The MSGA (http://www.midsouthgiftedacademy.com/) School of Innovation & Design 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. Kids ages 6-17 develop a brand, create a product or service, build a marketing strategy, and open for customers at our one-day marketplace.

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

Submit your application online. Please submit one application for each business. Children working as a group should submit one application that includes each child's information. There can be no more than three participants per business.

The application asks kids to think through some simple but essential 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?

Applications will be reviewed, approved, or declined every Friday in March and April. You should receive an email confirmation at that time. If you have any questions about your application, email amanda@midsouthgiftedacademy.com

The fair will be an outdoor tented event with booths on the campus of Mid-South Gifted Academy, 220 S. Center St. and 121 E. South St., Collierville, TN. Each business is responsible for its setup, so please bring a table and anything else you need for your booth. Tents are optional but recommended.

A limited number of booths will be able to access electricity. Please specify on your application if you need electricity to run your business.

This event is designed to give children the experience of selling a product or service. If a parent is found selling their 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 setting 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.

Prize money will be awarded to winners in each age group for the following categories:

· Most Original Business Idea

· Highest Business Potential

· Best Presentation / Creativity

The age groups are 6-8, 9-12, 13-17

There will be a winner in each age group and category.

Jeff and Laura Sandefer 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, over 115 entrepreneurs and 1,500 attendees are at the Acton Children's Business Fair in Austin.