Southport Magazine

When we walked through the first Southport-Oak Island Chamber of Commerce Youth Business Fair in November of 2019, which feels like a thousand years ago, we were aspiring entrepreneurs, people with a plan and working toward a goal, but not business owners quite yet. Seeing all those children behind tables loaded with goods they’d created themselves enthusiastically, and very professionally, giving their sales pitches to adults was an incredible inspiration. After a two-year pandemic pause, the Youth Business Fair returns on Nov 17 from 9 am to 1 pm (or until booths sell out) at the Brunswick Center, 1513 N Howe St., behind the Wyndham Hotel. This year’s event will be in conjunction with the Brunswick Center’s holiday crafts show, so all the more reason to stop by. 

“These bright entrepreneurs will run the booths without adult assistance ensuring they practice skills necessary for professional and personal growth such as creative and critical thinking, math and communication skills,” said Karen Sphar, executive Vice President of the Southport-Oak Island Chamber of Commerce. 

Setting these children up for success, and teaching them skills that will give them the tools to succeed in business going forward, is an important part of the Youth Business Fair program. Participants begin their journey into entrepreneurship during the application process. 

The application asks kids to think through some simple, but important elements of their business:

• What product or service do you plan to sell?
• What price will you charge for each product/service? How much will each product/service cost you?
• How will you pay for your startup costs? If someone is helping you with your startup costs, how will you pay that person back?
• How will you advertise/market your business before the fair? 
• At the end of the fair, how will you determine if your business was a success? 

Children then meet at the chamber to learn more. “The participants are required to attend two workshops organized by the Chamber, led by Jay Schach, Sea Grass Consulting,” said Sphar. The first workshop covers business ideas that translate to revenue, pricing a product or service to sell and how to deliver winning sales pitch. The second workshop features a panel of young entrepreneurs and their ventures and a chance to make a sales pitch that is recorded and critiqued by volunteers from the business community. The children’s pitches can be seen on the Chamber’s Facebook page. 

Aside from making some cash selling their products, participants will also be judged and awards given for Most Original, Highest Business Potential, Best Presentation and Overall.