is designed to inspire young entrepreneurs by giving them a platform to explore and showcase their business ideas. As the largest entrepreneurship event for kids in North America, this one-day market allows children to create and run their very own businesses, gaining hands-on experience in a fun and supportive environment.

We’ll be accepting up to 30 businesses for the event.

Start by visiting our Resources page! You can read inspiring stories of young entrepreneurs and play interactive games to sharpen your business skills.

Applications must be submitted online. Each business should submit a separate application. If children are working as a group, they should submit one application that includes the information for all participants. Please note that a maximum of 3 participants is allowed per business.

The application will ask kids to consider some simple yet important aspects of their business:

What product or service do you plan to sell?
What price will you charge for each product or service? How much will each product or service cost you?
How will you fund your startup costs? If someone is helping with your startup costs, how will you repay them?
How will you advertise or market your business before the fair?
At the end of the fair, how will you measure the success of your business?

Two cupcake businesses? Not a problem! In general, we allow market forces to determine how similar businesses will fare. However, we will notify later applicants if another business has a similar idea, giving them the option to decide how to proceed.

Each business will be responsible for bringing its booth, chairs, and anything else needed for its setup.

Unfortunately, we are unable 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 their child’s product or service, the child’s business will be disqualified from the competition.
Parents of younger children may sit at the booth, but the children should be responsible for the setup, customer interactions, and sales.
While parents can help their children fill out the application, we expect children to do as much of the work on their own as possible.

Jeff and Laura Sandefer, along with a few other families, wanted to inspire a sense of wonder and entrepreneurship in their children. To bring this vision to life, they created the first Acton Children’s Business Fair in Austin, Texas, in 2007. That year, the event featured seven young entrepreneurs and around 25 attendees. Today, the Acton Children’s Business Fair in Austin has grown to host over 115 entrepreneurs and attract more than 1,500 attendees.