According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 1 in 5 adults are in the process or have founded their own business within the past four years. 

Logan County 4-H designed an entrepreneurship project to give youth a hands-on opportunity to learn about starting their own business. We partnered with Logan County FFA members that have an Entrepreneurship SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience) and our local Farm Credit Mid-America Financial Officer to host an Entrepreneurship Day Camp. The youth were educated on starting their own business and developing their own business plan. The FFA members talked about their entrepreneurship experience and what they have learned along the way. The 4-Hers were able to brainstorm what business they would like to start, develop a business plan, a budget, how they would market their business, and how they would display their items. Once they had a plan, each 4-Her was given $100 to invest in his or her business. They were able to stand alone and have an individual business or they were able to pool their money together and have a partnership. 

After the day camp, 4-Hers had two months to develop their products and businesses. They were given the opportunity to set up and sell their items at the Logan County Fair Kick-Off Day. They were able to create their own displays and market their items. After that day, they were able to evaluate their business plan and change what they wanted to. They were given another opportunity to set up and sell at our Logan County Family Fun at the Farmers’ Market a month later. Some changed their business plan and some saw that they had a good plan and kept with it for the second day to sell. 

One 4-Her said, “I learned to be a better salesman and communicate with people and buyers better.” Another said, “I learned about how you must invest in a business with buying supplies and then you must base your prices on that investment.”

We plan to continue this program this year. When asked what they would do differently, one 4-Her said, “I would sell a product that I can sell year after year and year-round and I would have more of it to sell.”

Through this program, each 4-Her can benefit greatly from this experiential education learning model. They can learn invaluable life skills from money management to customer service that they will use the rest of their lives.