The Acton Children’s Business Fair inspires children to discover their inner entrepreneur. The largest entrepreneurship event for kids in North America, this one-day market gives children the opportunity to showcase their very own businesses.

Start with our resources page. Read inspiring stories about other young entrepreneurs and play games to hone your business skills.

Application must be submitted online. Please submit one application for each business. Children working as a group should submit one application that includes each child’s information. No more than 3 participants per business.
• The competition will be judged in the following FOUR age categories: Ages 6-8, 9-11, 12-14, and 15-18.
• If children of different age groups prepare a booth together, they will be judged in the age group of the oldest participant.
• There will be NO soliciting personal/individual business sponsors for your child's product.
• Please note that you may help your child fill out the booth application, but
depending on their age, they are expected to do as much as possible by themselves.
• We will begin to notify accepted applicants in March,
and will continue until we reach our cap of 36 businesses. Applications will close one week before the fair.
• Instead of an application fee at the time of submission, we will instead be collecting a $20 participation fee from all accepted business ideas.

The application asks kids to think through some simple, but important elements of their business:

What product or service do you plan to sell?
What price will you charge for each product/service? How much will each product/service cost you?
How will you pay for your startup costs? If someone is helping you with your startup costs, how will you pay that person back?
How will you advertise/market your business before the fair?
At the end of the fair, how will you determine if your business was a success?

Two similar businesses? Not a problem. In general, we will let market forces play out, though we will let later entries know if another applicant has a similar idea so the later entrant can decide what to do.
Are we allowed to sell food or drinks?
Not at this time. The Amp, where our fair will be located,
does not allow food or drinks to be sold at their venue.
Is there a booth participation fee?
Yes, it is $20 and is due once accepted. Invoices sent through paypal.

The fair will be an outdoor event at the AMP in Carrollton. Each business will be given a table and 1-2 chairs. Table cloths will not be provided. Children will be responsible for marketing and signage at their table. Please feel free to make your table stand out! We are not able to accommodate businesses requiring electricity.

This event is designed to give children the experience of selling a product or service. If a parent is found selling or promoting a child’s product or service, their child’s business will be disqualified from the competition.

Parents of younger children may sit in the booth, but the children should be responsible for set up, customer interaction, and sales.

Parents may help their child fill out the application, but we expect the children to do as much as possible by themselves.

Jeff and Laura Sandefer and a few other families wanted to spark a sense of wonder and entrepreneurship in their children so they created the first Acton Children’s Business Fair in Austin, Texas, in 2007. That year, there were seven entrepreneurs and around 25 attendees. Now, there are over 115 entrepreneurs and 1,500 attendees at the Acton Children's Business Fair in Austin.