The Ref's Clan | Family Musings and Family Fun | Minnesota, Washington, Idaho

Angela: The Middle Sister

How to help my child get started with a business.

9/23/2022

Comments

 
Picture

My kid wants to start a business. How can I help?

Running a business online for kids is EXPENSIVE most of the time. And also requires a lot of your time/input, depending on her age and ability. (Technically, if she's under 13, she's not supposed to be MOST places on the web where sales can happen).

Running a business around the neighborhood, and among family/friends is often more doable.


How to do a mix of both, low-tech, safe and cheap:
  • encourage her to make a few pieces of inventory
  • let her take pictures with your phone (or her phone if she has one)
  • let her use your phone to send out texts or messages to people you have approved
  • she can make her pitch (writing it down on paper and sending a photo of the handwritten page would be better than straight text), include a sample inventory photo, pricing, and terms--and include a call to action: Call, FaceTime, Text back if you're in the market for a CRAFT ITEM!
  • have her make up some order forms to deliver to her local audience (have her draw up a map route, too, so that this doesn't take all your time if driving is needed)
  • center the crafts around Back to School, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, to give customers ample opportunity to find SOME reason to buy. Offer ONE DAY for order pick-up, and/or delivery. Let her design her business model around your boundaries. Do not give her or her customers EVERYTHING.
  • include many price points.
  • and the ONE BIG THING I would recommend you help her with is setting up MERCHANT PROCESSING. You'll have to do this for her, because credit card processors are banks and don't mess around with minors. Getting a Card Reader from Staples/Office Depot is a MUST. It pops into your phone and doesn't require a ton of typing on her part! People don't carry cash like they used to, and it is hard for kids to run a business without accepting cards!

Charge her a small fee to use your phone/adult abilities. It's great practice for her! And it will help you stay professional, instead of parental!


[My daughter is 13 and runs multiple businesses now!]
Comments

The Privileged are just so damn lucky it's not fair

7/18/2015

Comments

 
PictureMy 6 year old daughter started this business because she is PRIVILEGED*.
I made the mistake of reading this:
Entrepreneurs don’t have a special gene for risk—they come from families with money
After I cleaned up the vomit and passionately debated the article with friends, I concluded:

I am passionate about this topic because I feel that entrepreneurship (can we shorten this word?!) is one of the keys for a society, for a world, to advance technologically, and more importantly--spiritually.

Now, let me introduce myself so my passion and perspective makes more sense:

1) My ancestors pioneered Minnesota during the Civil War. They were PRIVILEGED enough to fight off the Sioux, the cold, the hunger, and the South. Many of them died horrible deaths, many of them complained--but the survivors thanked God that they weren't dying in Norway, but had the FREEDOM to TRY to survive and create a family and a farm and a future.

2) My grandmother was an entrepreneur; she was a divorced, abused single mom with 3 kids and no education, back in an era and a town where divorced women were shunned. She grew up in the Depression, raised by her 11 siblings, her parents died when she was just a kid. They had nothing. But boy did she feel PRIVILEGED to run a truck stop and put her 3 kids to work, and put food on the table. Food stamps? Yes, she used them sparingly for a season, but mostly relied on the garden full of tomatoes (my dad still struggles with tomatoes).

3) You guessed it--my dad is an entrepreneur and looks at every problem as a possibility for a solution. He has a degree in diesel mechanics; he is qualified to work on your TRUCK. He has worked his way through life, solving problems and building careers--and now is the President of a BANK. No MBA, no Harvard. Just a belief that anything is possible and a dedication to solving problems.

4) The apples don't fall far from the tree, it's true. I was PRIVILEGED enough to be diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in 11th grade. I lost the use of my HANDS for a semester. This was a big deal for a 4.0 GPA kid. I dropped out of high school. Years later I had a kid with a guy who was very ill. His illness escalated and I had to flee with my daughter. I had relied on him financially and had nothing. I was PRIVILEGED to raise a toddler by myself and build a business. My parents didn't have anything to give me, my credit had been destroyed by the 2008 crash. I was alone. I didn't even know how bad I had it, because I had grown up eating the marrow of chicken bones and the rinds of watermelon--because that was all that was left in the fridge. My daughter is 6 now and I have a 6 figure web design business. I built that in less than 4 years. Because I'm special? Because I'm PRIVILEGED? Because I'm one of a kind? No. ENTRP is accessible to EVERYONE--especially the struggling.

5) My daughter is ever so PRIVILEGED to lose her dad at age 5. She rents her computer to my team at a $1/day because I don't believe in handing out allowances, and I didn't have an extra $500 for a new laptop (6 figure companies actually have expenses! Weird!). If she wants to buy something; she has to make the money to do it. SHE had a dream of selling smoothies this summer; and she's doing it--without debt, without favors. Is she PRIVILEGED? Oh God yes, I think so--she is damn lucky to have a mom and grandparents who believe that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE and don't allow a culture of excuses. We recognize the power of BELIEF.

Suicide and depression run in the family genes--it is a DAILY effort to BELIEVE and PUT A FOOT FORWARD toward something bigger than me. I beg everyone to just rethink that word PRIVILEGED. We have all been given a unique set of talents, skills and setbacks. I would not be where I am today if my parents were wealthy when I was a kid, and if my health didn't get hit hard. These were all pieces to my personal innovation, and I am thankful for them. Thank you for giving me this chance to introduce myself more thoroughly. Nice meeting you!

Now your turn!

Comments
    Angela Refsland

    Angela's Musings about Public Education, Web Design, Business.
    For starters.

    Words from the Middle Child.

    Scattegories

    All
    Asperger's Syndrome
    Assembling Toys
    Autism
    Brainy Bunch
    Business
    Car Games
    Child Pscyhology
    Child Support
    Chocolate Milk
    Christmas Gifts
    Christmas Story
    Co-Parenting
    Course In Miracles
    Danger
    Daredevil
    Disciplinary System
    DIY
    Dying
    Education
    Ego
    English
    Entrepreneurs
    Exercise
    Flexible Flyer Triple Fun II Metal Swing Set
    Free Lunch
    Future
    Gifts For Kids
    Guns
    Healthy Lunch
    How To Call The Cops
    How To Protect Yourself
    Jessica Jones
    Kidpreneurs
    Kilgrave
    Lunch Program
    McDonald's
    Michelle Obama
    Money Mindset
    Mormon Missionaries
    Outdoor Play
    San Antonio
    Santa
    Santa's Workshop
    School Lunch
    Self Government
    Self-Government
    Spanish
    Telling Your Kids How You Feel
    Terminal Illness
    Traffic Light Colors
    Unity
    Upcycle
    Wesley The Owl
    Witte Museum

    RSS Feed

    New clothes!
The Ref's Clan is an Innovative Think Tank offering Solutions to Individuals, Businesses and Projects.
Waking Girl Web Design