Choose the perfect gift for your young entrepreneur in your life. Great gift ideas for young and student business owners require consideration of their needs and their point of view. Practical gifts, the gifts of time and introductions to life lessons from seasoned pros like yourself are incredibly helpful. They make perfect gifts for entrepreneurs who might still be in school or are just starting out.
Selecting gifts for student entrepreneurs is not complicated. Just put yourself in their shoes and consider their journey. Or said another way, consider their POV.
Young and student entrepreneurs have different needs than seasoned pro’s or those starting their own business after years in the working force. Their primary needs are:
- Money to fund their business and pay for general life needs living at school, home or on their own.
- Time management is an issue when launching a business as a student and balancing hours to work and study to maintain grades.
- Vision is important to support and develop since the idea may be great, but they don’t have enough practical exposure yet.
- Life skills introductions are critical and help as they develop independence, business skills, and grow into adults.
- Anxiety affects most students and developing coping skills is especially critical for entrepreneurs.
The gifts we suggest help with all 5 issues.
Considering these factors and great gift ideas will come to you.
Assess their personal living and work situation.
? Are they still in school?
? How much time do they devote to their business?
? Are they working from home or out of another space?
? Do they need to return to school and balance the business with classes?
? After graduation, will they run their business while maintaining another full-time job?
? What are their obvious business needs or things they talk about needing?
? What do they love to do in their spare time? Who do they miss? What creates the most fun?
Young entrepreneurs appreciate respect.
Ask their opinion.
Honor their entrepreneurial spirit.
Treat them as business owners.
The best gifts for entrepreneurs are helpful.
Funding their issue may be a primary issue and it will be for some time, but your gift giving is not about funding them.
They will learn to balance time and their ability to grow with their ability to buy supplies and fund their business. It’s a tough time, but they have grit – or they will soon develop it – just like every other entrepreneur!
This strength will serve them well as they continue to face life’s hurdles, so support them, but do not take over.
Especially do Not take away their opportunity to learn.
The gift of time.
As a business owner, they need to juggle time and will appreciate time with family and friends.
Create local events:
- Give them a game & snack mixes and create a game night over break.
- Make pasta. Make soup. Make cocoa. Make anything.
- Start a new tradition of dropping off treats or cider to friends.
- Get them outside and look for fireflies or at holiday lights.
- Schedule fun time that pairs with time online with far away friends & relatives
Demonstrate your commitment and theirs. Show up. Stay off your phone too. Do not email or text during your time with them. Be the role model they need.
Introduce them to the value of the 8:8:8 schedule. Give them fun examples of balancing or including family time with friendships.
The gift of FUN!
What are their hobbies? What did you do together as a family? What’s around now? Who’s around now?
- Give them event tickets.
- Buy admission to a new museum or place they’ve never visited.
- Get reservations to a local seasonal event.
- Give them a gift certificate for breakfast with a friend they’ve missed.
- Give them a gift certificate for breakfast with a friend at school.
- Buy amusement park passes in their name.
- Buy a national park pass and present it with a list of local places to check out.
- Create a special trip relating to one of their hobbies.
Some of the best practical gifts – and office gifts offering a little help!
Use your insights but also ask. What frustrates them? What do they need? What do you see them dealing with where you can offer a helping hand?
Support their small business with tools and skill development.
- Gift cards to fulfill a personal or business need.
- Design their first business cards introducing their business.
- A combination backpack suitable for class, business, and the gym.
- Give them a tablet, Kindle or similar reader.
- Buy them a book to listen to online.
- Small notebooks and capless pens to capture ideas by their bedside, on the counter, and while traveling.
- A gift set of home office products helpful to their business.
- Depending upon the product or service give building or shipping materials.
- Help reduce costs through a shipping scale earned at the conclusion of a lesson in how to package efficiently.
The usual collection of gift ideas for entrepreneurs will always make a great gift option! Entrepreneurs are always flexible and grateful for replacements and upgrades.
- A mug that stays warm
- Tablet sleeve
- Laptop bag
- New coffee maker
- Headphones (especially a pair of noise-canceling headphones)
- A new or spare fast charger or surge protector.
- Portable charger (if battery life is an issue)
- Charging station
- Business card holder
Gifts of time and learning
Create thoughtful gifts using your own skills and network.
- Provide a 1 hour brainstorming session to create their vision or mission using 6 Thinking Hats.
- Give them several business plan formats and schedule a 1 hour session to create their plan.
- Give them a coaching or brainstorming session with someone key to their business.
- Introduce them to a helpful person with a coffee shop gift card and that person’s availability.
- Review their needs and your network together and arrange a set of flash mentoring sessions.
Additional gifts of life skills and experiential time.
- Grab a partner and schedule a “how to network” session over lunch.
- Schedule on the job training with fellow entrepreneurs to demonstrate why being a good partner matters.
- Set up office space for your entrepreneur, scheduling boundaries and quiet time for them to focus.
- Give them a focused lesson in compounding – the definition and how it affects them.
- Create a lesson in credit – why it’s important to establish a positive credit history, and the fine print of costly interest and how the true cost of a product adds up if not paid on time. Show them further how all future purchases are then negatively impacted.
- Have them set up their own account and practice how the app is used, how to protect themselves or their business.
- Schedule time with a financial guru to create a basic budget showing what is coming in and what they are spending, and why business and personal are separated.
- Do a basic overview of financials to show them what expect as their business grows. It can be as simple as a basic overview of a cash flow statement and knowing to save receipts. They should know this exists. Reaching this point will be a huge and positive milestone.
Gifts to relieve anxiety.
Talk about schedules and the pace they are keeping. Evaluate their level of stress and what works to help them balance.
What used to be the favored stress reliever of your favorite entrepreneur?
- If they cook for themselves, stock their shelves with staples.
- Give them a set of meal prepping containers.
- Buy a subscription to one of their favorite apps.
- Take their bike to the shop for a cleaning and tune up.
- Give them sunscreen with a beach block overnight.
- Give a 1 hour donation of your time for whatever they need so they can go out and walk, run, or do whatever they want.
- If they crave peace and downtime, give them a night at home all by themselves or a full day to play in the kitchen or read in peace.
What else would make a great gift for an entrepreneur? Try to think from an entrepreneurship point of view.
What’s on your own list of top gifts? What kind of gift makes you happy? Does it relate to them?
What makes your life easier?
Talk to them. Ask what’s working well. Ask what needs a boost or about their next step.
Use this information to create a unique gift of time to build their life skills and job skills. New business owners and those starting a business have a long to-do list. Every entrepreneur needs awesome gifts like these. Gifts that will last a lifetime.
Most of all, inspire appreciation and respect for others, which will then create self-respect and goodness toward others. Your gift is to help but really it’s more about acknowledgement and partnership in a young entrepreneur’s journey – in your student’s life.
If they do not know and fully appreciate that the greatest gifts are often free, it’s your job and obligation as an adult to at least introduce the concept or demonstrate our human responsibility.
No entrepreneur is handed an all-expenses paid business.
In an increasingly difficult economy, the greatest gifts may be your time, attention and recognition of their creativity and efforts. Their greatest gift back is the understanding and appreciation of others. You got this.
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