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.

We will accept approximately 20 businesses.
Is there a fee to participate?
Yes, there is a $10 application fee that must be paid for by the applicant (either by using their savings or by earning the money by doing extra chores around the house. You will receive an email with a Paypal link once your business is approved.

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 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 have a 10X10 space. Your will need to provide your own table, canopy, chair, tablecloth, etc. We are not be accepting food-related businesses. 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.
Food booths are not allowed; this extends to both homemade and store bought items (even if they are pre-packaged).
Are parents allowed to help their children make their products?
Since the purpose of the fair is for children to learn (and sometimes learning comes in failure) parents should provide as little assistance as possible. Some parents in the past felt justified in crafting their child's items to sell stating that the child was paying them as an employee (sorry this is not allowed).

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.
How much time will we have to set-up our business?
Check-in will begin at 9:00 and you will have one hour to set up your business before the event begins at 10:00