What is the Children’s Business Fair?
The Ascent Children’s Business Fair inspires children to discover their inner entrepreneur. During the one day marketplace, children have the opportunity to showcase their very own businesses to the public!
This year's fair will have approximately 24 child created businesses that will be selling their products and services to the public.
Is the fair/marketplace open to the public?
Yes, the fair/marketplace is open and FREE to the public to attend!
If you want to participate as a child business, you will need to submit an application.
Does my child need to attend Ascent Academy in order to participate as a business at the fair?
No, attending Ascent Academy is not a condition to participate. Any child between 6 and 14 years old can submit an application.
What if my child wants to participate as a business at the fair? How does my child apply to have their business at the fair?
During open registration, applications must be submitted online. Once registration is open, click the "APPLY TO THE FAIR" button on the homepage of our website. Please only submit one application per business.
When does business registration open?
Registration for the 2024 fair will open September 5, 2024.
When does business registration close?
Registration for the 2024 fair will close October 7, 2024.
Are their age requirements for the businesses?
In order to participate as a business owner, all entrepreneurs must be between 6 and 14 years old.
Can children apply as a group?
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 business participants need to be between 6 and 14 years old.
Is there a fee to participate as a business?
Yes, each business is charged a $20 participation fee.
What is on the application?
The application asks children 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?
What are the application steps and when can I expect to hear back?
Before submitting an application, please thoroughly review the entire FAQ section.
- Step 1: Submit your application online to have your business reviewed. Please be very detailed when submitting information about your business. You can expect to hear from the CBF team about next steps within one week of submitting your application.
- Step 2: Additional information submission. Pay attention to your email for any messages from the CBF team. They may have questions or request additional information in order to complete their review of your application.
- Step 3: Submit your $20 participation fee. If your child's business is offered a spot in the 2024 fair, you will need to pay the $20 participation fee to reserve and confirm their spot. (Businesses that are denied or put on our waitlist will also be notified via email).
- Step 4: Continue to monitor your email. As the fair date approaches, the CBF team will email out additional information to approved businesses.
How will the fair be set up?
The fair will be an outdoor event with booths. Each business will be given a booth with a 6-8 foot table, a canopy, and 2 chairs. Table cloths will not be provided. We are not able to accommodate businesses requiring electricity.
Will electricity be available?
Unfortunately, we are not able to provide electricity to the booths.
What are the rules?
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 participating in our future fairs.
Parents of younger children may sit in 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 on their own.
If the business is selling food/drinks, is a permit required?
If your child's business is selling food/drinks, we will provide a form for you to fill out.