Children learn how to run a business

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BUDDING gardener Robert Palmer, 9, has green fingers. He grows plants in a section of his parents’ Fish Hoek nursery then sells his blooms at a children’s market to earn pocket money.

Anna Wilson,11, sells bric brac from seashells to hand-decorated Easter eggs.

Robert and Anna have a stall at the Pocket Money Market at the Cape Point Vineyards on Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoons. The market, which has been running for a year, is the brainchild of Anna’s mom, economist Linda Wilson.

They live in Noordhoek, but she works out of a cottage in Fish Hoek. She helps children come up with a small business idea – something they can make and sell at the market – teaching them to be economi- cally savvy and independent.

Anna said: “I enjoy being part of the market because it helps kids who don’t have money make money and our own pocket money. I’m saving my money I make at the market so I can buy a car when I’m 18.”

Robert agreed the market is a fun way to make money. “I love plants and I live at a nursery so they are around me. I hope to save enough money so one day I can buy my own nursery. The market teaches us about making and saving money. We also learn about marketing and budgets.”

Wilson’s idea for the project came about when her daughter Anna kept asking for an advance on her allowance.

Instead of giving in, Wilson agreed to help Anna to earn extra cash. Anna had to come up with a plan to make something to sell or provide a service that had value. She is pretty crafty and quickly had a number of items lined up.

The idea snowballed and the mother-and-daughter team ended up holding their first Pocket Money Market for young entrepreneurs in their garden. “It was an amazing success. There are children as young as 3 to teens as old as 16 who sell their goods.”

Wilson’s sister, Nikki Mountfield, also pitches in and helps with the project’s outreach work in Masiphumelele and Red Hill. “She drives children to and from the market on market days”.

There are 40 children registered for the Pocket Money Market.

She said the aim of the market was “to learn, earn and have fun while nurturing a spirit of entrepreneurship”. Wilson believes that not all children will end up with a formal job so it is vital for them to learn at a young age the benefits of entrepreneurial skills. “This project teaches children about running a business, paying rent and overheads.”

When the market started it was held in halls and open spaces in Noordhoek, Pinelands and Tableview. Wilson is pleased with their new venue at the Cape Point Vineyards.

The children pay a registration fee of R50. Wilson encourages parents to get involved. However, the idea was for children to learn by producing or procuring and selling their own goods and not for parents to take over and do it, said Wilson.

After each market the children go home with accounting forms to fill out and email to Wilson as part of their education.

She said there were a number of activities which each child had to do before being awarded a certificate each month. “They have to work out the cost of their goods, their overheads and losses of each market day. At the end of the month we then have a prizegiving ceremony, I give them a short seminar on economics and then they get their certificates.

“The main idea is for kids to do everything from keeping a balance sheet of costs, profits and losses – and where they learn how to save,” she said.