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February 26, 2021

Kid Entrepreneurs: As CT aims to boost entrepreneurship, it’s not just adults getting in on the action

PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Shelton brothers Aayan and Mika’il Naqvi have developed inventions like the Kudo Banz and Ornament Anchor.
By Patricia Villers

Entrepreneurs will inevitably find a need and figure out how to fulfill it, no matter their age.

Such is the case with two young brothers in Shelton who have caught the entrepreneurial bug at an early age, thanks to their parents’ guidance.

Hamza Naqvi, a business development executive, said he and his wife, Amanda, own a graphic design business. They have inspired their sons, Mika’il, 14, and Aayan, 12, to become “kid entrepreneurs.”

“We motivate them by being parents, by guiding them,” Naqvi said.

The boys have already experienced success — and national exposure — with their two inventions.

And they aren’t the only kids in Greater New Haven starting their own businesses. The nonprofit District Arts and Education in New Haven runs an innovative program that grooms child entrepreneurs.

The region is known for innovation so it shouldn’t be a total surprise that culture even spreads to younger people, who are increasingly thinking about starting their own businesses.

A 2018 Junior Achievement and Ernst & Young LLP survey of 1,000 U.S. teens found 41 percent would consider entrepreneurship as a career option, versus working in a traditional job.

A similar survey of 500 adult entrepreneurs found that 13 percent started their first business at the age of 18 or younger.

Meanwhile, Connecticut in general is trying to boost entrepreneurship by providing funding, networking and support infrastructure, while local colleges are increasingly adopting entrepreneurship programs.

Invention to market

In March 2019 Mika’il and Aayan appeared on the business reality TV show, “Shark Tank,” to pitch their first product, Kudo Banz. The invention is a behavior reward chart for young children featuring colorful plastic characters on a silicone bracelet worn on a child’s wrist.

“We didn’t get a deal on ‘Shark Tank’ but we learned to keep on persevering and to keep on trying,” said Mika’il in a recent interview.

The invention is marketed as a device that focuses on positive reinforcement to boost a child’s confidence and help make parenting easier.

Children can earn characters by listening and practicing good behavior in everything from potty training and picky eating to completing chores and bedtime routines.

Another of the brothers’ inventions, Ornament Anchor, is a device that keeps ornaments firmly attached to Christmas trees.

Mika’il said they created a prototype, and when it was perfected they had it manufactured.

“It took us about three months to develop the product and idea, start a website, and to get the patent,” he said. “Our timeline was to get the patent, website, etc. done by early November, so we could go to local craft fairs and Christmas fairs to sell.”

Naqvi said his sons run the business on their own.

“They are calling the shots,” he said. “We’re guiding them [but] they run the strategy for it.”

The brothers have achieved financial success with the product — so much so the family was able to recently donate $20,000 to the North Shore Animal League in Port Washington, N.Y., from the profits.

The family chose the organization because they had adopted their dog, Zara, from there, said Mika’il.

Helping young entrepreneurs

Is there a market for a video-game consultant for kids?

A 10-year old gamer, Givionni Davis, who attended District Arts and Education’s child entrepreneurs program last year would reply in the affirmative.

The New Haven boy completed a five-week course in the winter of 2020 offered free to inner-city youth ages 10 to 15.

The “kid-trepreneurs” in the pilot group were residents of New Haven’s Fair Haven section, said Alpesh Bhatt, executive director of programming at District Arts and Education.

Bhatt said nine children participated in the first course but the programming was halted last winter because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bhatt is co-founder and principal of The Center for Leadership Studies and U of Next at District New Haven, where workshops, coaching programs, and mastery programs are offered. District New Haven’s campus is located on the former Connecticut Transit site at 470 James St. The building contains space for business startups, and offers an environment for entrepreneurs to co-work, create and learn from each other.

Bhatt said they advertised the kid-trepreneur program with flyers to recruit the first group of students.

“We put the word out in the neighborhood,” he said. The classes are limited to 10 students with a focus on getting participants to follow their passion. Once a child learns to zero in on what they are passionate about they are more likely to work hard and succeed, said Bhatt.

Givionni, who participated in the first group, “stood out because of his energy,” he said. The boy’s passion is playing video games and finding hidden codes in them, said Bhatt.

Givionni devised a business plan that Bhatt likened to a consulting service for kids interested in learning about and exploring new video games.

The five-week course includes teaching kids how to conduct market research, and how to create pricing and marketing plans.

Bhatt said one of last year’s plans to guide kid-trepreneurs was to have them set up shop at a local farmer’s market to learn how to sell their ideas.

That got sidetracked by the pandemic.

Part two of the course would have been a two- or three- week summer session.

Depending on when life returns to normal, Bhatt said he will restart the kids’ course.

Bhatt said he has learned in his career that, "It's paradoxically easier to do really big things if they're in support of other people than if they serve only you.”

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