Kid Entrepreneurs Get Creative With Business Ventures

It’s never too early to turn an idea into a business, as 13-year-old Arnold resident Keely Hardgrave knows well. Keely is the owner of Kiki’s Sweets, a small business that sells homemade dog treats in three flavors. Keely won an award for her business at the Acton Children’s Business Fair in its first year and has participated every year since.

In a further show of entrepreneurial spirit, last year, she took the leftover treats and sold them at a stand in her front yard. Keely also used to offer a monthly subscription box, which included three bags of treats a month.

“I just like working for myself and designing whatever I want to do,” Keely explained. She hopes to try selling her products at another market later this year.

Keely is only one of many kids in the area trying their hand at running a business. Selling at markets gives children experience with what it’s like to make products, draw in potential customers, and make smart business decisions. Running a small business also creates the chance for young entrepreneurs’ unique ideas to come to fruition. The annual Acton Children’s Business Fair hosted by the Maryland Curiosity Lab puts kids and their businesses in front of interested customers.

“I think people come to the event and walk away really excited about the next generation because they see what they’re capable of,” said Roman Hardgrave, one of the fair’s organizers.

Harper and Beckett Van Dam, ages 11 and 9 respectively, teamed up to start Tiny Botanicals, through which they sell handcrafted herbal self-care items such as tea, face cream and lip balm. In addition to Tiny Botanicals, the sisters run a neighborhood business called We Can Help, where they help neighbors move trash cans and water their gardens.

Harper and Beckett put a lot of thought into all the elements of their businesses. Before selling their products, they practiced their setup in their front yard, and the work they did for their display was one of their favorite parts of running their business. They split the money from Tiny Botanicals and put their earnings in their savings accounts for when they’re older.

“It’s really fun to create things and see how much our business has grown from the small idea we had,” Beckett said.

Harper and Beckett won the prize for Most Original Business Idea for the 11-16 age group at this year’s Acton Children’s Business Fair in May. The same category for the 5-10 age group was won by 9-year-old Max Lester, who sold an invention called Whopper Dropper. Max worked in his grandfather’s shop to create gumball machines for Whoppers candy using recycled materials. During the business fair, he made enough money to buy an electric scooter.

Though Max might be finished with his Whopper Dropper business for now, he has other entrepreneurial aspirations for the future. For his next business, he wants to make money by reselling items, and when he’s older, Max hopes to play in the NFL and then open a memorabilia shop once he’s retired.

“I think it’s cool to watch him go through the whole process, like coming up with the ideas, figuring out what a customer would actually pay for, at his age,” Max’s mom, Maureen Lester, said. “His first idea was to knock on Steve Bisciotti’s door, who owns the Ravens, and get him to come and autograph custom jerseys. So we had to scale it back a little bit.”

Another opportunity for young entrepreneurs, Children’s Business Market, began holding markets throughout Maryland earlier this year. Kids aged 5-17 sell a variety of products, from Jacob’s Happy Paws selling homemade paw balm for dogs to Hermit Crab Jewelry, a jewelry business named after 11-year-old Alma’s pet hermit crab.

“It’s really cool to see them just develop with confidence and talking about their products that they’re really proud of,” said market organizer Jessica Grady.