Wendy Piersall is not a homeschool mom as far as I know, but she is a WAHM that has helped many moms (& dads!) start and develop a successful home business.

Only 2 years ago, Wendy was working on starting a different online business, and decided to blog about all the research she was doing to help others do the same. She discovered that her new blog was more profitable than her other business, so she quit that business and put all her efforts into her blog.  The rest is blogging history.

You can watch a video interview here…

And get her FREE “Better Blogging” Course here.

photo credit: smoooochie1

Springwise is a website that keeps an eye out for all the latest new and unique business ideas and I saw one today I thought would be ideal for home schooling families! Your Backyard Farmer is a service that goes to people’s homes…er…back yards, and plants a garden for them.

They are really onto something, IMHO, because I don’t know if you’ve noticed it lately, but not only has the price of fresh produce gone up, but the quality seems to going down. The movement to only buy food produced within 50 miles of your home is gaining momentum, and it could mean good news for home school families.

Now, I know that home school families don’t have a corner on the gardening market, but it does seem to be a commonly practiced hobby with them. The really great thing about Your Backyard Farmer is they don’t require a large piece of land. Only a 10′ x 10′ is needed to feed a couple, bigger families, bigger plot. However, the best reason it fits home schooling families is the flexibility they would have, as well as a low start up cost. You could take as few or as many gardens as you could handle.

How to get started? Well, let’s assume you already know how to garden from personal experience, so you probably have most of the tools needed. In the springtime would be the most labor-intensive time, so you could hire some help to get it started if you needed to. I would think it could be good planning if you signed  up your new customers in the fall or winter before planting time to begin getting the soil ready to plant then.

I’m so excited about this idea, maybe it’s the organic gardener in me, but 10 years ago I would’ve been making plans to start this today. It would’ve been so much fun with the boys and my daughter, but 10 years ago people would’ve thought you’d lost your mind if you asked them to pay you to start a garden for them. Things have changed.

You could get lots of ideas of how it works by thoroughly reading Your Backyard Farmer’s website. Not feeling confident in your organic gardening knowledge? There’s a great learning project! Have fun!

This is ridiculous. I just read the best way to decide on new product or website ideas is to look at the trends on Google. You can find what the top search phrases are on Google at http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist.html
photo credit: digibard

Now, you guess, which is first, second, and third most searched on this infamous 8-8-08?

Exactly like the title lists them….first is the Flat Belly Diet, second is Katie Holmes new haircut and a few down the line (really) is the Olympics.  Maybe everyone already knows everything they want to know about the Olympics, but I was really surprised at internet searcher’s priorities today.

That just confirms the cardinal rule of business: Do Your Research!  Google trends is a good place to start.

So…….let me guess, what are you going to search on next? ;~)

Rhea Perry has a yearly event designed to help families gain vision for having a home business and “unite your family and create financial stability”. You’ll get ideas, training, meet others doing it and come home revved up and ready to go! Rhea Perry is a homeschool mom of 7 that has a story you have to hear – and it’s posted on her site in a Mp3 format so you could download it and listen later, or listen to it on your computer while you do other things (like I do!). Her son is a successful entrepreneur now and you will find his story there too. You can listen to many of the other speakers online there too….so you know if you want to go or not. Your ROI will be rich!

AND….It’s designed for the homeschool family, (and you can bring your teenagers!) but anyone can benefit. Hope to see you there! Go to Rhea Perry’s Entrepreneur Days

Last week I wrote a post on “Should Christian Families Teach Their Daughters Business?” and more or less randomly chose two of the best Proverbs 31 websites I could find to illustrate a point I was making. It’s so amazing how God leads us down pathways to show us things He has on His mind for us…. while we are focused on something else!

The point I wanted to make is not entirely an apology, because I don’t believe any wrong was done…but there was a mis-judgement in that blog that I wanted to clarify. The video I highlighted from Proverbs31-woman.com was offered with the implication that little emphasis is placed on the entrepreneurial qualities of the Proverbs 31 woman. While there isn’t the emphasis I’d like to see in this video, when I did my research (regrettably after-the-fact!) on the woman behind the video, I discovered that her entire emphasis is on the work at home mom!

Kathie Thomas is a delightful work at home ‘mum’ (from Australia) that is a beautiful example of an entrepreneurial Proverbs 31 woman. Another reason I felt the need to correct what I wrote was because her mission and work is very much worth taking a look at. Her book, Worth More Than Rubies: The Value of a Work At Home Mom is an inspiration to Christian moms and how (and why) they can be home with their children and work full time. While I don’t think she home schools, there is still much to take away from her message. I have ordered her book and look forward to reading it! I’ll post a review when I’m done.

Another resource you might want to consider is her Proverbs 31 Forum where you can talk with other like-minded women. You can find more encouragement on her site, Proverbs31-woman.com where there’s a list of all the blogs she writes, writes for, and websites of hers….she really truly WORKS at home to accomplish all that! You’ll truly be blessed if you take a few minutes out of your busy day for a ‘Proverb 31 break’!

You can find a video of an interview of Kathie that will give you a good idea of her ‘vision’ and how she is following the desires of her heart at:

Be blessed!