So as per my last blog, after a very drunk dinner party at a good friend of mine who is also in business we agreed to take his kid, Tom an 11 year old and also my god daughter, Casey 12 years old on a business venture. We did not know how we would do this or when, as we made this bold statement 6 months ago now.

Anyway, after much moaning from the kids and the mothers we have decided to get this plan into action. My first thoughts were to let the kids choose a business idea and we actually launch it, with a little investment from me and my friend. But my good friend was quick to point out that a business needs planning and research so we thought we would start with a social non-profit venture for a lesson in planning.

I walk around some beautiful lakes every morning before most people are up, in the summer we usually take the kids and the dogs as well, so i thought i would be a great idea for the kids to organise a litter picking day and invite as many walkers as possible.

The kids were great and took a lot of responsibility by putting up posters in the weeks before the litter pick day. The kids also wrote to the local paper, MP and Mayor who also donated two council bodies and a van for the day, British Waterways who maintain the lakes also turned up with a boat to get any floating litter.

All communication was done by the kids (we obviously helped them with wording). The litter pick day happened 3 weeks ago and was a real success. The kids have now been invited to a local heroes awards ceremony to collect a certificate from the Mayor which they are really excited about.

The lesson here is that they planned it from an idea, they marketed their idea through posters, leaflets, the local press and by writing to key people. If this was a product, i think they would be in profit.

We are now planning the next step of the challenge to launch an actual business, probably in time for Christmas - we are thinking of a web based business.

Any ideas?

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