Kitana started her own business last year when the first lockdown took place in South Africa. It’s nothing fancy but I am proud of how much money she managed to save in the short space of time.
Kitana is currently using the Sanlam Savings Jar app to keep track of her savings. It all started when she came to me one afternoon and mentioned that she really wanted a toy she had seen on TV.
As an entrepreneur myself, I knew this would be the perfect opportunity to teach my daughter about the world of entrepreneurship, savings, and give her a taste of how things work in the real world.
Why?
She’s 9. I want her to learn about saving, investing, and why it is important, from a young age.
Honestly, I wish I had educated myself more about finance, especially budgeting and emergency funds when I was younger.
We had a whole discussion about her wanting money and how she could earn it because mommy and daddy don’t have money lying around to buy toys unnecessarily, especially with everything going on right now.
Kitana and I went through everything from launching a business to marketing your business and attracting customers.
Kitana’s business idea:
“I want to offer massages for my family at home because I can see how stressed and busy everyone is.”
We discussed her rates, the duration of the treatments, and the different offerings available for her clients. My husband and I encouraged her and supported her wherever we could, but we knew we also needed to teach her valuable lessons. She quickly realised that customers don’t come easily, you must keep marketing and advertising to build your name in the industry.
The interesting part was that as she started saving, her goals on how to spend the money changed. Instead of using her hard-earned money to buy the toy she initially wanted, she decided to save it for something else. She started thinking about how she could potentially double that money or use it to gift someone she loves, like her cousin, something special.
I’m so proud of how far she’s come. As a parent, I want to continue educating my kids about money and its value.
Here are a few simple things I do:
- Talk about budgeting for things like holidays and birthdays.
- Show the kids price tags so they get an idea of how much an item costs.
- Tell them to count how many fingers something costs.
Other suggestions:
- Buy them a toy cashier and wooden fruits/vegetables etc. so they can pretend play at home.
- Teach them about the different ways you can pay. Example credit card, cash, etc.
Here are a few ways kids can earn their own money (become an entrepreneur) in today’s world and how they can save it:
- Help mom and dad around the house
- Selling digital goods
- Merchandise
- Starting a YouTube channel
- Create games
- Become an app tester
- Sell their old stuff online
- Make crafts or jewellery to sell online
- Create illustrations
- Self-publish a book on Amazon or via Bala Books.
Invest in a savings jar and open a tax-free investment account for your child to start earning interest.
Savings should be fun and that is exactly what Sanlam is doing with their new Savings Jar app.
Kids take on the exciting role of young dragon masters who embarks on a quest to save shiny silver coins in a virtual jar. As their treasure grows, their dragon grows too, catapulting them into a world of imagination where they can learn the value of setting goals and working towards them.
How it works
The app is designed for kids to use with their parents. That means you’ll be able to help your little one along on their epic saving quest and approve all app activity with a security passcode.
- Download the app
- Create a kids’ profile
- Choose a saving quest
- Save silver coins
- See your dragon grow
- Get savings tips along the way
The kids have been having a blast watching their dragon grow weekly as they add more to their savings jar. To be honest, I might’ve joined them by adding my own savings quest.
