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.

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 may be disqualified from earning the cash prizes and may be disqualified from attending the next fair.

Parents may sit in the booth, but the children should be responsible for as much as possible — set up, salesmanship, and handling cash. We understand some children may not know how to count cash or will need help with something like setting up the canopy. We leave it up to them and you to decide how to handle the various nuances that may arise.

Those who have learned (and earned) the most from business fairs have been those whose parents stepped back, even if it meant letting them fail. Entrepreneurship is a path full of failure. If they can fail early, often, and cheaply now, they'll be more likely to succeed in their own entrepreneurial ventures in the future.

We do not have any policy about payment other than no businesses run by adults can sell at the fair and no pre-orders except when using a third-party service with its own terms and conditions, such as crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter.

It’s up to your entrepreneurs to decide what forms of payments they want to take. Do they want to accept credit cards? If so, are they ready to have be charged the 3% fee? Do they want to accept Venmo, PayPal, Cash App, Zelle, etc.? How will they handle those payments and keep track of them?

Regardless of what they choose, we encourage parents to let this be an opportunity for your child to be independent and even fail.

If you want to start a conversation with them about this, engage your child with non-leading questions and encourage them to think critically about their business. 

For example, rather than say, "Use Mommy's Cash App so you can accept electronic payments," ask:

These questions can help guide them in their planning without taking away their autonomy.

 

The fair is advertised as starting at 10 a.m. and ending at 1 p.m. Families can arrive as early as 8 a.m. The CBF guide says 9 a.m. but that is meant as a recommended start time. However, you are free to arrive much earlier, your booth may not be ready for you.

 

We are providing one 6’ table and one chair per kidpreneur at each booth. Families are responsible for bringing their own 10'x10' tent or canopy.

Knowing how much product to make is one of the biggest and most exciting challenges of running a business.

They could make a limited number and sell out, which is a great feeling. But what if they had made more and could’ve made more money?

They could make a large number. But what if they don’t sell enough to make a profit?

These are great questions that can help spark a conversation with your kidpreneurs.

We simply can’t predict how much each booth will sell because that could be affected by attendance, prices, competition, etc.

How do the awards work?
An exciting part of the fair is the addition of cash prizes. While no child has to be focused on earning the prizes, it serves as real-world feedback about their presentation and ideas.

We have asked local entrepreneurs to be judges at the fair who will make determinations for the winners of three $50 cash prizes: Best Presentation, Most Creative, and Highest Business Potential.

There will be three versions of each award given out to entrepreneurs in the following age categories: 5-7, 8-11, and 12-14. That means there will be three recipients of the Best Presentation award — one in the 5-7 category, one in the 8-11 category, and one in the 12-14 category

Judges may choose to reveal themselves as judges or keep it a secret, so do your best regardless!

How will the fair be set up?

The fair will be a tented outdoor event with booths. Each business will be given a booth with a 6' table and 2 chairs. Tents and tablecloths will not be provided. Canopy tents are required.

Businesses that require electricity should contact the event organizers first; we can accommodate a limited number of generators. We are not able to provide electricity to the booths.

We will accept 50 businesses. Priority will be given to businesses belonging to entrepreneurs ages 5-14. There is a possibility that we will accept up to 55 businesses based on number of applications and space.

Do you have alternative methods besides PayPal?
Yes. Please reach out to josh@actonpsl.org for alternative methods.

I applied but haven't heard back about anything. What's the status of my application?
You will hear from us if you are accepted or not. Please make sure to check the email you provided in the application. Each year, we have to reject several applications because parents did not check the emails they provided or respond.

If you have not received an acceptance email, your business has not been accepted. Search your inbox for emails from josh@actonpsl.org or check your Spam if you haven't received anything.

Applications 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 4 participants per business.

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.

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.