Are kids who operate lemonade stands and other businesses more likely to grow up to become entrepreneurs? Fast forward and ponder another question: Is earning a humanities or liberal arts degree in college tantamount to professional suicide?

Clearly, parents have a lot to contemplate as they steer their offspring toward success.

I have my own experiences as both a liberal arts major and parent upon which to draw. 关于这个我一会儿会说更多.

In the meantime, here’s what entrepreneurs and researchers have to say. Many entrepreneurs started their first ventures before they were 10 years old, and their parents helped them with business plans. Contrary to popular belief, humanities majors can and do thrive in corporate America.

马克古巴, Shaan Patel and Ian McCue have literally written the book on young entrepreneurship in a publication titled “How Any Kid Can Start a Business.”

古巴, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks and “Shark Tank” star, 与帕特尔会合, founder of the college admission test prep company Prep Expert, 和麦丘, 火花技能夏令营的创始人, 在努力中. They offers lessons on how children can start profitable enterprises and how parents can encourage entrepreneurial pursuits.

A lot of children want to start businesses and are looking for guidance to do so, the three say. 据估计, 7 percent of entrepreneurs started their first businesses before they were 10, and 26 percent said their parents helped them with business plans.

While running a lemonade stand offers a good experience, they say there are other ways children can gain experience in business as well as earn money. 因为大笔的钱并没有受到威胁, children are free to learn from their mistakes and bounce back.

FreshBooks, a company that provides invoicing and accounting software for small businesses, conducted a survey about other childhood traits of entrepreneurs:

Older children are more likely to become entrepreneurs than younger siblings — 34 percent of entrepreneurs reported they’re the oldest children in their families.

Moving around as children made them more comfortable with instability — 78 percent of entrepreneurs reported moving at least once or twice and 38 percent reported moving three or more times.

The biggest proportions of entrepreneurs describe themselves with words not normally associated with their pursuits, 包括谨慎, 缺乏安全感和害羞.

What about earning humanities and liberal arts degrees in college? How does that affect successful business pursuits?

安迪西蒙, a corporate anthropologist who founded Simon Associates Management Consultants, calls the notion humanities majors can’t thrive in the business world a myth. Simon cities as evidence the prevalence of humanities majors who’ve become famous business executives, 其中包括首页 Box Office首席执行官理查德·佩普勒(Richard Pepler), YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.

此外, Simon says the study of humanities promotes creativity, collaboration and a greater understanding of the world. 通过人文学科, we learn about how different cultures value different things, how history is really made and what it means for us into the future. It gives us tools to imagine the unimaginable that is often just around the corner.”

As for my experience as a liberal arts major, I haven’t become a CEO, famous or otherwise. 我断言, 虽然, my education at Colorado State University has served me well over the course of a career in newspaper journalism that stretches 37 years and counting. While I haven’t grown rich in the process, that’s more a function of the profession than preparation.

As a parent, I didn’t try to persuade my two sons to pursue careers in business — or dissuade them. They never operated a lemonade stand or lawn mowing business.

我的两个儿子有多好啊, 然而, was a remarkable example to follow in their mother, a lawyer who was as brilliant as she was beautiful and also possessed an indefatigable work ethic. My two sons not only worked at their mom’s practice,  but also took after her in many respects. 感谢上帝.

This is an unapologetically proud father bragging here, but consider the outcome. My oldest son is in the process of earning an Ivy League MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. My youngest son earned a master’s degree in accounting from American University and just passed his last exam required to become a CPA.

It’s not yet clear whether or not my sons ultimately will follow entrepreneurial paths in their careers, al虽然 they’ve already demonstrated at least one of the required attributes in the relentless pursuit of their dreams.

是什么造就了成功的企业家? Lemonade stands and liberal arts degrees probably play a role, but I suspect it’s different for each entrepreneur. The only common denominator: Hard work and plenty of it.