to participate, and 50 booths will be available.
“We really are about a free market, so we don’t regulate what the kids sell,” McKenzie Campbell, Kentucky and Cincinnati’s market manager, said. “We might have a lot of bracelets or maybe baked goods. Some kids will do face painting or other services like that.” Of course lemonade will be sold.
This year, Campbell’s managing eight markets in the region, including Sawyer Point in Cincinnati on June 29, Glencoe on August 3, Dry Ridge on September 14, and Cynthiana on September 21. Next year the markets will increase to 16. Blue North, the KY Innovation Hub for Northern Kentucky, was the catalyst for Children’s Entrepreneur Market launching in the region. The organization, which is supported by Kentucky’s Cabinet for Economic Development for supporting entrepreneurship, provided the seed funding that supported CEM to launch in the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area.
The intent of the markets is to give kids real-life experiences in running a profitable business. Rules include having the parents be hands off, and the young entrepreneurs not eating their inventory.
“We really try to make it into an actual teaching thing for them,” she said. “We’re hoping to inspire the entrepreneurial spirit in these kids, so we try to give them that foundation of what is the business plan and things they need to consider. If you’re going to do cookies, you can’t eat them if you want to sell them and make a profit.”
Besides making money, the market helps kids use their critical thinking skills and gain confidence.
“It builds their character and their creativity,” she said. “You’ll see kids at the start of a market where they’re kind of shy and timid and don’t know how to approach the people who are walking through. But by the end of the market, they’re talking. It’s amazing how after three to four hours that confidence grows.”
The markets tend to occur during another event in order to draw more foot traffic. Campbell said the markets and the events attract anywhere from 500 to 1,000 people.
“It’s a lot different than just setting up at the end of your driveway and having the flag down people,” she said.
Though for a day the kids temporarily become entrepreneurs, many of them might want to follow that path to adulthood and could consider other youth entrepreneurship programs in NKY. From June 16-July 6, Thomas More will partner with Governor’s School for Entrepreneurs for Summer Startup, open to aspiring high school entrepreneurs. Square1, in Villa Hills, seeks middle school and high school pitches, and NKU JumpStart entails high school students spending time at NKU’s campus pitching ideas and learning business basics.
“The short-term goals would be to see the creativity and confidence that come out of these kids,” she said. “They get so excited and are like, I’m doing something real. It’s not grandparents coming and buying something. Getting those authentic transactions sparks something in them that is like, okay, I’m not just a kid. It does something for them. Potentially long-term, is this something that is achievable, or do I need to change what I want to do? But from a young age it gets them excited for their future.”
Northern Kentucky’s already a hub for adult entrepreneurs, but it’s also a great place for children to start businesses.
“What I love about Northern Kentucky is you can drive 15 minutes and you’re in a completely different city,” Campbell said. “In having that condensed space, we have so many kids who we can reach out to. Being able to reach as many kids as we can and give them an idea of what entrepreneurship is and the things behind it, is really cool.”
Children’s Entrepreneur Market takes place May 19 from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Register here: https://childrensentrepreneurmarket.com/event/covington-may-19-11am-4pm/
