Hello everyone! I hope you are enjoying these summer months with your kids. The past month has been an exciting time in the Chilver household as we began a new business venture.
It all began when we attended the Florida Parent Educators Association (FPEA) convention at the end of May. It was outstanding as usual and there were so much great information that I couldn't wait to get home and start processing everything I learned.
One thing that really resonated with me was several speakers discussed how we can be teaching our children to become entrepreneurs with having a home-based business. Now don't get me wrong. My husband loves his job and I enjoy my part-time businesses, such as writing books, designing homeschool merchandise, and managing several blogs. We are a VERY busy family.
But it hit me that none of these jobs involved the entire family. I wanted to be able to teach my children how to run a "family" business, and the best way to do this was to start one this summer. As God's perfect timing would have it, I was introduced to a home-based business HERE while attending the FPEA convention.
This business was Jamberry and my husband and I felt it would be an excellent opportunity to teach our children how to run a business. Even though my middle children have had small jobs in the past, such as babysitting and dog walking, I wanted them to be a part of a business team. From learning about products to sales to building customer relations to brainstorming innovative ways to share products, I wanted them to experience the real deal! I knew these would be life lessons they would not receive from a classroom or a textbook. It was my responsibility to guide them as they learn how to operate a business and become entrepreneurs.
Jamberry nail wraps are nontoxic nail wraps that are long lasting and very affordable, which makes them super easy to sell. Only a couple of people are selling them where we live and the company is currently booming (even featured again on the Today Show last week), so we saw it as a great opportunity to get in on ground level. The cost was only $99.00 to begin, which included a starter kit with everything we needed to get our business up and going. We do not have to keep any inventory or meet monthly requirements. No delivering product or taking orders as customers order directly from the site Jamberry gave us. The only extra expense we made was purchasing business cards that we used for passing out samples. This was really was the perfect start-up business for our family!
These nontoxic Mommy and Me nail sets are what stole my heart and sealed the deal when I first learned about Jamberry. Aren't they precious?
You may be wondering how we run a new business with everything else we have going on. The simple truth is we work as a team. My children have learned if everyone pitches in, we can get much further faster. Plus, it is just so much more FUN working together as a team!
We make marketing and financial decisions together, as we want to use our time and talents wisely. We are also learning a whole lot about sales by listening to audio books we check out from our library. We listen to these while we are in our car and have learned so much from terrific business leaders, such as the late Zig Ziglar.
I manage our new blog Pretty Nail Wraps, as well as create videos to help share our business with others.
My youngest likes to try to help stuff envelopes but for now, she is mainly our product tester.
She acted like it was Christmas when she opened our Jamberry starter kit. So cute!
My middle children help make all the sample cards by attaching the wraps and then stuffing and addressing envelopes with the samples and extra literature.
My oldest son shares sample cards with college girls since we live by a college. Yes, he thinks that part is wonderful! LOL He also drops off goodie bags for salon owners to introduce our products.
My husband has a computer engineering degree and likes to custom design nail wraps in the Nail Art Studio. (We are hoping to have the local college sports team designs done soon.) He also manages the spreadsheets to keep track of our customers and keeps the accounting part all organized.
Every Friday we get paid on our Jamberry ProPay card, which is like a PayPal card. Of course, this is the kids' favorite part of having our own business! We decide as a family to save the money, use some of it to purchase something, help someone in need, or even use towards a vacation.
Some unexpected blessings happened this summer since we began our own business. We had the privilege of hosting fundraisers for families who are currently going through some challenges. In addition, we have been able to help fellow homeschoolers begin their own businesses. One homeschooler is planning to raise money for her braces while another homeschooler is earning money for a missions trip. What a great feeling it is to be able to help others!
If you have older children, I encourage you to take time to begin a family business. It has been such a joy to see my family use their strengths to work on a common project. The life skills they learned this summer will always be remembered.
Enjoy making memories this summer with your children,