The Cleveland Children’s Small Business Fair inspires children to discover their inner entrepreneur. The idea was created by Acton Academy. They have sponsored some of the largest entrepreneurship event for kids in North America. This one-day market gives children in Cleveland the opportunity to showcase their very own businesses.
What if I don’t currently own a business?
Whether you’ve been doing this for years or your business is just an idea, this fair is to highlight you! There is no experience requirement, all that we ask is that the child does their best and learns something new in the process.

We will accept up to 50 children 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.

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

Tell us about something to really enjoy doing or something you have a passion for.
Do you have a product or service you plan to sell or just an idea?
What price will you charge for each product/service? How much will each product/service cost you?
How will you pay for the things you need to help you start your business? 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?
How confident do you feel about growing into a successful adult?

Two cupcake businesses? Not a problem! We will let both entries know if another applicant has a similar idea and suggest options for ways to uniquely market yourselves!

The fair will be an indoor event with booths. Each business will be given a booth with a 6-foot table and 2 chairs. Table cloths will be provided. We are only able to accommodate a few businesses requiring electricity, so if you need electricity please apply early.

Unfortunately, we are only able to provide electricity to a small number of booths. So please apply early if you have electrical needs.

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 booth will be shut down and the attendees will be asked to leave. We don’t mind if parents HELP, but the child should be leading this effort.

Parents of younger children may sit in the booth, but the children should be responsible for customer interactions and sales. Parents of younger are allow to help with payment collection.

Parents may help their child fill out the application, but we expect the children to do as much as possible by themselves.

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.