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.

Unsure where to start? Our advice is to keep it simple.

First, think about what you can make with your own hands that others might enjoy.
Next, picture how you might sell it.
Finally, imagine the feeling (and responsibility) of having a little extra spending money as a result.

For hands-on help and inspiration, plan to attend our Launch Workshop happening on Saturday, August 1st from 1:00-3:00 PM. This fun workshop will include business advice from local entrepreneurs, stories from prior participants, an opportunity for youth to share their pitch and prototype product, and details about day-of logistics! Register to attend using this google form.
This year we are also holding a Pitch Event (https://www.1millioncups.com/greenbay) on Wednesday, August 12, 2020 at the 1Million Cups monthly meeting held at the Urban Hub (http://t2accelerator.org/) on Broadway. Local entrepreneurs will view, comment, question, and provide feedback for our young entrepreneurs. This event will be a great opportunity to test the market before our fair.

Learn more about the3 Magic Seeds (https://www.childrensbusinessfair.org/3_magic_seeds.pdf) for starting a business and what the mindset of a kid entrepreneur looks like in the TED talk from 11-year-old Gabrielle Jordan Williams (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EblQj_pZFlQ).

For more inspiration, check out pictures and stories from our past fairs on our Facebook page.
For more helpful tools, check out the following resource, Steps to Building Your Business (https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f4f193ae678c90fd2946dbde6/files/e52663ba-ebb7-4afb-a098-a83548f944e0/Steps_to_Building_your_Business.docx.pdf).

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 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 cupcake 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.

The fair will be a tented outdoor event with booths. Each business will be given a booth with an 8-foot table (to share with one other business), full-cover tenting, and 1-2 chairs. Table cloths will not be provided. 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.