Business for Teens Teaches Egypt's Kids to Think Like Entrepreneurs

For this installment of NextGen, our series spotlighting emerging entrepreneurs across the region, we focus on Business for Teens, a Cairo-based startup delivering business education to young people between the ages of 10 and 16. The premise isn't to turn every student into a founder, it's to instill a way of thinking that serves them regardless of the path they choose, whether that's engineering, medicine, or something else entirely.

Founder and CEO Nadeem Barakat identified a gap that many take for granted: most people's first real exposure to business comes in university, or later. By then, a lot of formative years have already passed. For him, the goal isn't just teaching business concepts, it's giving young people earlier contact with the real world, so they can better understand their own strengths and interests before major decisions arrive.

The idea traces back to Barakat's own path. He began working at 15 without any grounding in business fundamentals to guide him, and learned everything through trial and error. Looking back, he considers that early start the most valuable experience of his career, and it's that same head start he wants to give the next generation.

The team behind Business for Teens is lean and purpose-built. Program management oversees school relationships, while other members focus on instructor recruitment and ongoing support. A dedicated quality assurance function ensures the curriculum lands consistently, whether it's being delivered in a Cairo classroom or at a school elsewhere in the country.

Programming is delivered in person and centres on financial literacy and entrepreneurship basics: how money works, how to save, how to set goals, and how to invest. What started in Cairo has since expanded nationally, including partnerships with international schools, driven in part by growing recognition among schools of the value of business thinking as an extracurricular offering.

The company didn't begin with institutional partnerships. It started small, running public programs and encouraging parents to enrol their children directly, with a first cohort of just 15 students. Even at that early stage, the level of familiarity students already had with business concepts stood out. "We found that many kids already had some exposure to business through Shark Tank, TikTok, or even selling products on Instagram," Barakat shares.

As the company scaled, so did its hiring standards. Instructors are full-time business professionals who complete a three-stage training process covering curriculum, teaching methodology, and how to engage effectively with teenagers. A turning point came when a parent introduced Barakat to a school willing to host the program, which opened the door to formal B2B partnerships. Over the past year, the company has worked with 12 schools and taught around 1,000 students.

Beyond its core curriculum, Business for Teens also runs Speak to Win, a program built around pitching and public speaking. It culminates in a Shark Tank-style final project, where students identify a real problem, design a business solution around it, work through the financial and marketing components, and pitch to a panel of judges. But for Barakat, the most meaningful outcomes go beyond business acumen: parents consistently report improvements in their children's confidence, communication, and problem-solving, and it's these transferable skills he considers the program's greatest benefit.

Scaling without diluting quality remains Barakat's central challenge. Instructors are the backbone of the program, which is why the company has invested heavily in curriculum design, training methodology, and recruitment standards. The next phase of growth hinges on building a "plug-and-play" system that lets the instructor network expand without loosening those standards.

Looking ahead, Business for Teens is aiming to reach 100,000 students, with a particular focus on underserved communities across Egypt. Barakat is candid about the fact that access to this kind of education is currently a privilege, and one he'd like to see change through partnerships with the government and NGOs. He points to Upper Egypt and the Delta as regions with untapped potential: "We would love to be the first opportunity they receive."