Archive for July, 2008
Jul
29
Should Christian Families Teach Their Daughters Business?
This was a question that I was asked recently by a very Godly mom that is seeking to raise her daughters to be godly helpmeets and keepers at home. And, you can probably guess, my answer was an emphatic “YES!”
Take a look at the Proverbs 31 woman. You knew I was going there, didn’t you? Let’s think about it for a minute. What exactly IS a proverbial “Proverbs 31” woman? For obvious reasons, I won’t go over all the qualities that proverbs 31 describes, there is a great breakdown of this proverb by specific traits on the website, http://www.proverbs31woman.com/. Unfortunately, there is very little mention of the ‘entrepreneurial’ references in that and other proverb 31 centered sites ….like found in verse 16:
“She considers a field and buys it, and from her earnings she plants a vineyard”
I’ve always wanted to do that, buy a piece of land and plant something useful we could sell. What a great homeschool project! OK, that’s beside the point, but the reference to her earnings seems to make it obvious that some trading for profit had to have been done by the Proverbs 31 woman.
Then, verse 18 says,
“She senses that her gain is good, and her lamp does not go out at night” .
I do my best work at night, and I know many, many homeschool moms that do their home business after the kids are in bed-I guess some things never change! However, can you tell me, if girls in God-fearing families didn’t teach their daughters ‘business’, how did she know her gain was good?
Verse 24 is the most obvious reference that a godly woman has entrepreneurial pursuits,
“She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies belts to the tradesmen.”
I think this is a fine illustration of the various ways that woman can supplement the household income by running a small home business AND that women have done this for a very, very long time.
Teaching the basics of business to our daughters is a sure way they can judge if “her gain is good”. The biggest reason so many new businesses fail is simply a lack of training. The fallacy that if you have a good enough idea, anyone can start and run a successful business and there is nothing to it, or they can learn as they go, is a recipe for failure. Give your children the basics of business and they will have a priceless advantage for the rest of their life. You never know when you might need it.
Many years ago my husband was ill for over a year and unable to work. Like many homeschooling families, he was the sole bread winner, and with 4 young children an outside job was out of the question. Even though I had been raised by a long line of entrepreneurs, I learned many of the basic lessons the hard way. Don’t assume your children will learn what they need when they need it. While it may happen that way, why not make learning the basics of home business a part of their homeschool? The money they earn could help pay for those expensive lessons they have been wanting, or add to their college funds. Most importantly, it’s a skill they will have the rest of their life.
A wonderful video presentation applying the wisdom of proverbs 31 to today’s woman:
http://proverbs31-woman.com/2008/05/18/proverbs-31-woman-a-presentation/
I would love to hear your thoughts on this! Email me or leave a comment!
Jul
28
What Parents Do In Moderation….
What parent’s do in moderation, children take to excess….
Now, that does put a little pressure on us as parents, but for me, that’s been a good thing. A while back I overheard one of my sons telling a ‘little white lie’, mostly to avoid hurting a friend’s feelings, but it was one of those “excuses” that wasn’t entirely true. In 30 years of parenting, it’s become one of my favorite mantras- “What parents do in moderation, children take to excess”.
I felt very convicted….and humbled… when I heard him make that ‘not-entirely-true’ excuse, because I knew that I had done the same thing more than once.
As a Christian, I am diligent to always speak truth the best I know it, but I admit that sometimes to avoid embarrassing situations or offending or hurting someone’s feelings, I do find myself omitting incriminating details, or manipulating the situation….truthfully, of course… to sound different than it really was. A humbling example would be my tendancy to be late, thus often highlighting an actual obstacle like excessive traffic as the cause, but really, if I had left earlier, that completely true obstacle, traffic, wasn’t really bad enough to make me as late as I was.
I now find myself being very careful to be completely truthful in all things, but before you think too highly of my intentions, I’ll be the first to tell you I slip up more than I’d like. Of course, there’s still the truths that don’t need to be told, like what you really think of someone’s new dress or haircut.
However, one of the best teaching opportunities we have as parents is letting our kids know just how human we really are. Talking to them about our slip ups and how we could’ve and should’ve said or done something differently is one of the richest teaching moments we can embrace. It’s also good for our ‘humble index’!
So the next time you notice your kids doing something you know they learned from you, make that a teaching moment….while humbling, it’s a opportunity to do “the bonding thing” that has a richness not found anywhere else. Running a business with them or along side them will certainly give you more of these “teaching moments” than you will probably want…I guarantee it!
Jul
28
Start a Scrapbooking Business-For $1
There’s an E-book out there I discovered today that looks like it could really be worth a try. A homeschool mom that discovered a better way to make money doing what she loves to do most, scrapbooking, has written an e-book detailing exactly how she did it.
She understands how expensive it can get when you go the route of signing up as a scrapbooking rep for a company, and how much materials can be just doing your own scrapbooks-not to mention the time it takes! I thoroughly admire this woman for following her passion and finding a way it can be done, and developing a method others can follow! If you are good at scrapbooking, and would love doing it for extra money, this e-book will give you a step by step guide to how you can do it. There’s checklists, a regular newsletter to keep you up to speed in the market, and lots of ‘inside’ marketing tips.
The best part is she is so sure you will succeed with her method, that she is offering it for only $1 for a 30 day trial. If you find that it isn’t what you thought it was you owe nothing. I think that’s very fair. There are many moms out there that would LOVE to have their photos organized in a scrapbook (like me!) but have NO time to do so. It would be a blessing, and fun, too! But if you find it’s just not what you thought it would be, then you haven’t wasted any money.
If anyone has tried starting a scrapbook business with or without this e-book, please let us know your experiences. It’s always helpful to hear what others have done.
You can find this e book $1 trial at: ScrapVenturePro
Jul
25
Anyone Tried Fat Brain’s Biz Course For Kids?
I came across Fat Brain Coffee’s website a few weeks ago and found something you will definitely be interested in if you have an 8-12 year old! It’s a course you can do with your child that teaches them sales and marketing techniques, accounting skills, day-to-day business operations, and public relations by starting a coffee business.
So I ordered the course and a box of coffee for Benjamin, since he is always wanting to do some kind of business. (Gee, I wonder where he gets THAT from?) Arriving within a week, Ben was ready to do the first lesson immediately. Now why doesn’t he get that excited about his writing assignments? Anyway, it had seven easy to follow lessons with everything we needed to start a sustainable coffee business. It comes neatly arranged in a black, 3 ring binder, and a CD containing the forms and graphics for a label or other advertising. The lessons require little or no preparation to teach them, and offer a great beginning business basics curriculum. We’ll keep you posted on how Ben does as we go along.
Of course, we had to try the coffee, too, and their unique selling proposition is FRESHNESS and QUALITY. All coffee is ground to order, and is targeted to arrive at your home within 1 week of roasting. It’s reasonably priced, and you are free to set your own retail price. It’s comparable to Starbuck’s coffee. We even did a blind taste test (my husband’s idea) and it won hands down!
One of the best parts of this course is the emphasis on giving back. The lessons encourage giving a portion of your profits to a charity of your choice, and rightly budgeting the rest of your profits in a healthy manner. In every lesson, there is emphasis on character in the marketplace, which is one of Homeschool-Entrepreneur‘s core reasons for making entrepreneurism a part of your homeschool. Making right decisions, good stewardship of your money, and ethics in all your business dealings are all principles you can’t teach early enough.
Nicole Hunt and her daughters have made quite a splash in the short time they have been in business. They have been featured in several local newspapers, and have even made it to the big screen! You can see the news clip that Tampa Bay’s CBS News did on their business just last week. Nicole has a flair for the PR side of business and that is reflected in her success and in the course! The stir they have created is a sign that people like the idea of teaching kids how to run a business.
If you would like more information on how to buy the course or Fat Brain Coffee, you can go to FatBrainCoffee.com, and take a look at the news clip about them too. Nicole is a delightful woman, and even makes herself available by phone. Of course, if this gets as big as I think it will, that might change soon! They charge $20 for the course, and a offer a discount if you buy the course and your first round of coffee together. Let me know if you try it, and what experience you have, we’d love to hear!
Jul
24
Free Training in Video Production
Having a business doing videos for other businesses, or creating visual media for your own business can pay off in a big way. In the last year, online video has taken off, much faster than people are learning it. Another great development is not too long ago it took thousands of dollars of equipment to make any type of decent video, but these days you don’t have to have expensive equipment to make a good clip.
What you do need is know-how, and being a relatively new field that is advancing rapidly, that know-how isn’t always easy to find. If you know someone you can apprentice with, you are truly blessed. Since that probably isn’t the case, I found a great resource that offers lots of great information and FREE training in many of the media arts.
Faith Visuals is an online resource technically created for pastors, leaders and those in their churches creating or managing visual media. Their mission is to encourage more churches to use media in their services, etc, and to raise the level of visual media quality. There is a wealth of resources on this site, and they have several sister sites that look to serve ministries also.
So you can learn this training as an entrepreneur and give back by volunteering your new found talent to your own church, or if you are interested just learn it to help out your church. You never know what it may lead to! Have fun!
http://faithvisuals.com/freetraining
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