The Wylie 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 30 businesses.

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. All children must be currently enrolled in Kindergarten-8th grade. 

A special division for students in grades 9th-12th might be coming soon if there is enough interest! Please reach out with your business idea. We want to inspire all entrepreneurs!  

Once your application is accepted, a $10 booth fee will need to be paid. 

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

Two slime 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 outdoor event with booths. Each business will be given a booth space. Business will have to provide their own table, chairs and any other stands for their product. Tents are allowed as long as they do not block other businesses. 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 are required to sit in or be near 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.

Specific guidelines in regards to booth size will be announced soon. 

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. 

Maricela Callan, a local Wylie resident, saw a post about the Acton Children's Business Fair. Knowing she had two budding entrepreneurs, ages 7 and 9, she and her kids decided to apply to have Wylie, TX be a host city. The Callan family submitted the application- complete with a video outlining why Wylie would be a great place to foster youth entrepreneurship, Within days, they were elated to hear Wylie, TX was approved!