As kids across the country prepare to head back to school, 12-year-old entrepreneur Caden Harris is operating his business and was recently featured on an episode of A&E’s new show, “Big RV Remix.” Caden, the CEO of Caden Teaches, has been teaching other kids financial literacy through his kid-friendly products and has raised money to convert a bus into a financial literacy center. On this episode of The Small Business Show, host Jim Fitzpatrick sits down with Caden Harris and his parents, entrepreneurs Dr. Sean J Harris and Tara Harris, to discuss his experiences as a young small business owner and what led him to launch a company at such a young age.
Caden’s foray into entrepreneurship started as early as age 5, as he gained experience and business acumen by accompanying his father on business trips. During this period, he struggled to understand many of the financial concepts discussed in meetings, leading him to wonder if there was a way for kids his age to become more literate on the topic. This resulted in Caden’s first product, his Financial Flashcards, which broke down words such as debt and loans into definitions children could easily understand. Building on this success, he would go on to write his book “I’m Not Going To Argue With You,” the profits from which he used to launch another product, the Budgeting Puzzle. “So I would just keep recreating that process over and over until it eventually led me to creating my very own financial bus,” he explains.
His father and mother, Sean and Tara Harris, were sure to introduce their children to entrepreneurship from an early age. “I come from a family of entrepreneurs,” explains Sean, “my family actually owned the first African-American hotel in Atlanta, so both my parents owned companies.” Remembering how his dad would take him to business meetings at a young age, Sean began bringing Caden with him as well. “We’ve been building businesses that give us an opportunity to put our time back into our kids,” remarks Tara, adding that Caden’s sister, Kennedi, is also an entrepreneur.
Owning a small business as a child can be challenging for many reasons. “Owning my very own business, I do miss a lot of birthday parties,” remarks Caden, “and if I chose to, I could have decided that I wanted to stay in school instead of being homeschooled, but I decided that I wanted to be able to impact and inspire the next generation and put them first…instead of being a normal kid.” One of Caden’s biggest projects is his Financial Literacy Bus, a mobile education center for kids to learn about balancing budgets and making good choices with their money. By working with donors, he was able to raise $50,000, although the process was far from easy. “One of the biggest challenges is that I struggled with people who don’t have integrity, simply because I had to deal with a lot of people who said they were going to do one thing but did others,” he continues. “For example, there was a company that I was working with…and they said that they were going to make sure…they donated to my bus, and after that day, I called them, and texted them and emailed them and still never got a response.”
Ultimately, however, Caden’s resilience paid off. Schools and clubs across the country now pay for a visit from the bus. Small business owners, which Tara notes were big supporters of the project, can also advertise their brands on the outside of the vehicle or on teaching materials used inside.
When it comes to teaching kids financial literacy, Caden recommends starting at an early age. “I say that kids should be able to start to learn about money as they’re able to talk,” he explains. To learn more about Caden’s journey as an entrepreneur and the educational products Caden Teaches sells, visit cadenteaches.com.
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