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All Registrants have been notified of acceptance for this year's fair. Please reach out to LoudounCBF@gmail.com if you have not received further information from us.
Loudoun Children's Business Fair
Sunday, September 18, 2022
3:00PM - 6:00PM
This fair has ended
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About the fair
What better way to build confidence and self-esteem in children than to nurture their entrepreneurial spirit and help them create a business.
By taking part in the Children's Business Fair, kids will develop a brand, create a product or service, build a marketing strategy, and then open for customers at our one-day marketplace.
Whether an entrepreneur is famous like Elon Musk or Oprah Winfrey or they are one of the thousands of unsung business owners across this country, these are the people who make sacrifices to innovate, create jobs and serve their communities.
Whether an entrepreneur is famous like Elon Musk or Oprah Winfrey or they are one of the thousands of unsung business owners across this country, these are the people who make sacrifices to innovate, create jobs and serve their communities.
Registration:
Register by June 4th, 2022, to book space and showcase children run businesses at this 1st annual event in Loudoun County.
Set Up:
The fair will be an outdoor event, hosted under the Pavilions at the Moorefield Station Park in Ashburn, VA. Each business will be assigned table space under the pavilions. Businesses are welcome to bring their own tables, chairs, and decorations to setup their own area. Tents are not allowed.
Eligibility:
- All kids, ages 6-16, can setup a booth at the business fair.
- No more than 3 participants for a business.
Check out the FAQs for more details.
Hosted by
Shirali Patel
🗓️ Started hosting in 2022
✅ Identity verified
⭐️ 5.0 (2)
We are a team of passionate entrepreneurs, teachers, mentors, and parents, who want our children to learn about entrepreneurship in a practical and fun way.
56 booths participating
NishNish Creations
Art with K
And 54 others.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Acton Children’s Business Fair?
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.
Where should I begin?
Where should I begin?
Start with our resources page. Read inspiring stories about other young entrepreneurs and play games to hone your business skills.
Who is eligible to participate?
All kids, ages 6-16, can setup a booth at the business fair.
How can children run and own businesses? Is it legal?
In Virginia, under Code of Virginia § 40.1-79.01, children of any age, are allowed to “work for a business owned entirely by their parents" as long as it is not in mining, manufacturing, or other hazardous occupations. Their "children-run business" can be considered under their parent's sole-proprietorship or a branch of their parent's business.
How do I apply? Can I apply as part of a group?
Application must be submitted online by Jun 4th, 2022. 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.
What is on the application?
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?
What are the application guidelines?
- 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.
- Applicants must be between the ages of 6 and 16 on the date of the business fair.
- Parents may help their child fill out the application, but we expect the children to do as much as possible by themselves.
- You will receive an email confirming that we received your application. If you don’t receive an email confirmation it means that we either didn’t receive your application or that your email address was incorrect.
- We will collect a $20 responsibility deposit from all accepted businesses. The fee will be collected at the start of the business fair, when the young entrepreneurs check in. The fee will be returned at the end of the business fair. This is to drive accountability on the kids to keep their booths clean, and to participate with full passion and responsibility.
What are the selection criteria?
When selecting businesses to participate in the business fair, we look for:
- Complete applications, with all questions answered.
- Evidence that the application and the business are the work of the child and not the adult—we don’t expect polished applications!
- Plans by the young entrepreneur to pay back any loans/financial assistance he/she may receive.
- If we receive more applications than we have space for, we will employ first come first basis, as much as possible, but also strive to have a balance of ages and genders at the fair.
What if someone else has the same business idea?
Two cupcake businesses? Not a problem. In general, we will let market forces play out, and encourage children to think of unique ways to appeal to the customers.
How will the fair be set up?
The fair will be an outdoor event, hosted under the Pavilions at the Moorefield Station Park in Ashburn, VA. Each business will be assigned "booth" space. Businesses need to bring their own tables, chairs, and decorations to setup their own space.
Will electricity be available?
Unfortunately, we are not able to provide electricity to the booths.
Are there permits required to sell food?
All children planning to setup a Food business, need to submit a Temporary Food Vendor Application and receive their permit from the Virginia Department of Health.
Event-Coordinator-Registration-and-Information-Packet (loudoun.gov)
What are the rules?
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.
How did the Acton Children’s Business Fair get started?
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.
Our incredible sponsors
Arrow Partners, LLC
