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 up to 20 businesses max.

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. A $20 fee is required for booth space rental. Once application is submitted and approved the $20 payment will be due. You will then be emailed request for payment to Secure your spot.

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

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 an outdoor event with booths. Each business will be given a booth with an 6 foot table and 1-2 chairs. Table cloths will not be provided. You are more then welcome to bring your own pop up tent if you’d like. We are not able to accommodate businesses requiring electricity.

Unfortunately, we are not able to provide electricity to the booths.

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.

Applicants must be between the ages of 6 - 14 on or before the APPLICATION OPEN date.

All entries will be automatically entered in the business competition, and booths will be judged on a variety of criteria, including most original business idea, highest business potential, and best presentation/creativity. (Judges will be invited and selected by each host.)

Cash prizes of $50 per age group (to be split among the business owners) will be presented at the conclusion of the fair

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.