Can parents play a role in creating an enabling environment for our children’s employment?

The number of unemployed youth in South Africa is a serious concern, not only for the economy, but more so for parents who have raised their children and put so much funding in their eduction.

Unlike in the past, education is no longer a guarantee that our children’s future is secured. The employment dynamics have changed drastically. Also, unlike us the older generations, the youth is more free to express themselves about pursuing other ventures of life that has absolutely nothing to do with formal education.

Some of the solutions to the high rate of unemployment will have to come from the parents. As parents, we cannot sit, fold our hands and expect the government and private sector to come to the rescue. We live in an era where parents need to think beyond the education fund of their children. We must have these thoughts as a matter of urgency if we want  to alleviate the unemployment crisis.

Are we doing enough to find innovative solutions to help alleviate the unemployment rate that is negatively affecting our children? Soon this problem will be faced by most households.

As I was exploring this topic, I thought of some solutions that we can put in place as parents to make a difference. I am sure there are plenty of solutions that we can think of.

Fund our children’s  internship programme

Unfortunately, many companies require prior work experience when they advertise jobs for new positions. This requirement decrease the odds of getting hired within the work environment that is already highly competitive. As parents, we must intentionally fund our children’s internship programme to help them access the highly competitive world of employment that requires prior work experience. We must  be prepared to go beyond the responsibility of covering education fees and leave the rest in the hands of our children and the potential employers. Approaching a company with a proposal for your children’s internship programme will show the company that you mean business. Beyond education there is a serious challenge of unemployment. The challenge is unfortunately faced by both the educated and the uneducated. The benefit of giving my children access to the employment world must help them increase their chances of being considered by the same company should a need arise. My child may impress the company so much that the company is left with no choice but to create a position for my child. 

What will the internship fund look like?

The fund will cover essential daily expenses, transport to and from work, lunch and tools needed for the intern to carry out their work successfully. The nature of the fund will obviously differ from one company to the next. Transport fees may be include bus, train or taxi fare. It may include fuel if the intern already has a car. If the parents are able to, and the work requires the intern to have own transport, they can buy the intern a car. If the opportunity is far from home, that daily public transport will be impossible, the fund will have to cover monthly rental and groceries and any rental related expenses. 

Internship programme management

As a funder of the internship programme, the parent must make sure that he or she is happy with the key performance indicators that are put in place by the company that  allowed the child to carry internship. As a funder I must be comfortable with and satisfied that my child will carry out activities that will help to build work experience needed to further his or her career. The last thing  you need is an intern who becomes an expert at making tea when I could have easily created the tea making position at home. You must also create a channel for a regular feedback sessions with the employer. Remember that the company is not making you a favour, your child is also contributing towards the success of the company.

Fund our children’s businesses or ideas

We are going to have to take a role of startup funders as parents if we want to remove tour children’s burden of unemployment and increase their chances of making it as entrepreneurs. Many children may want to start a business but are discouraged by lack of financial capacity. While we have many funding programmes from angel investors, government funding and capital ventures, the competition is tight. The requirements to access those funds do not always favour every entrepreneurs or inventors who require funding. More often, inventors don’t get selected because their field of interest does not fall within the sectors covered by funders. The red tape factor of funding applications and processes makes matters worse.

There are many business incubators and business accelerators programs that are created to help small business. However, like funders, these incubators have requirements that will not favour every aspiring entrepreneurs. I have worked within the funding and business incubation space for many years and have seen potential ideas being dismissed because they did not meet the funding or incubation requirements. Also, the need to conduct multiple due diligences for many applications makes it impossible for funders to make decisions faster. Time is money and the sooner one gets funding the better.

Business development support

In addition to providing funding for your child’s startup, I recommend that you fund their business development. In cases where funds allows and where the capital amount needed for the business is way too much, you may need to hire a professional fund manager who will ensure that your child is using the funds effectively. Some of the responsibilities of an experienced fund manager include carrying out the necessary due diligence to determine the risk and developing risk mitigating factors, creating milestones for further funding and putting in place the necessary business development intervention.  Having a third party to manage the fund may help to minimise a potential strain between you and the business child. 

If not managed, the funding can go to waste. It is a known fact that not every business will get to maturity. If every measure was put in place to manage the business, I don’t believe that we can talk of failure. I learnt so much from running my own businesses. I had access to valuable lessons that a classroom will not offer. Giving your children access to those lessons is an investment that they will need in the business and professional life. The ground laid through us funding them to spend time running business will also increase their chances of obtaining funding from other funders.

Depending on the kind of business your child is pursuing, you may also hire a business mentor who will give your child the much needed business skills. Never underestimate the value of a business mentor who have run businesses.

Another important intervention your child will need is the services of a life coach who will cover multiple areas of life to prepare the entrepreneur ti become the best leader. The early phase of business is critical for developing a culture of a business. The culture of a business always reflects the attributes of the founder. The business culture and success gets threatened If the attributes of the founder are not dealt with as early as possible.

The benefit of funding your child’s business or idea

When you have a funding instrument dedicated for your child, focus is on your child and not many applicants. The requirements for funding will be developed within the abilities of your children and their ideas. In this regard, you will have the freedom to include any sector or field without limitations set by other funding instruments. You will also have the freedom to set milestones that will help you determine if your child deserves further funding. As a parent funder, your child will not have the pressure and the burden created by conditions that are generally put in place by funders. 

Ways to become an angel investor for our children

Get a loan on behalf of your children

Get a loan from a bank, on your children’s behalf if you are in a position to repay the loan. Obviously because they have just finished university or are not working, they won’t have any credit history to qualify for a bank loan.

Create a startup fund as soon as your children are born

Create a funding investment account for your children as soon as you start investing for their education or later in life when you have read this article.  Most parents normally start saving for education as soon as children are born. This can be done through financial institutions such as banks, sanlam, discovery and so forth. The sooner we start investing, the better. 

Use your savings to fund your children’ businesses

For those of us who already have savings, we can use those savings to remove the financial burden of starting a business for our children.  

Raise funds on their behalf. There are a number of options that are available. For example, you can sell assets that you own to use the proceeds towards the funding instrument. You can dedicate a certain percentage of your monthly income towards funding their business or ideas, if you do not have savings a at the time the need for funding arise. 

Important note for parents 

I need to mention that the above solutions must not exclude unemployed children who did not go to tertiary for various reasons. Not all children will finish college or university. Some children will not have the attributes to pursue education offered at college or university. We are not the same and we should embrace our uniqueness. It is our responsibility to afford our children room for them to be themselves and explore options that are in line with their strengths. The startup funding instrument will help them to pursue their passions or calling. Through the funding instruments, we must help them turn their calling and passion into businesses that will generate income for them.

I must also make a note that society has made us believe that tertiary is the next logical step after completing school. It is this belief system that has limited or blocked our abilities to attract means of generating income outside the scope of what we studied. It is also this limiting belief system that has led to many people changing their careers later in life to pursue their passion and calling that have absolutely nothing to do with what they have studied. Some children have tried without success to plead their case and to show their parents that their passion or calling cannot be natured through tertiary. Let us be open minded when it comes to matters of formal education and allowing our children to pursue their soul’s mission.

Funding of a programme designed to help them create and live fulfilled lives

One thing I have learned about life is that finding your true Self is the most powerful tool of life that one should embark on. We live in a society where we are groomed to discover many things about life before we can explore the truth about who we are. Many of us were raised in a society that made us to focus and dream about education, pursuing a career, finding a husband or wife and raising a family.  The data in our minds is made of human made systems that are blocking our ability to discover our true Self. There are many benefits of finding true Self. Finding your true Self will definitely help you with Self-development, Self-empowerment and Self-healing. These three benefits are the most fundamental goals that one needs in order to achieve life goals in every area of life -personally, socially, spiritually and professionally.

We must give our children the tools that will help them find their soul’s purposes or mission earlier in life so they can enjoy the rest of their lives. They must find a healthy balance between their soul’s mission, physical and spirit persons. At the center of creating & living a fulfilled life is finding this balance. I cannot talk about creating and living a fulfilled life without mentioning our LwTee 9 days wellness retreat which is aimed at addressing some of these challenges. It is without a doubt a perfect programme for both parents and children who are at the age of exploring who they are.

I have no doubt this article will trigger some interesting thoughts and discussion amongst parents regarding matters of unemployment and their role in finding solutions for our children. What other ways can you think of? This is also a topic that must be discussed under one of wellness retreat program called In the presence of elders due to launch in August 2023.