I remember vividly when as a child, I never stopped thinking about how to make some sales out of one ‘micro-micro’ business or the other. At some point, I had grown a garden of maize and groundnut by the side of our house then in Jakande estate Lagos, Nigeria. My parents were not farmers but I was motivated by my ‘partner-in-farm’ who was about a couple of years older than myself. We were say 9 and 11 years at the time. Her parents had farms and I had been privileged to accompany her family to farm during the weekends, thanks to my parents who entrusted me to them.
That was an experience most children of these days don’t have. Back in the days, a child belonged to the entire community and was nurtured by the entire neighborhood but these days, times have changed, you simply cannot ensure the safety of your kids being with family members let alone neighbors. Well, that’s a topic for another day.
My farm partner and I did not record much success with our crops (I smile at the memory of our premature harvest of soft groundnut). Though our groundnut did not come out as expected owing to the water logged soil, we happily ate our nuts. Please don’t ask me about the maize. It turned out a LOL situation. However the results, we were pleased with our effort. This is just one of my many child-business adventure since I had thought prior to our sowing, that we would make some sales from the garden produce. I cackle at our innocence then even now.
We crave for growth in industrialization but we aren’t doing things right and from the start to stimulate the process of local production at all levels. I recommend that children be given access to exposure that will kindle the fire of industry and entrepreneurship in them. We must strive to balance our dependence on variable natural resources at our disposal. Nigerian economy nosedived after focus was diverted from agriculture, which was a major source of revenue, to crude oil. Going back to the start to right the wrong entails bringing along to this glorious past, the children who are the future of tomorrow.
You have a role to play as a parent too in making sure we backtrack and make amends. In what ways have you aided in satisfying the curiosity of your child’s business adventures? Some of us make the mistake of assuming our children are too small to understand or talk about business but you can tell a child’s future from a very early age if you pay close attention to their interests and hobbies.
Earlier than the groundnut experience, it was ‘condense’– a local ice cream that sparked my interest. All I had to do then was combine food coloring, sugar and water, pack in transparent plastics as seen in the feature image and then freeze. I remember I tied them at the rate of ten kobo per piece. I remember also my dad coming back from his station, trying to enjoy his cool evening with some Urhobo disco(It was and still is a thing for him) in the living room only to be disturbed by knocks on the door by my small small customers lol. They would tell him they wanted to buy condense and he was like, oh where is it, then they will direct him to his own refrigerator so he can sell to them. He would sell after confirming the price from them since I wasn’t home at the time. He’ll keep the money and hand it over to small me at my return.
The results of his encouragement today is not far-fetched. I can dodge bullets in a war zone just to sell my market lol. Good memories then and you should create good ones for your kids too. If you notice any with marketing or managerial traits, if you see the one who loves gardening, and even the one who tears and litter the house with papers, try to guide and channel their energy in the right direction, never discourage them. After all, not all of us are meant to be medical doctors, smiles.
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