How business finance lessons can help kids
Business finance is the raising and managing of funds by business organisations. It includes planning, analysis, and control of the company finances. In large organisations, there is a hierarchy from CFO to a clerk to manage this. In smaller firms, there are less people or they owner may do it too.
Business finance is not personal money management
Business finance, as we know, is not to be confused with personal finance. It’s not about telling kids to put coins in a piggy bank, it’s more about telling them exactly how an actual bank operates. Would a school kid, someone aged 12 to 16, even need to know this? Yes, this is because foundation courses are all about making the base strong, so they can build on it later. Here are some more arguments in favour of introducing your kid to something that you handle as an adult.
It’s a real world skill
Providing youth with real world skills is essential to opening higher career development opportunities. A generation of financially-savvy youth will take their family, community and even country forward. It’s not far-fetched. We witnessed how our world changed with the digital revolution. Why not strengthen the next generation now? A teen who knows business finance basics is better equipped for the real world, which gets closer as they move towards high school.
Financial literacy is a survival skill
We have seen natural disasters, a pandemic, inflations, market crashes. Not all can survive an economic downturn. Financial literacy is the ability to manage one's finances, not only for everyday living, but also to accomplish long-term financial goals, from buying property to setting up a business. So you are giving your kid a survival tool, a life skill, by teaching business finance.
Business finance is the basis of workplace agility
Whether they have a job, or they are out of it, our kids would need back-up plans. Many of us have learnt the hard way that depending on just a job is not a great option. Let’s save our children from that learning curve by making them understand business agility. Scaling up or down, or even switching career paths, would literally cost them less if they understand business finance. And a good time to start is when they are in school.