Initiative to train child entrepreneurs

Mahalakshmi Saravanan always believed that her seven-year-old daughter had a strong creative side.

From a young age, her daughter would spend hours with her crayons and paints. As a mother she’d love her work. “I really liked her designs. Since I manage a network of women entrepreneurs, I have contacts with artists who design saris. I got one of my daughter’s designs printed on a sari, which I wore at a public event. People noticed that and asked me where I bought it from. As a mother, I felt proud to say that my daughter designed it,” says Mahalakshmi. This gave her the idea to encourage children to develop their skills. This is how Kidpreneurs India started.

Elaborating further, she says, “It is a social initiative where we train the children and help them hone their skills. They will be encouraged to make their products and help them sell their products We have a school student who is a graphic designer and hi designs will be printed on T- shirts, coffee mugs, etc.

This apart, we organise workshops to improve memory and concentration. This will help children develop skills that will come in handy in the longer run.” Entrepreneurship comes with a lot of responsibility and the kids are trained to understand the challenges in it. “They need to understand the ethics and values of business. With this initiative, they see how their work comes to life. We always encourage them, even if the outcome is not as expected and push them to work harder,” says Mahalakshmi. Their creativity is put on display at various exhibitions. “A part of the money they earn goes towards the education of underprivileged children. The rest goes towards royalty and promotion of the initiative,” says Mahalakshmi.