Want to make an important private equity investment? Then
hand over a few coins to that neighborhood kid who is peddling lemonade down the
street. That small gesture could ignite the spirit of free enterprise in one of
tomorrow’s leading entrepreneurs.
As a small-business owner, you can fully appreciate the
enthusiasm these youth have for creating an enterprise that rewards their labor.
And the coins they accept with pride could assure their first steps on the path
to the American Dream.
Our nation desperately needs new entrepreneurs and they need
your support and guidance. One way to lend a hand is to take the NFIB
Young Entrepreneur Foundation’s “Lemonade Pledge”
and commit to purchase a glass of lemonade from a budding entrepreneur
this spring or summer. With this simple task, you can foster the traditional
idea that many successful entrepreneurs first discovered their calling at a
young age through a simple yet empowering enterprise such as a lemonade stand.
Today is both an exciting and yet somewhat uncertain time in
the lives of a new generation of Americans. Generation Z, for example—those
born in the late 1990s—has never lived in a world without the Internet. They’re
often dismissed as a bunch of thumb-tappers whose main focus in life is to
respond to the next smart-phone text.
But this generation, writes workplace expert Dan Schawbel in
a recent Entrepreneur
magazine article, “is poised to become the most entrepreneurial generation
we’ve ever seen.” Research conducted by his company, Millennial Branding and
Internships.com, found that nearly three-quarters of high school students and
about two-thirds of college students have desires to launch their own business.
Judging from the 2014 winners of the NFIB Young Entrepreneur
Awards—all high school seniors who received between $1,000 and $15,000
educational scholarships for their entrepreneurial accomplishments—the
entrepreneurial bug has already bitten Gen Zers. The top five recipients have
launched small businesses in industries ranging from publishing and farming to
equipment rental, jewelry design and photography.
Designed to raise awareness among youth about the critical
role private enterprise and entrepreneurship plays in growing the nation’s
economy, Young Entrepreneur Foundation has awarded more than 2,500 scholarships
exceeding a total of $2.5 million to graduating high school seniors who use the
funds to attend universities, colleges, community colleges or career institutes
of their choice.
Similarly, the NFIB
Young Entrepreneur Foundation’s “Lemonade Pledge” is a great
way to shape an America that reflects the entrepreneurial values of small
business. When you pledge to buy that glass of lemonade from a
youth in your community, you’re not just quenching your thirst but also
whetting the appetite of future generations of small-business owners and
contributing greatly to the expansion of America’s economy.
