photo credit: pqs

Google has yet another service they are offering free that could make a great homeschool entrepreneur project. I set up a survey for our newsletter readers as an example, and it took me less than an hour. Most of that time was thinking up questions! Here’s the easy instructions to create a survey with Google Docs:

First, if you don’t have an account with Google, you will need to sign up. It doesn’t cost anything, but you will need it to sign into your Google Docs account.  I don’t think you have to have a gmail account, but don’t quote me on that. I believe any email address you have will do. Once you’re signed in, go to Google.com and click on ‘documents’  which is found in the “more” drop down list of their services listed at the top left. Or, go to docs.google.com.

Second, now that you’re into the program, click on the “NEW” button on the left, which drops down some choices, and for a survey, click on “FORM“. This will bring you to a new screen, and at the top you will put the name of your survey, like “My First Survey“, or whatever your survey is about. The box under that is where you can explain about the survey, like when you will give them the results, or skip questions if you like, etc. You leave the “name” box blank, it’s for the survey taker to put their name.

Third, write your questions. “Question Title” is the actual question, such as, “What kinds of music do you listen to?“. The help text can tell them if they can choose only one answer, or as many as apply. You can put a box there for a short typed answer from them, or a paragraph box for a longer answer. You can even have them rate something on a 0-5 scale. Be sure to click “Done” after each question, and add another question with the button “Add Question” on the top left. Don’t worry about mistakes, you can go back later and edit or even trash the question later with the little icons you see on the right of the question box. You can even drag and drop the question boxes to rearrange the questions if you want.

Fourth, save it all (top right), and you can view your survey by clicking the link at the very bottom of the survey, where it says, “You can view the published form here“. Try answering your own questions and be sure they all work the way you wanted them to before you send it out. To send it, just copy the link at the bottom and paste it into your email or webpage.

Finally, to view your results, just log into your Google Docs account and your surveys will be there, sorted, ready to read! Nice, huh? I’m no pro, but if you have any questions, I’ll be happy to help. Have fun!

If you missed the survey we sent out, you can still view it at:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pMDeq1m3fhvynqx_u3n4jGw

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SCORE has a wealth of information for start ups, this site is a must for new, AND old, businesses! This link alone- http://www.score.org/template_gallery.html -

has the templates for a Business Plan, a Balance Sheet, Start-Up Expense Sheet, a Break Even Analysis, and more.

Score also provides mentors that you can connect with in person, on the phone, or online. There is no charge, so what’s stopping you? SCORE.org

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photo credit: Shimenawa

The eating local movement is really good news for homeschool entrepreneurs. If you haven’t heard of the eating local movement, it’s basically a grassroots movement to buy your food as close to home as possible. It’s currently estimated that the average meal travels 1500 miles to get to your table, which translates to a lot of gas! As for the environmental impact, it’s a no brainer. A study at Cornell University actually stated that if Americans ate local and reduced their junk food consumption (which requires more than average processing and packaging) we could reduce our oil consumption by 50%! It takes an estimated 500 gallons of oil to produce and transport food per person, so if everybody in the US ate local just ONE day per week, that translates into a reduction in oil usage of 21 BILLION gallons per year. Do you think that would make a difference?

The “Five is fine, but nine is divine” fruit and vegetable quota is toted as a ticket to good health, but buying that produce locally would bring countless other benefits to your local economy! Did I mention that homegrown food tastes better? Oh, you know that already! I know that many homeschool families already grow their own food, and are more than aware of the health benefits, but have you thought about the BUSINESS benefits to this ‘eat local’ movement?

I’ve never seen any statistics gathered on homeschool families and exactly how many live on a farm, or have a sizeable garden, but my guess is a very high percentage do….or would like to.  Starting a CSA is a little more complicated of an effort (though VERY doable), but selling at a farmer’s market is relatively simple. I’ve listed several places to find a farmer’s market in your area at the end of this post.

What if you don’t have a place to farm or garden? You could organize a farmer’s market, or help coop several smaller growers into a group effort, or make or bake a great food item from locally purchased food.  Jams, jellies, breads, even herbal remedies and teas all go well at the farmer’s market. Start planning now because the projections are for next year to be a record breaker for local farmer’s markets!

What can you do now? If you have some land you haven’t planted, till it under and plant a cover crop-if you aren’t too far north, you still have time. Contact your AG center for good cover crops in your area, and a nearby farmer might help you out with plowing the land if you don’t have the equipment. You can also get a wealth of information from your county extension agent about the best crops to grow, how to make jams and much, much more.  Calling the contact person of your local farmer’s market  would be wise if you’re not sure what to offer. They can tell you what items are in demand, and which are over-supplied! They can also tell you what you need to do if you are planning on joining their market next year.

I’m really excited about this “Eat Local” movement, I believe that it is bringing hope to the family farm and to families that would like to have a self-sustaining lifestyle. Most of all, it’s opening a new area of business possibilities to the homeschool family, and everyone will be healthier for it!

Here’s some resources to get you started:

The Eat Well Guide is a free online directory of sustainably raised meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs from farms, stores, restaurants, inns, and hotels, and online outlets in the United States and Canada.

Food Routes.com Plan your next trip with stops at all the best LOCAL food stops! On their interactive map, you can find a listing for local farmers, CSA’s, and markets near you.

www.farmfresh.org

http://www.localharvest.org/ This website will help you find farmers’ markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably-grown food in your area, where you can buy produce, grass-fed meats, and many other goodies.

Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA)
www.buylocalfood.com
CISA is dedicated to sustaining agriculture and promoting the products of small farms.

Chicago’s Green City Market Chicago’s only sustainable market with the highest quality locally farmed products

Usda.gov has a WholesaleandFarmersMarkets page - fantastic resource!
photo credit: jwalsh

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The following is an excellent story I (stole) from 48 Days to the Work You Love, which I have been meaning to review for ages. It’s an amazing resource/ministry that encourages and helps those that want to change their work situations. So many people are miserable at their jobs, but are either too afraid to make a change, or don’t know where to start. Dan Miller at 48 Days addresses both and offers some of the best helps on the market to do so.

We discovered 48 Days in their early years as a result of a Dave Ramsey consult. Shortly after our personal disaster (which God worked out for good), we were encouraged by the Ramsey Group to take a look at what Dan Miller offered and well… as they say, ‘The rest is history!’ I fell in love with what they were doing and wanted to do something similar, to help others like ourselves that wanted to work at home. The seed for our Homeschool-Entrepreneur.com vision was born, but did not take form for many years later.

I have read almost every newsletter Dan Miller has sent out for the last 6+ years. It’s always been brief (who has time for a long newsletter?), encouraging, uplifting, and I have printed out and saved several for the impact it had. I promise, you’ll love it. Sign up for the newsletter at 48days.com. I also highly recommend his Personality Profile for your graduating junior or senior.

Here’s a story that came from this week’s newsletter, for all the millions of people that have suffered disaster-because…’what the enemy intended for evil, the Lord works out for His good‘:

************

Once there was an old man who lived in a tiny village. Although poor, he was envied by all, because he owned a beautiful white horse. People offered fabulous prices for the horse, but the old man always refused. “This horse is a friend, not a possession,” he would respond.

One morning the horse was not in the stable. All the villagers said, “You old fool. We told you someone would steal that beautiful horse. You could at least have gotten the money. Now the horse is gone, and you’ve been cursed with misfortune.”

The old man responded, “Perhaps. All I know is that my horse is gone; the rest I do not know. Whether it be a curse or a blessing, I can’t say.”

After fifteen days the horse returned. He hadn’t been stolen; he had run away into the forest. Not only had he returned, he had brought a dozen wild horses back with him. Once again the village people gathered around the old man and said, “You were right – what we thought was a curse was a blessing. Please forgive us.” The old man responded, “Perhaps. Once again you’ve gone too far. How do you know if this is a blessing or a curse? Unless you can see the whole story, how can you judge?” But the people could only see the obvious. The old man now had twelve additional horses that could be broken and sold for a great deal of money.

The old man had a son, an only son. He began to break the wild horses. Unfortunately, after just a few days, he fell from a horse and broke both his legs. Once again the villagers gathered around the old man and said, “You were right. The wild horses were not a blessing; they were a curse. Your only son has broken his legs and now in your old age you have no one to help you. You are poorer than ever.” But the old man said, “Perhaps. Don’t go so far. Say only that my son broke his legs. We have only a fragment of the whole story.”

It so happened that a few weeks later the country went to war with a neighboring country. All the young men of the village were required to join the army. Only the son of the old man was excluded, because he had two broken legs. Once again the people gathered around, crying because there was little chance their sons would return. “You were right, old man. Your son’s accident was a blessing. Our sons are gone forever.”

The old man spoke again. “You people are always quick to jump to conclusions. Only God knows the final story.”

******************************************
And so it is with our lives. What we see as a blessing or a curse may simply be part of God’s preparation for what lies ahead. Be careful in seeing “disaster” in any change. Just recognize it as change – which opens the door for good as well as bad – for gain as well as possible loss. (comment is from Dan Miller)

Be blessed. Bob & Debbie, Homeschool-Entrepreneur.com

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Twitter has proved itself to be a fantastic place to meet people and find some really great friends, info, websites, and well….STUFF! I can’t believe I actually thought it was stup…..uh, trivial when I first started! (Thank you, Jeremy Palmer for getting me started!) In the last few weeks, I have had so many great people “add” me that I would probably never have discovered otherwise. One of those people is Terri Z (short for Zwierzynski) of Solo-e.com, a resource and training clearing house for entrepreneurs. The sheer amount of well organized information available for the entrepreneur at Solo-e.com is staggering, and a gold mine for any small business person! It’s a MUST bookmark.

One of my finds at Solo-e was a powerhouse PR source that you will be sure to find some publicity from, It’s called “Haro” (Help A Reporter Out)  and is powered by the powerhouse of PR himself, Peter Shankman. It’s a free service (I’m sure it’s serving him well with large amounts of traffic!) he offers both to help entrepreneurs find some free publicity and news reporters find the stories they need. Sign up on his email list and he will email you several times a day listing all the requests he receives from the press for storylines. How great is that?

Sign up for Haro here: http://helpareporter.com/

Check out Solo-e.com

Add Terri Z on twitter! http://twitter.com/terrizsoloceo

Add Homeschool-Entrepreneur (that’s us…) on twitter:  http://twitter.com/homeschoolbiz

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The internet has opened the playing field to teens like never before, so anything is possible! Not easy, but definitely possible. Thought you’d like this:

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The way we look at education has to change. After watching this video, along with ‘Shift Happens‘ and a few others like ‘A Vision of Students Today‘ and ‘Information R/evolution‘ recently, I’ve been thinking alot about our educational system. Being a 20 year homeschool veteran, but being a public school and state university student growing up, I come away wondering where it’s all going….or more importantly, where it should be going.

It’s amazing that we have more information at our fingertips than ever before, yet very little of that ability is being applied to maximizing that 180 days of required school time each year. I don’t want to dispute or promote any of the immensely diverse homeschool or public school teaching philosophies, but I think we all need to crawl out of our academic slurries and take a look around. The world is changing at an exponential rate. Time is not on our side. As soon as something is taught, it’s outdated, so what do we do?

Computers, the internet, cell phones, game systems, MP3 players, media of various kinds….this is where our kids connect with the world, why aren’t we using these systems to connect our kids to what they need to know to become responsible and productive adults? In a perfect world, there would be two internets, one for education, the other commercial. Since that isn’t the case, are there classes teaching kids how to search the internet safely and productively? They figure it out, sure, but at what cost? After they’ve found more garbage than good? Why aren’t computers being used to individualize each students learning pace?

Enough of my ranting, what is the answer? Homeschooling offers parents the freedom to create an ideal education for their child, but are often ill-equipped to do so. I get overwhelmed at times wondering if I can even begin to keep up with the advancing technology…can they? Kids seem to have a second nature with all this tech stuff, our challenge as parents is to channel that nature into advantageous activities.

One of the main reasons we developed our Home Business Course is because it’s just one example of a real life project that incorporates many areas of learning. Motivating learning by doing something that has purpose works for adults and kids alike! You don’t have to take the course to start a business with your child, and it doesn’t even have to be make money. You could start a non-profit, teaching all the aspects of fundraising and everything it takes just to help a group of people.

Starting a business as a school project also begins to develop an ‘Entrepreneurial Mindset’ - and your children may begin to see how all those tech gadgets can be used for building their business, and may even discover new ways of using them, or improving them.. the possibilities are endless. Maybe the mindless ways TV, cellphones, MP3 players and the like are being used can be transformed into tools to build their minds enough to possibly keep up with the pace knowledge is moving……..

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photo credit: mattbatt0

OK, I know hot dogs are really bad for you, so maybe you couldn’t bring yourself to sell them. What about buying some healthy, all natural dogs? Organic, even? If there is even such a product. I do know there are natural brats we bought through a coop once several years ago that my kids and husband LOVED…..so I’m sure you could find a good substitute. Now THAT’s a unique selling position.

I came across this website with a wealth of resources on the hot dog cart market, as well as an E-book, that would definitely jumpstart your new business for a small investment (relatively)! Then, as a homeschooler, think of all the events …..

The most interesting part of the story was the man who was selling the hot dogs forgot his ‘for sale’ sign was still on the cart, and got more business from people wanting to buy his cart! So be sure to be set up with a wholesaler so you could sell carts, too!

Have fun!

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If you’ve read much of our material, you know we are big supporters of the Business as Missions Network, believing that one of the best ways to reach impoverished areas is by meeting needs, or more specifically, by teaching them to meet their own needs. The ‘teaching to fish’ philosophy is so much more effective than only offering help…or food one time. Here is a video about a company that is ministering in a hard to reach country with this philosophy-and an internship you may be interested in someday.

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photo credit: Ninjanna

Here’s a way to combine a great homeschool learning experience with volunteer service and make a business out of it! I got the idea when I stumbled on the site LibraVox, which is a non-profit site that is attempting to put all public domain books on audio for the public. They are looking for volunteers to read books aloud onto their provided software (free, of course!) and release it onto their public domain site for anyone to listen to.

What if…..you volunteered to read, chose books of a particular subject that enhance your current homeschool studies, and also posted them on your site? You don’t want to charge for these audio, because they were created on software you received free for the purpose of creating public domain material. However, a website that has free audio downloads of a focused subject, you could put adsense on that site, and put the books you are reading aloud for sale through an Amazon affiliate link. This site won’t make you rich, but as you read different subjects, you could start different subject sites. Keeping your sites focused on one subject will give you an edge in the search engines.

As you learn your subjects that you’re reading aloud for LibraVox, you could also start Squidoo lenses on the subjects and earn additional revenue from that….and increase your traffic to your new sites.

Steps to start your online audio download biz:

1. Apply for Adsense with Google. This can take a week or two to get approved.

2. Start your volunteer service with LibraVox and start reading!

3. Sign up as an associate with Amazon. Follow our link or find the link at the bottom of any Amazon page, it says “Join Associates”.

4. Decide how you want to start a web page. The easiest option, which is also free, would be to start a blog with Blogger. More and more beginning website builders are starting out with a free blog as their website. Since Blogger is owned by Google, it makes it that much easier to put adsense (also owned by Google..) on it. If you want to get started right from the beginning with your own webhost, etc, BlueHost is the most recommended host, and has great tech support and comes with a free domain. They also have a good set up if you want to start a blog on Wordpress, and they will (patiently) walk you through set up. The advantage to having your own site versus Blogger is the ever-present danger of shut down. If you are making a profit on your site, yet hosted on a free service of any kind, there is that fine line that only the free service knows between allowed advertising and too much. Wordpress.com will usually at least give you a warning and tell you to remove all the links, but Blogger has been known to just remove your site. That can be devastating if you have put months or years of work into something that is now making a nice income and one day you wake up and it’s completely GONE. Google works hard at protecting their good reputation and the people they represent, but are very powerful and have little tolerance or patience for any infractions. What some people will do is get started free while doing all the footwork towards their own site and switch it all later. You can learn more about this process at our main site, Homeschool-Entrepreneur.com

What will they learn from this …looks harder than it is…project? LOTS!

1. The books they are reading will take on new meaning!

2. The writing skills putting a website and maybe a Squidoo site together.

3. Business skills for their new business.

4. Accounting skills running their business finances

5. Website, SEO, and online marketing skills

6. The value of doing something good by contributing to public domain works.

Have fun! Be sure to email us and let us know how it worked for you.

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