How to make more 10-year-old entrepreneurs

Brayden Langlo, all of 10 years old, asked his mom if maybe I would teach him how to get started in business and earn his own money. The fifth grader had heard how I helped his cousin Andrew, my son, who at age 17 now cleans cars and boats inside and out and pulls down more income than his own high school teachers. Brayden’s mother is raising him and two siblings by herself — his father lives a five-hour drive away — while scraping by as a guidance clerk in our middle school in Honea Path, S.C.

Brayden belongs to the newest generation of entrepreneurs on the planet, the latest representative of an evolution that started with hunter-gatherers in New Guinea back in 17,000 B.C. and the later invention of money and runs straight through the Gilded Age billionaires of the early 20th century to the tech titans of today.

Early one hot Saturday morning, I picked Brayden up at his home to wash cars in my driveway. I taught him what I knew, strictly old school, about scrubbing away at windows, floor mats, door jambs, tires and rims, every square inch. Right away Brayden was all business, the sweat pouring off him. He never asked for anything to drink or how long I wanted him to work or even how much he would be paid. I had to stop him a few times to drink and take a break. Throughout, he barely talked, too shy to say a word.

Compare this work ethic to a teenage boy I recently heard about. He was vacationing with his family but fast getting bored. He mentioned his dilemma to a man in the neighborhood. As it happened, the man was renovating his house. He offered the boy $40 a day to pitch in. The boy worked all day the first day. The second day, he worked only half a day. The third day, he asked for his daily rate to be doubled. The man said no and never saw him again.

As we washed the cars together, Brayden opened up to me. I told him how a mentor once told me that nobody should ever tell me what my time is worth, and that if I wanted an opportunity, I should go out and create it myself. Five years later, I quit my job and went into business for myself, starting a financial services firm. In the 21 years since then, I’ve had the freedom to operate independently, spend more time with my wife and children and contribute to my community.

I see no better moment than now to congratulate young Braydon on his initiative.

Kids interested in following suit could join Junior Achievement, the nation’s largest organization devoted to preparing American youth to achieve economic independence and success through its programs, volunteers such as parents and retirees tutor — and inspire — kids to train for the workplace of the future. Every year, its network of more than 470,000 volunteers serves an estimated 10 million students in at least 100 countries.

As it happens, I recently came across some new research about what’s called the entrepreneurial mindset. A study by the Lehigh@NasdaqCenter recently showed that success as an entrepreneur depends on 11 essential attributes. Exploiting and recognizing opportunity. Tolerance of uncertainty and ambiguity. Belief in himself and proactivity. It dawned on me that Brayden demonstrated these and other characteristics in abundance.

He’ll be confronting plenty of competition in the bargain. All signs indicate entrepreneurship is surging. In 2021, Americans applied to start 5.4 million new businesses — more than 20% higher than any previous year on record. Last year a report from Intuit predicted that 17 million new businesses would be established in 2022, a record for the third year in a row.

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Finishing up that first day, we laid out the money I paid Brayden on a table. We also spread out four envelopes representing the financial formula I always followed and taught to my own kids since they were age 3.

The envelopes were labeled as follows: “10% for God,” “20% for savings and investments,” “10% for giving to others in need” and “60% for you!” Brayden would get to decide how to divvy up his earnings.

The following Saturday we once again spread out the four labeled envelopes. I noticed that his envelope for “giving to others in need” still had money accumulated in it. I asked Braydon if he knew yet whom he wanted to help.

“Yes, sir,” he said. “My mom.”

That answer convinced me more than ever, in fact, that this kid is going to make it.

Just shows that what kids need most are mentors to set an example, dole out encouragement and, above all, show how to get something done right.

Hanley is a financial adviser in South Carolina.