Growing up, we liked the idea of creating a business, even before we understood what business was. After facing all the challenges of entrepreneurship in our own startups, we wondered how much easier it would have been if we had learned the basics of business when we were children. Our early startup ideas lacked product research, understanding of pricing, and other essential knowledge. Kids today are growing up in a world where the traditional 9-5 structure is giving way to self-employment and business ownership. But education isn’t preparing them for it. The solution was obvious: a comic book that teaches children entrepreneurship.
A comic book is accessible even to younger kids. Children can read it on their own, it’s fun and encourages readers to get involved in the story. Plus, entrepreneurs are like superheroes: they create jobs, come up with brilliant inventions and solutions that didn’t exist before, and find creative ways to solve problems, with no obstacle being too tough.
Comic books are the perfect medium to inspire kids to follow their dreams. The main reason we went with a comic book was to give young kids, aged from around eight to 12 years old, a chance to start a business before they had been taught to aim for a safe, stable career.
Our comic book, My First Startup, is not just for kids who want to create their own business. The skills they learn are applicable in any life path: creative problem solving, innovation, ability to take responsibility, time-management, financial literacy, and many more. Behind the fun story of Tanya’s and Kevin’s adventures in building businesses is a practical guide created with the help of economists, child psychologists, and successful entrepreneurs.
Funding has certainly been a challenge. Even creating a video for our Kickstarter campaign (which will fund the production of the book) required a significant sum of money. Working with an amazing script-writer, illustrator, and printer is also costly. Another difficulty is getting a large enough distribution to not only justify production costs but, more importantly, to make a real impact on children’s education.
We have a lot of plans for the future, though don’t want to share any spoilers just yet. The success of our Kickstarter campaign will play a big role in how we proceed. We do want this to be more than just a fun and practical comic book. Our ambition is to nurture innovation and entrepreneurship in children. Feedback is so important to us, as it should be for any entrepreneur. Let’s see what our Kickstarter backers say, what suggestions and questions we get. While we have our ideas, we’re ultimately doing this for their children and those who care about their future. So we’re really excited to see what they think will help kids’ education to catch up with the times.
Russell Geyushev and David Kieve are founders of Your Comic Story. ‘My First Startup’ Kickstarter campaign launched on Monday.
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