Official Google Australia Blog: Inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs

Australia Blog

News and notes from Google Down Under

Inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

The path to successful entrepreneurialism is rarely a direct one. We speak to a lot of founders as part of our Google for Entrepreneurs efforts, and when they tell us how they got their start, they talk about everything from inspiring teachers to chance encounters to eureka moments to friendships that turned into partnerships. But there is one thing that many of them have in common. These were the kids selling fruit at the front gate; hitting up relatives to sell them homemade goods; and putting together syndicates of friends to get businesses up and running. In other words, from a young age they were good at spotting entrepreneurial opportunities and going for them.
For Australia to have a bright technology-driven future, we need to nurture even more of these young entrepreneurs-in-waiting, and show them what an awesome career path lies ahead of them. That’s why we’re teaming up with Club Kidpreneur here in Australia, to support their great work in helping more young people start their own enterprises.
Club Kidpreneur was started by Creel Price as a social enterprise running programs to helping young people start and grow their own micro-enterprises, and ultimately to inspire a career in entrepreneurship. Price and his team think that by encouraging kids to start their own businesses, they’ll teach them initiative and responsibility, given them perspectives on business and the value of money, and encourage them to think about being an entrepreneur as a career path. We couldn’t agree more.
As lead technology partner, Google for Entrepreneurs will help grow the Club Kidpreneur program across Australia, both through supporting the $50 challenge, and helping thousands of children to gain access to the program online.
Australia’s tech future is bright. Technology start-ups could contribute $109BN and 540,000 jobs to the economy by 2033, and our technology talent is already on par with the best in the world. Now we need to make sure that our young ‘innovation generation’—the young people who will start our future businesses—are set up with all the tools and support they need to succeed. Posted by Sally-Ann Williams, Engineering Community & Outreach Manager, Google Australia