Small business is vital to the economy and an important source of new jobs in every country. Ninety-eight percent of US businesses are small businesses. And small business is the source of our entrepreneurial genius, innovation, and a big supplier of productivity.

Business is first based on filling a need. Innovation occurs when something already established is improved upon. Many successful businesses are built on these two forces, and especially on innovation. Small business owners after all, are noted for finding opportunity in the most unlikely places - why not during a recession, real or imagined?

Healthy small companies tend to be growing faster than large companies right now. Small business is very important to a slowing economy… the question becomes:

What Makes A Successful Business Owner?

In North America, we raise our kids to be employees and not business owners. There is little to no actual grounding in how to run a small business let alone any practice or experience in doing some of the normal tasks required of being an owner.

For instance cash flow is a very critical area in the operation of your business. How many kids are required to have a budget and stick to it? How many think that money comes out of the wall from that big beeping machine?

Junior Achievement is an organization that stands in stark contrast to the above picture.

For over 50 years, Junior Achievement learning experiences have helped young people around the world discover leadership, entrepreneurial and workforce readiness skills so they can achieve their highest potential as citizens of our global community. It's the largest organization dedicated to educating young people about business, economics, and free enterprise.

Junior Achievement reaches over 8,358,087 students annually with 287,491 dedicated business volunteers delivering many programs. For instance since 1955, 2.5 million Canadian youth have participated in business and entrepreneurial education programs - free-of-charge.

The cool thing about this program is that most of it is taught by volunteer business owners. Want to make a real difference? Volunteer with JA! I have and it is a great experience.

Here's the address for a worldwide JA office near you:
Junior Achievement

Here are some other articles to check out…

 

• Junior Achievement brings business to classroom

- JA is a program that uses volunteers to bring economics — both business and personal — into the classroom to give students hands-on experience with a subject they otherwise might only learn about through textbooks.

 

 

• Young Arab Leaders and Junior Achievements Sign MOU to Boost …

- Under the agreement, 10 Arab youth will travel to Argentina to benefit from the Junior Achievement Company programme. The students will be guided by a role model from the local business community to help them conceptualise and operate …

 

 

• Local Business leader wins National award

- DENVER , COLORADO – Junior Achievement - Rocky Mountain Inc. announced that Brian Addy has been chosen from more than 138000 Junior Achievement volunteers in the US to win the organization's highest award for volunteerism, …

 

 

• Milwaukee Biz Blog: Junior Achievement grooms tomorrow's leaders

- Wisconsin businesses should support Junior Achievement program's economics…

 

 

• Junior Achievement announces first annual stock market challenge

- Ottawa, ON, Canada - Junior Achievement of Eastern Ontario (JAEO), a not-for-profit organization that brings the real world of work and business to students in grades 3 to 12 through hands-on learning programs and mentoring, …

 

 

• AT&T Launches $100 Million Philanthropic Education Program, Job …

- The AT&T program is the largest-ever corporate job shadowing initiative Junior Achievement has undertaken. Job shadowing is a proven way to improve high school success. According to Junior Achievement, 79 percent of students …