在幼小心靈播下創(chuàng)業(yè)種子

My sons are just eight, 10 and 12 years old but they already display an unnerving instinct for capitalism. It makes them the perfect companions to help me review

我的3個(gè)兒子分別只有8歲、10歲和12歲，但他們已顯露出令人不安的資本主義本能。這讓他們成為我最棒的搭檔，幫助我評估一個(gè)為仍然在上學(xué)的新生代初創(chuàng)企業(yè)創(chuàng)始人設(shè)立的新節(jié)日Kidpreneur。

Kidpreneur — a new festival for budding start-up founders who are still at school.

(文首照片為本文作者若納唐•穆萊斯和他的三個(gè)兒子在Kidpreneur活動中——編者按)

The event was at the London branch of KidZania, a global theme-park chain founded by a Mexican entrepreneur, which offers children the chance to role-play in a variety of real-life jobs.

這項(xiàng)活動在全球主題公園連鎖趣志家(KidZania)的倫敦分園舉行;趣志家由一位墨西哥企業(yè)家創(chuàng)建，為孩子們提供體驗(yàn)各種真實(shí)工作的機(jī)會。

Kidpreneur was part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, a programme of activities in 170 countries. This event was compèred by my children’s favourite television presenters Dick and Dom. So I expected a degree of excitement, perhaps even a thank you. Instead, their first question was about how much they would be paid.

Kidpreneur是全球創(chuàng)業(yè)周(Global Entrepreneurship Week)的一部分，該項(xiàng)目的活動覆蓋全球170個(gè)國家。此次活動由我的孩子們最喜歡的電視主持人迪克(Dick)和多姆(Dom)主持。因此我預(yù)計(jì)孩子們會有一定程度的興奮，甚至可能會說一聲謝謝。但他們的第一個(gè)問題竟然是他們會得到多少報(bào)酬?

I could blame KidZania, which was created not just to let children sample grown-up jobs but also pays them for doing so. Its currency is Kidzos — which can only be exchanged for products in the on-site gift shop.

我可以指責(zé)趣志家，其創(chuàng)建宗旨不僅是讓孩子們體驗(yàn)成年人的工作，而且還會據(jù)此付給他們報(bào)酬。其貨幣名為K幣(Kidzos)，只能在園內(nèi)的禮品店換取商品。

Kidpreneur takes this a step further by planting the idea in young minds of setting up on their own. The goal is to make Kidpreneur an annual London event and roll it out across the company’s 24 sites worldwide.

Kidpreneur更進(jìn)一步，要在孩子們幼小的心靈中播下創(chuàng)業(yè)的種子。其目標(biāo)是讓Kidpreneur成為倫敦的年度活動，并推廣到該公司在世界各地的24個(gè)體驗(yàn)園。

The young delegates at Kidpreneur heard first from Henry Patterson, 13-year-old founder of gifts brand Not Before Tea. Henry started, aged five, selling horse manure from the stables next to his family’s rural Bedford home. At eight, he set up a dog-walking business. Not Before Tea started as an online sweet shop, adopting a phrase Henry’s grandmother used when her treats jar was offered round. Aged 10, he wrote a children’s story book and turned the illustrations into a range of christening cards, baby-changing mats and nappy pouches. Turnover is “in six figures”, he says.

Kidpreneur的年輕參加者們首先聽了禮品品牌Not Before Tea的13歲創(chuàng)始人亨利•帕特森(Henry Patterson)的介紹。亨利5歲時(shí)開始在他家(位于貝德福德郡的鄉(xiāng)村)隔壁的馬廄售賣馬糞肥。他在8歲時(shí)創(chuàng)建了一家遛狗公司。Not Before Tea最初是一家在線糖果店，這個(gè)名稱源自亨利的祖母在拿出糖果罐時(shí)常說的話。他10歲時(shí)寫了一本兒童故事書，并把插圖變成了一系列洗禮卡片、嬰兒換尿布用墊和尿布包。他說，現(xiàn)在的營業(yè)額是“六位數(shù)”。

Asked what he plans to do next, Henry announced that he was preparing to buy a house. For a moment, the hyperactive adult comperes were lost for words.

在被問及他的下一步計(jì)劃時(shí)，亨利宣布他準(zhǔn)備買一套房子。在那一瞬間，兩位極為活躍的成年主持人啞口無言。

My middle child, who has always been the first to write his Christmas and birthday present lists, was also agog. He fixed me with an excited expression that said “I need to do something like that”.

我的二兒子總是第一個(gè)寫下他的圣誕和生日禮物愿望清單，他也很激動。他帶著興奮的表情注視著我，好像在說“我也要做那樣的事情”。

The thought occurred to me that I could be sitting next to a budding Richard Branson, if only we could persuade our local city farm to part with its dung and get him registered at Companies House.

我想，我身邊坐著的可能是一位正含苞待放的理查德•布蘭森(Richard Branson)，但愿我們能說服我們那里的城市農(nóng)場提供糞肥讓他售賣，并幫助他在英國公司登記局(Companies House)注冊。

Next on stage was Callum Daniels, an eight-year-old who has set up I Code Robots to teach young people how to build and programme robotic toys.

接下來登場的是8歲的卡勒姆•丹尼爾斯(Callum Daniels)，他創(chuàng)建了I Code Robots，教年輕人如何制作機(jī)器人玩具，并對其進(jìn)行編程。

The company started trading this year, employs 10 people and runs classes at the former media centre for the London 2012 Olympic Games, through a partnership with Loughborough University London. His mother was at his side and explained how her son showed promise from an early age, building his first robot aged four.

該公司今年開始開展業(yè)務(wù)，擁有10名員工，通過與拉夫堡大學(xué)倫敦校區(qū)(Loughborough University London)合作，在曾經(jīng)是2012年倫敦奧運(yùn)會媒體中心的地方運(yùn)營課程。他的母親站在他身邊，向人們解釋他的兒子是如何在幼年就展現(xiàn)出潛力、在4歲時(shí)就鼓搗出他的第一臺機(jī)器人的。

My youngest son is the same age as Callum and shares his passion for making stuff. My boy’s construction material of choice is Lego, and is often to be found in his bedroom creating a new vehicle.

我的小兒子與卡勒姆一樣大，也喜歡制作東西。我兒子最喜歡的建筑材料是樂高(Lego)，我們經(jīng)常發(fā)現(xiàn)他在自己的臥室里創(chuàng)作一款新車。

This child also has a knack for creating objects from the most unlikely materials. Over lunch, he refashioned our black KidZania lanyards into a pair of braces, which he slung over his T-shirt, attaching the clips to the belt of his jeans. Proud as I was of his style, I was struggling to think how we could turn this into a viable business plan.

這個(gè)孩子還喜歡用最不可思議的材料制作東西。午飯時(shí)，他把我們的趣志家黑色掛繩改裝成了一對背帶，他讓背帶跨過他的T恤，把夾子與他的牛仔褲皮帶連接在一起。盡管我對他的品味感到驕傲，但我很難想象我們怎么能把這變成一個(gè)可行的商業(yè)計(jì)劃。

What he and his brothers were really itching to do, however, was to have a go at the 60 salaried jobs on offer in the regular KidZania space.

然而，他和他的哥哥們真正渴望做的事，是嘗試趣志家體驗(yàn)園提供的60種帶薪工作。

They spent the rest of the day variously as paramedics called to the scene of a fire in the KidZania hotel; dressed up as policemen going out on patrol; ferrying packages between companies for the KidZania delivery business. They also trained to be pilots on the British Airways flight simulator, but for this they had to pay for their tuition rather than receive a wage. By the time we had to leave, each child had 22 Kidzos in his pocket.

在那天接下來的時(shí)間里，他們當(dāng)上了救護(hù)人員，被電話叫到趣志家一個(gè)酒店的火災(zāi)現(xiàn)場;打扮成警察外出巡邏;為趣志家快遞公司在不同公司之間遞送包裹。他們還接受培訓(xùn)，成為了英國航空(British Airways)模擬飛行器的飛行員，但他們必須為這項(xiàng)培訓(xùn)支付學(xué)費(fèi)，而不是獲得報(bào)酬。等到我們不得不離開時(shí)，每個(gè)孩子兜里有22K幣。

This seemed a decent sum until we got to the gift shop. Most of the toys cost at least 100 Kidzos. They could only afford a matching pencil and sharpener, for which the boys had to pool their cash.

這些錢看上去不少——直到我們抵達(dá)禮品店。多數(shù)玩具的售價(jià)都至少達(dá)到100K幣。他們只能買得起一付配套的鉛筆和轉(zhuǎn)筆刀，孩子們還要為這些湊錢。

And what did we learn? First, if it is money that motivates you, forget a career in either public services or as a delivery driver.

我們從中學(xué)到了什么?首先，如果激勵你的是金錢，那么就忘記公共服務(wù)部門的工作或快遞司機(jī)吧。

My youngest showed me that being creative does not necessarily mean you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur. He might not have a flashy gift from KidZania but he spent the rest of weekend proudly flashing his lanyard braces to passers-by.

我的小兒子向我證明，具有創(chuàng)造力不一定意味著你具備成為一名企業(yè)家的素質(zhì)。他也許沒有從趣志家得到一份搶眼的禮物，但他在周末的剩余時(shí)間里向路人驕傲地展示他的掛繩背帶。

If only I can find a way of marketing them as a hot new fashion accessory online, and find a decently priced manufacturer. Then we might be in with a chance of paying off the mortgage.

但愿我能找到方法在網(wǎng)上營銷它們，把它們作為熱門的新款潮流配飾，并找到一家定價(jià)合理的制造商。然后我們就可能有機(jī)會還清房貸了。