Chattanooga Children's Business Fair: Holiday Edition event image
📣 The Chattanooga Children's Business Fair: Holiday Edition is now CLOSED for applications. Please JOIN OUR MAILING LIST if you would like to be notified of last minute openings and to be informed of the opening of our 3rd annual business fair. Thank you so much for your interest and I look forward to working with you all! PLEASE READ THE FAQ SECTION.

Chattanooga Children's Business Fair: Holiday Edition

Saturday, November 30, 2019

12:00PM - 4:30PM

Downtown Branch - Chattanooga Public Library

1001 Broad St, Chattanooga, TN 37402, USA

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About the fair
Observe the opportunity for children to launch their very own startup or existing business!

Kids develop a brand, create a product or service, build a marketing strategy, and then open for customers at our one-day marketplace. 

Held #SmallBusinessSaturday2019, this event is coordinated and hosted by myself, Tymquana Frierson-Bates, by the Backyard Sandbox Foundation and is sponsored by Acton Children's Business Fair in addition to the generous support of our donors and volunteers,   We all believe that principled entrepreneurs are heroes and role models for the next generation.

Whether an entrepreneur is famous like Elon Musk or Oprah Winfrey or they are one of the thousands of unsung business owners across this country, these are the people who make sacrifices to innovate, create jobs and serve their communities.
Hosted by

Tymquana Frierson

🗓️ Started hosting in 2018

🚀 Has hosted 4 fairs

I'm Tee, a passionate entrepreneur, home school teacher, and mother of 6, who want our children to learn about entrepreneurship in a practical and fun way.  I feel like this children's business fair, while starting out small,  can make a huge impact here in Chattanooga.  Our city and our children deserve this opportunity and I'm so excited to see where it may lead!

39 booths participating

Emma's Craft Room

Andrew's Creations

And 37 others.

Frequently asked questions


What is the Acton Children’s Business Fair?

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.


How many businesses will you accept?

We will accept 30 businesses for our holiday fair.

Where should I begin? 

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


How do I apply? Can I apply as part of a group?

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.  If you have multiple children running multiple businesses, please submit a separate application for each business.


What is on the application? The application asks kids to think through some simple, but important 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? 


When will I know if my business has been accepted?

An effort will be made to contact all new applicants within a week of applying.

Is there a vendor booth fee?

There is NO fee, yay!

What if someone else has the same business idea?  

While we will make an effort to not over saturate any business type, multiple vendors will be allowed to sell the same items.  We feel that this will give our young entrepreneurs a chance to get a “real world”
feel for business competition and marketing strategy.

How will the fair be set up?

Each booth will consist of a 6ft table and 2-3 chairs. Booths will be set up side by side in 4 rows, plus a stage for talent.

Will electricity be available?

Limited availability of electricity will be provided.

What are the rules? 

This event is designed to give children ages 6yrs.-14yrs the experience of selling a product or service. 

Parents may sit in the booth, but the children should be responsible for set up, customer interaction, and sales as much as possible.

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


How did the Acton Children’s Business Fair get started?

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.


How did the Chattanooga Children’s Business Fair get started?

As a home school mom of then 5 with 1 on the way, I’m looking at my oldest 3 like, “how are the three of you going to make money for your summer activities.”  My children and I decided to incorporate entrepreneurship into our weekly lesson plans so that they could learn about how to start and run a successful business.  
As we searched for different ideas, I started getting popups on Facebook about the Acton Children’s Business Fair.  I kept checking over a period of about 3 months and there wasn’t one in Chattanooga, TN.  There were hardly any in Tennessee at all.  But it sounded like such an amazing opportunity,  I thought “we deserve this in Chattanooga!”  so I clicked the button to start my own fair.
A simple application and video interview later, and we were ready to get started!  Acton provided me with a website to accept applications, a training group for ongoing assistance, and a ton of ideas and templates to get going.  They also granted me a small scholarship at the conclusion of my fair to recoup some of the out of pocket expenses.

How can I help?
The Chattanooga Children’s Business Fair is seeking additional sponsors to help put on our #SmallBusinessSaturday2019 Holiday Edition Fair!

In addition we are seeking volunteers in the following areas: -Marketing rep (handle securing sponsorship and donations)-general photographer/videographer (cover the event) -photo booth photographer -entrepreneurial guest speakers for main event and launch event (to speak about being a business owner/entrepreneur, share inspiration, etc.) -talent (dance, sing, instrument, etc.) -2x registration table attendants (handle sign-ins, answer questions, direct prize entries) -Face painter -cookie decor table attendant DONATIONS in the following areas: Bags and items for swag bags for vendors, volunteers, and guest, cash, gifts, or gift cards that can be used as door prizes, vendor prizes, or to go toward the entire event expense,  Snacks/drinks for participants, visitors, or launch event.  Any help is much appreciated!