- guiding creative entrepreneurs to make a living and a difference

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How to help your child create their OWN summer job doing what they love.

Posted May 28, 2019 by Terri

An acquaintance told me that her son needs to get a job because he has expensive hobbies. (this mom is an entrepreneur-ouch). I suggested that instead of getting a job to pay for his hobbies, she help him start a business. What could be better motivation for a child to hone his entrepreneurial muscles?

Some of the other parents were talking about teaching their children to read a balance sheet. Unless your child loves numbers, I think that’s a good way to make business feel like a big scary thing-not the best place to begin to teach your kids about making a living without a job. First,  teach them how to MAKE the money.

Sure they can do the usual kid jobs: babysitting, lawn mowing or selling lemonade but if that’s not their thing, guiding them to do something they don’t enjoy to earn money for a hobby they love is just priming them to turn into adults who pursue an uninspiring career in order to earn the money to take a ski vacation or trip to the beach once a year.

If we want our kids to grow into passionate, enthusiastic adults, why not show them now that they can turn that expensive hobby into their first profit center.
Here’s an example of how you can help your child create her own business from her hobby. If your child loves Continue reading →

How to keep the income flowing during the summer months.

Posted May 27, 2019 by Terri

In some industries, business slows down during the summer. If you want to be a self-sustaining, life-long entrepreneur, you’ll need to find other sources of income during your off-season. (This also applies to those of you whose business is warm-weather oriented if you slow down over the winter months. )

The first thing I suggest you look at is what service you can provide your existing customers. Let’s say you have a snow shoveling business. The obvious opportunity would be to offer lawn care or window washing to the same customers in the summer. Do you knit and sell woolen hats? Can you use a lighter material such as linen or cotton and market it to your existing customer list? Or why not call on some shops in areas that get an early freeze and get them to place their September orders now? What if you sell home made soups to a food truck? Can you come up with a chilled treat like gourmet popsicles or fresh smoothies to sell to the same clients?

I had a client who was a ski instructor in the Rockies and was busier than he ever imagined in the winter. I suggested he offer guided hikes and mountain bike tours in the summer months. It went very well.

For those of you down-under, let’s look at an example of a warm weather business that slows down in the winter. If you grow and sell organic vegetables at a farmers market during the summer, you might come up with an amazing salsa, sauce or preserves recipe that you can package in harvest season and then sell the product in the winter at indoor markets or to gourmet shops. You might even do make-and-take parties where you demo making one item and then you can also offer your other products packaged for purchase. Think about collaborating with someone who has a complimentary product or service. For example, if you make an olive tapenade, you might want to partner with a bread baker or cheese maker since your businesses attract the same customers and your products go together.

I attended a Lavender Festival last July and of course I interrogated growers about what they do in the frozen months. The wise ones distill and create lavender products to sell in the winter.

I’ve already heard from readers who purchased the e-guide “Create Your Own Summer Job” that they got some great ideas for additional income during the summer. I started out writing the guide for parents to help their kids create summer income without a job and quickly realized that most of the 50+ ideas in the guide are also appropriate for adults who want to make a part or full time income year round.

If you’ve figured out a creative way to keep your income flowing over the summer months, I’d love if you’d share with readers in the comments below.

How to get your kids to start thinking like entrepreneurs.

Posted May 25, 2019 by Terri

  As adults we forget that our children don’t really have an understanding of where products or services come from before they reach the end user.

Very young children, unless they grow up on a farm or in a family business, assume food simply comes from the store, packages arrive in the mail and the babysitter just shows up at the door. They don’t have the awareness that the retailer purchases from a manufacturer or maker before they sell it to you or that a baby sitter might work for an agency.
As you go places with your children, begin having discussions about what you see and purchase. Talk to them when you notice something lacking in your community. Maybe suggest some solutions and they will begin developing their own creative problem solving muscles.
If you travel with them this summer, point out what you notice in other geographic areas that might be a great thing to have in your own hometown.
Become trend-spotters. For example, what’s the next cupcake or cake-pop? As you notice trends, talk to your children about them. Ask why they think this has become popular.
When you are out and notice interesting shops, encourage your children to ask questions of the proprietor. If you notice products that look like they are handmade, point them out to your child.

A fun exercise to do is to always be asking, “how could this thing (cookie, instruction video, etc.) be even better?”

When you purchase something your child asks for, whether it’s a book, toy, fashion accessory or game talk about the price and where the money to purchase it comes from. Many children grow up just assuming their parents have endless funds and don’t consider what it took to obtain that money or how spending it fits into the family budget.

Depending on your child’s age and concept of math, you Continue reading →

7 Things Parents Can do to Ensure Their Kids Don’t Get out of College with More Loans Than Income

Posted May 15, 2019 by Terri

It’s Spring and millions of young people are completing their final semester of college. Some, like computer engineers and nurses, may have already been recruited and accepted offers with sign-on bonuses. Most, however, are putting out feelers, polishing resumes and sending online applications. Sadly, many of them will be working in jobs they view as below their education level or unrelated to their areas of interest.

It saddens me to think of these young people facing years of debt and disappointment when they realize that they were ill-advised by well-meaning  high school guidance counselors. Convinced that a 4-year degree is the ticket to a high-paying job, many chose “business” or “communications” as a major by default, figuring they can always work their way up in corporate management. But there are more college grads than appropriate job vacancies and if they are able to secure entry level positions, there are no guarantees that they will either rise in the company or have a job a few years on. Most important-will they be happy in those jobs? What about the kids who actually major in something they love like the arts or literature? How can you as a parent prepare them to find work that will pay the bills?

I’m not suggesting parents or counselors discourage college or insist their kids choose “marketable majors” but there are steps parents can take to help their kids prepare for the world they will likely face when they graduate. Continue reading →

7 Reasons You Should Encourage Your Kids to Start a Business Now

Posted May 10, 2019 by Terri

When I told a group of friends that I’m writing an e-guide for parents to help their kids start a business, I got the following responses:

Friend #1. Why would a parent want to encourage their kids to take risks?

Friend #2. I wish someone had introduced me to entrepreneurship earlier. I could have skipped all the years I spent trying to rise to the top in a job I hate.

Friend #3. Don’t most parents just want their kids to go to college and get a good job?

Friend #4. All my daughter talks about is being an aerospace engineer. Why would I want to encourage her to sell cupcakes?

Friend #5. That’s a great idea. Maybe my son can start paying for his own expensive Nikes. He outgrows them so fast.

I didn’t even respond to Friend #1 because this is a parent who is raising her kids to be as fearful as she is and I didn’t want to get into it with her. (Letting fear hold me back is much scarier to me.)

I hear comments like Friend #2’s from most of the clients I consult with. They say they wish they’d known about being free-range when they first got out of college because it would have saved them all the pain and agony of corporate life.

I told Friend #3 that I think most of us want our kids to have the option and experience of college but that we don’t all see that as a ticket to a good job, nor do we see a job as the only road to success.

Friend #4’s daughter will make a better engineer if she is a creative problem solver and the skills she will gain from having a business as a child will be valuable in whatever career she chooses.
And the money she earns now can help her pay for that engineering degree.

I told friend #5 that her son will appreciate his expensive Nikes (or cell phone, or video game) a whole lot more if he pays for them with money he’s earned himself.

Kids want expensive gadgets before they are old enough to get a job and starting their own business will enable them to earn money for those toys and hobbies. Even if you can afford to buy those things for them stuff means more to them when they have to work and budget their spending to get what they want.
Starting a business builds confidence and teaches the to be resourceful. They develop creative problem solving muscles they’ll need all throughout life.
It encourages them to be responsible for both their time and money management.
Knowing you support their efforts and believe in them makes them believe in themselves.
Entrepreneurship trains kids to see possibilities where others see problems.
Even if they end up going to work for someone else when they are adults, they will have gained valuable experience for future resumes.
As young entrepreneurs they’ll build the skills and positive character traits that they’ll need to be successful in a constantly changing world.

What we all really want is for our children to be happy, healthy and independent adults and the experience of having a business when they’re young will benefit them in whatever future career they choose.

The e-guide “Create Your Own Summer Job” is full of more than 50 ideas for businesses you or your child can start ANY TIME OF YEAR.

A Time of New Beginnings

Posted September 1, 2018 by Terri

September has always been a time of new beginnings for me. Most people think of January as a time for fresh starts and of course spring is time of re-birth. Maybe it’s my Jewish upbringing because the Jewish New Year begins in the fall, or just left-over school days excitement about moving up to the next grade. Possibly it’s the years I spent in retail when Labor Day signaled the end of tourist season and the time to place orders for the holidays. Whatever the reason, I get fired up to do new things in September.

Fifteen years ago on the first of September my father passed away.  Flying back east to bury him, I couldn’t help but wonder at his timing. Had he waited until Labor Day so that I wouldn’t have to leave my business during tourist season?  As you know if you are a regular reader, my dad was the greatest influence in my life as entrepreneur. My cheerleader and confidante, he encouraged me to start up businesses, even those he didn’t really understand. Having spent his career selling competitively priced goods, he was baffled by my confidence in selling to a more upscale crowd. He thought in volume while I wanted to know the person responsible for creating each product. One thing we had in common, though, was that we both loved designing new business models and couldn’t imagine not being self employed.

Do you also find yourself thinking this is the time to start up something new or make changes? Does the fall get you motivated to step up to your dreams and make those ideas take shape? Are you ready to finally do what it takes to make your business more meaningful and more profitable? The best ROI you’ll ever realize is when you invest in yourself and in your dreams.

Because I want to see you finally dive in and get your business rolling, I am opening a few spots for the Idea Generator Package through September or until slots fill.

That means 3 Session Package for $378. (That’s a SAVINGS of  $189.  on a $567. Value for three sessions purchased separately. In other words, you are getting one session F*R*E*E*) Find out more HERE

 

Is lack of start-up money holding you back from launching your dream business?

Posted August 20, 2018 by Terri

It doesn’t have to. More businesses than you know are started with no initial investment. In fact, many well-known successful businesses were started in someone’s basement or garage. Think “Geek Squad”, started by Robert Stephens at his kitchen  table and later sold to Best Buy for millions.

If anyone suggests you borrow money from family or friends, ignore them. If someone loans you start-up money, they are likely to be worried about recouping it and could get more involved in your new venture than you want them to. You are starting a business because you want to be in control of your own life and having to answer to your lender could end up feeling like you still have a boss.

Especially with the internet and social media, even businesses that are not web-based can be started with little or no money. One of the biggest expenses for a new business used to be advertising and now so much can be done for free.

If you think about it, it’s not really money you need. It’s what money can buy and believe it or not, you can actually get a lot of those things for free in trade or partnership. If your business is service oriented, you may be able to Continue reading →

Why wait until you can change the world to start something meaningful?

Posted March 24, 2018 by Terri

Do you know you want to leave your mark but haven’t started because you can’t see how you as one person can do something big enough to make an impact? Well, you don’t have to be ready to solve world hunger or end violence in the middle east to start something meaningful. Making a difference in one little corner of the universe can lead to a bigger movement or at least a greater awareness.

When I was in my early twenties, I had a BIG creative dream. It was the peace, love and groovy post-Viet Nam days when we were all idealistic and knew we wanted to create a better world. (note-some of us still believe we can.) I wanted to start a movement that made the arts the framework for learning beginning in preschool years.

A long detour took me out of the way of that dream but in the course of making a living, I realized I was able to make a difference. No, I wasn’t changing the way children are exposed to and inspired by the arts but my businesses did change lives and YOURS can too.

Typically a social enterprise is based on using business principals to achieve social goals and when someone comes to me for advise on how to create a meaningful livelihood,  we look at the cause or change they want to make and then create a business to drive that change.  Sometimes, though, an established business can be the vehicle to make a difference.

I didn’t get into advertising to change the world and I sure didn’t start a furniture business to create jobs or improve lives and at one point I felt like all I was doing was making money.  I was visiting my dad in Florida and mentioned that I was feeling greedy and unfulfilled that I’d drifted so far from my earlier vision of making an impact.  He pointed out all the ways that my partner and I were improving lives. I realized he was right. We weren’t just selling home furnishings. We had created something that fed over one hundred employees and their families and unlike charity, we had trained them to be self-sufficient. (We didn’t want sales people who had been poorly trained in other retail positions so we hired people who had never held sales or management experience and taught them our way. Many of these employees previously held minimum wage jobs and were now earning high five and some six figures.) We’d also found small cottage industry upholsterers working out of their garages or barns and helped them build up their businesses and create jobs in their communities.

When I was a massage therapist, I had mostly private clientele but after doing some volunteer bodywork at hospice, I realized how important it was to give patients and their families the gift of touch. I couldn’t afford to strictly volunteer but wrote an article about the benefits of massage for a local senior publication and people started hiring me to go into nursing homes and massage their aging parents.

While the above are examples of how an established business can develop a social mission, you can start a business with the intention of making a profit and make conscious efforts from the beginning to drive or support a cause.  The initial purpose of my gallery was to make a living and re-immerse myself in world of art but as I researched the work I would carry, another mission emerged. I became aware of how much of the merchandise available in most stores is imported knock-offs of artists’ designs. In some cases, the artist has a licensing agreement and gets a royalty but more commonly, the artist doesn’t know about it until it shows up on a shelf with a “made in china” label. Sadly, few of those artists can afford to fight a legal battle with the large companies manufacturing the knock-offs, so they do nothing about the theft of their designs. When I started noticing that even in little artist havens, the majority of shops sell these imported knock-offs, I made it a mission for my gallery to support American artists and educate the public so that they become more aware of their buying habits.

If you have an existing business, you can add a social component to it but even if you have a job, you can start something on the side that makes a difference and has more meaning.  If you’re drawn to making a difference with your existing business or on the side if you have a job, I’d love to help you design the vehicle the vehicle to make it happen. GO HERE for more info on Idea Generator Sessions 

Are you trying to fit into the wrong career box?

Posted May 14, 2017 by Terri

  What do you do when no one will hire you because of your age?

Yesterday, I was speaking with a client who recently retired and wants to do something totally different from her previous corporate job. She called me because she’s considering starting a small business. She was thinking about opening a gallery or co-op and knew I help people do that.

But here’s what bothered me: She said she’d been looking for a part time job but no one would hire her because of her age.

I told her self-employment is not a default if you can’t get a job.

You need to want it more than you ever wanted any job because at least initially, you’re going to work harder than you ever did at any job.

   I hear this age discrimination comment a lot, even from freelancers.

And it may very well be true. When a thirty-year-old screens your resume and sees that you graduated college in the 1970s, she immediately thinks “old” and moves on to the next candidate.  Both mature men and women have told me they color their hair or have cosmetic procedures when they’re job hunting so that they appear younger. Some even try to model their children’s vocabulary so they don’t sound old to an interviewer.

With roughly 30% of the US population over age 50, there’s obviously a huge market of people who speak our language.

I’m reminded of Judi Dench’s character in the film “Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” who lands a job advising the call centre staff on how to interact with older customers in a way they can relate to.

Whether you’re in the job market or thinking about starting a business, why try to fit into a world where your talents are not valued when there are so many areas where your wisdom is a treasure? You may need an app that a twenty-something develops but does she fully understand the experience of the older end user?

Why not start by asking yourself these questions:

What can I bring to the world that a younger person lacks?What is missing that can only be filled by someone with my experience?What products or services do I want to have access to as I age?What experiences have I had that would have been made easier by someone more my peer?

Instead of trying to fit into the same job slot as a younger person, think about the gifts you bring because of your age, not despite it.

Some things that come to my mind right away:

A market research company that has products for older adults and needs to recruit a panel of product testers who are in the demographic that will use the product.A rent-a-granny business. When my son was a toddler, we lived in a community with many over 55 adults who missed having their grandchildren nearby. They all wanted time with Todd and he enjoyed the attention because his grandparents lived across the country. As people are more mobile in their work and move away from their birth families, there are opportunities for services that bring the generations together.Peer tech trainer. My 83-year-old aunt received an iPhone as a gift and signed up for a class at
the Verizon store. She said the young trainer talked so fast and assumed everyone already knew the terms he was using. A clever retiree could start a business teaching older folks how to use their technology. They recognize that they may have to explain things differently than they would to someone who grew up with the terminology.Typing teacher. Have you noticed that manual typewriters are now trendy? Like vinyl records and turntables, these “vintage” tools of our youth are hot items with those too young to have ever used them. Have you seen how baffled kids are when you set a Royal or Remington down in front of them? What other items did you use that you could demonstrate to younger people?

These are just a few ideas of how the experience and wisdom acquired with age can be an asset in the work world rather than a detriment. Rather than beat yourself up over lost youth and how it affects your earning ability, why not look for possibilities to use age to your advantage?

Do you sell art for mother’s day?

Posted April 19, 2017 by Terri

  When I had my gallery, I started in April featuring handmade art with Mother’s Day in mind. I put little notes next to small framed paintings or prints like these floral batiks by Julie Dunn and hand fused glass wall vases by Latta’s Fused Glass . Messages like “Flowers only last a few days. Give Mom a gift that lasts forever. Give Mom Art.” The result was that people who had always stuck to the usual flowers, jewelry or candy were inspired to buy art. They just hadn’t thought of it until I made the suggestion. How do you reach out to your existing customers and remind them that your art makes a perfect Mother’s Day gift?

You can find lots of great ideas for how to sell your art, jewelry or craft for Mother’s Day over on Craft Biz Blog. 

How does an artist create a livelihood traveling, sketching and painting with friends in beautiful cities around the world?

Posted April 6, 2017 by Terri

Jane LaFazio is a mixed media artist working in paper and cloth. She has been published and feautred in major art magazines, books and television shows. Jane travels and teaches at retreats and workshops all over the world.

In our Inspiring Teachers conversation, Jane shares about starting her art teaching business, publishing and about creating wonderful sketching and painting tours to cities around the world. Jane is a beautiful example of how an artist can creative a sustainable livelihood that supports an enviable lifestyle.  You can LISTEN IN to our conversation and get the entire Inspiring Teachers Course HERE.

Kirsty Manna created a successful program to help young women songwriters succeed in the music business

Posted April 5, 2017 by Terri

Kirsti Manna is a Nashville-based speaker/songwriter/producer/publisher and actress. In addition to consulting with performing artists and songwriters, Kirsty created a successful program and community for young women and girls who love to write songs to help them succeed in the music business.
In our conversation for Inspiring Teachers,  Kirsti talks about how she’s created Songwriter Girl Camp which is celebrating 10 successful years in June. She shares how she’s attracted the girls and their families who need and love what she offers. Kirsti’s experience will benefit you in whatever craft you choose to teach. You can join us and get the entire Inspiring Teachers series HERE

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