Are you a Young Entrepreneur?
I envision the group being limited initially, perhaps starting with 6 children. There will be a strict screening process to ensure their understanding of the process and their parent's commitment to help them succeed in business.
We would discuss business ideas, successful business techniques, and responsible ownership. The children would then start their own businesses and support each other. I envision business leaders from around the world helping the children to learn about business, in numerous ways.
As this first group of 6 young business owners develop their ventures, we would bring in another group of 6. The initial group would then help the new group while continuing to build their businesses.
Eventually, the first group would 'graduate' when they have built a self-sustaining, profitable business from which the children can draw their livelihood. I envision this taking 2-5 years. Then they would be expected to duplicate the entire process by starting another group and brining in 6 children.
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I used to volunteer with the organization, many years ago.
http://www.ja.org/
When you volunteered, did you get a sense of their depth of commitment? What was your experience like, as a volunteer? What were some of the things you thought were great and some you thought coule be improved?
You are probably right that it doesn't go as far as you want to go. The program I worked with was designed as an after school activity. The general approach was to appoint a CEO / board of directors, sell stock to get some capital; use capital to create / sell a starter product; use funds from starter project to do a bigger product; market / sell the bigger product; and then cash out / paying off the stockholders.
It touched base on many aspects of running a business, but the intent was not to create a long-term sustainable model.
As with many non-profit volunteer organizations, I think the depth of commitment really depends on the volunteers. As a student, I had loved it. As a volunteer we had trouble keeping consistent attendance. it's hard to run a company when the employees change each week.
I thought it was a great that the students did all the work from voting on board members, to picking / creating / selling products, to handling finances, etc.. The volunteers are really just there to offer advice, and steer them in the right direction.
JA was very geared towards 'product-based' businesses and many of the products were akin to arts and crafts projects. If there were improvements to be made, I'd try to add a 'service-business based' model into the mix.
Might you be interesting in (or know anyone interested in) helping with this new group?
Kevin
As far as helping with the new group; i'll think on it and let you know off-blog
What do you want to get out of running your own business? Why is it important to you? What will motivate you to persiste, when it gets a bit tough?
Ken.