enterpriseforkids.com

Inspiring kids to be entrepreneurial.

How Bad Do You Want It?

September 14th, 2012

We were going to write about Kit and Chayse’s enterprise and how they have gone with working on their goal, but have decided to share an interim and thought-provoking blog designed to make you think about how much do you really want success (in any chosen field)!

Our daughter Kaitlin saw this video on You Tube and sent us the link. We thought it was awesome. So, take the time to watch the clip (it doesn’t go for very long), then read on.

How Bad Do You Want It? Video Clip

How Bad Do You Want It? Click image to view clip.

For those who want to digest the words again, I have taken what I could decipher from the You Tube and written the transcript here.

There was a young man who wanted to make a lot of money, so he went to his Guru and said,

“I want to be on the same level you’re on.” And the Guru said, “If you want to be on the same level I’m on, I will meet you tomorrow at the beach.”

So the young man got there at 4am. He wore a suit, but should have worn shorts. The old man grabs his hand, leads him to the water and says,

“How bad do you want to be successful?” The young guy said, “Really successful”.

The old man says, “Walk on out in the water. “ He goes waist deep.

This waters freezing. The young man thinks, I just want to make money and he’s making me swim.

I didn’t ask to be a life guard. I wanna make money.

“Come out a little further. “

So he’s thinking. This old man’s crazy. He makes a lot of money, but he’s crazy.

“Come out a little further.” And he did.

This man is crazy.

The old man said, “I thought you wanted to be successful”.

He said, “I do”.

“Then walk a little further”. The old man pulled him, dropped the young man’s head in the water, held his head down, and continued to hold him down, even when the young man struggled. He held him down, but just before the young guy passed out, the old man raised him up.

He told the young guy. “When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful!”

After watching this video, it really made us think, How much do we want it? Do we “really” want it or just “kinda” want it? Want what, you may ask?

Well, anything really. How much do we want our fitness levels to be at their optimal levels? How much do we want to be financially free? How much do we want to have a happy and loving family life? How much do we want to enjoy our time with friends and experience unique and exciting experiences?

For us, it’s a little bit of everything. But what we realised as we’ve been completing Paul Counsel’s Money Mastery Course over the year, that splitting our attention between everything (as we have in the past), we get a medium result from everything. There’s nothing wrong with that, it makes life comfortable, and that’s OK for many people.

But for us………we’re ready to challenge ourselves. We’re ready to step up and make a difference in those areas in a big way, not an average way.

So, whilst we may not exist on 3 hours a night (although that’s debatable with our 18 month old at times!), we do put in the long hours. We do stay up until midnight (long after the kids have gone to bed), working on our internet business, studies, trading or Health and Wellbeing business.

We try to focus as much as we can on them. And why do we do it? Because we know that we are already successful in some parts of our lives. We know we have a wonderful family and supportive friends. And we know we’ve achieved that through dedication and focus. Now, we are ready to transfer that focus and skill to other aspects of our lives. We know that when we are financially free, that this will positively affect every other part of our lives.

If we want more time to focus on our kids, we can hire someone to do the mundane things in our lives, thus freeing our time. We can create awesome experiences beyond what we’ve already had. We can take time to enrich our own relationship without worrying about how we are going to pay the next bill.

Now, it may take us a little longer to achieve our goals than it will Giavanni Ruffin (the athlete in the movie). He has MAJOR, unstoppable focus and he WILL achieve, no matter what. It’s not a matter of IF, it’s a matter of WHEN for him.

But even if we used just a tenth of his energy and commitment, it has to be better than no focus at all. Where your attention is held is what will show up in your life. You need to “attend to your intention”. A clear intention with determined focus will set you on the right path to success.

This lesson on focus can be applied by anyone, whether it is teenagers studying at high school, kids with big sporting ambitions or parents developing business. Kaitlin is challenged with maintaining focus with her studies. We are glad she discovered this video, thought about its excellent message, and decided to share it with us.

So, like we said at the beginning of this post, “How Bad Do You Want It?”

If you enjoyed the first video clip, and thought that was all there was, think again………then have a look at this one…

How Bad Do You Want It (part 2)

How Bad Do You Want It? Pt2 Click to view

Youth Enterprise…. Kaitlin and Jai

What “The Secret” Left Out

Anthony “Tony” Robbins is an American self-help author, motivational speaker and Life Coach. He became well known throughout the world through his self-help books. Our Mentor, Paul Counsel, speaks highly of Tony Robbins and his teachings.

An Entrepreneur’s Conscience!

September 10th, 2012

Is Having a Money Mindset Charitable?

Yay! Enterprise For Kids Rock!

I was talking with a dear friend and asked what she thought of our Enterprise for Kids blog. She thought that it was very well done and that her kids were very inspired by our kids’ enterprise experiences. Her children had read every blog post and watched every video, then her nine year old daughter sat down and planned an enterprise following all the lessons we talk about in our blog.

Wow!

That is exactly the sort of inspiration we hope to develop, especially with kids.

What happened next was a real surprise to me!

What! I have to give it all away!

My friend explained that she didn’t mind the idea of enterprise, but she wasn’t OK with her kids having an enterprise where they make money for themselves.

I was a little taken back when my friend said this. I really had never thought that there would be people with the view that kids shouldn’t be making money for self interest. I was also grateful that my friend was frank in sharing her beliefs as it helps me better understand mine.

Firstly there is no right or wrong in what people believe or do. Everyone is entitled to their views and I respect my friend’s view.

After this enlightening conversation, I came to realize how far our mindset around money has changed since we started out on our journey in search for economic and personal freedom. It also had me thinking about the entrepreneur’s conscience!

Wealthy entrepreneurs think very differently to the rest of us.

Generally I would also say that they are not selfish; although I’m sure there are some who are, like there are selfish poor people as well!

Wealthy people would have persisted with their goals and taken certain risks to get to where they are now. Many of the wealthiest entrepreneurial people in the world are also very charitable and give millions away supporting causes they believe in. It is much easier to be charitable when you are rich! Many who are struggling to make ends meet do not have the time, energy or money to make larger contributions to the world.

Bill Gates

Warren Buffett

John Templeton

Bill Gates, for example, employs many people to spend his money on charitable causes! Warren Buffett, who has lived in a very modest house all his life, gives away billions to charity! And Sir John Templeton (1912 – 2008) contributes $70 million each year through his foundation providing research grants and programs relating to the Big Questions of human purpose and ultimate reality (very interesting if you have the time to delve!).

Only last week I was speaking with a new entrepreneur friend who lives in Perth. He has recently created tremendous wealth developing property mostly in the Western Australian mining town, Port Hedland. He explained to me that he no longer needs to work and he now channels his energy into his passion. He is planning to take his young family to America where he has enrolled in a Theology university course. From there he plans to do mission work in Africa. Being a successful entrepreneur is allowing him to follow his charitable dream!

It could be argued that entrepreneurs, as opposed to the rest of us “workers”, have more free time, are less stressed, enjoy better health, eat better, travel more and their families are given more opportunities in life.

Do the rich have an entrepreneur’s conscience?

Probably more so than the rest of us!

The difference being is that they are in a much better position to make a real difference in our world than those of us who are tied to a “job” and to “debt”.

I’d like to thank my friend who allowed me to consider my views of an “entrepreneur’s conscience”. I certainly value the importance of teaching kids enterprise, and I do support the view that enterprising kids should also be taught to be charitable.

Our view also is that a child has to walk before they can run…..meaning that for us, it’s OK for our kids to have a “selfish” goal because that is what motivates them at the time to take action and learn the entrepreneurial skills necessary to succeed. Then, when they have mastered that skill, they are taught to have a goal, but think about where they may like some of the money they earn to go. That is exactly the process we taught our Chayse (who’s 4) and Kit (who’s now 7) when they reset their goals. See this in action in an upcoming blog.

The more entrepreneurs we create the better our world will be!

As we revisit our own kids entrepreneurial journeys in this blog, we will share the lessons around their entrepreneur’s consciences and how we are teaching them to be charitable.

Next time we will talk a little more about the conditioning we have around money and how the wealthy do think differently.

Keep this discussion going by sharing your view in the comment box below.

Lastly, I’d like to take this opportunity to remind you about the Gold and Silver Seminar that we are holding in Bunbury this Sunday. It will be an informative presentation that will open your eyes to some excellent investment opportunities. The discussion after the seminar is a great way to meet and network with other investors and business people. Bring along your teens to kick start their financial education. Click Here to view our flyer and please pass it around to others who you think may be interested.

Youth Enterprise…. Kaitlin and Jai

September 6th, 2012

So far we have seen Flynn building a great Honey enterprise and actually achieve his goal. Kit had a go at “dog walking”, but quickly cottoned onto the fact that Chayse was making more money than him selling lollies or candy at the local Soccer fields, so has been pursuing that with his brother. They have made quite a team, and we will revisit them in an upcoming blog post. Amber has actually reached her goal with her “New from Old” endeavours and we will celebrate her achievement in another post also.

So that leaves our creative Artist, Kaitlin, and our budding App Developer Jai.

It has been interesting to note on the kids’ journeys, that it is actually easier to introduce a different mindset around money to children who are younger than it is to teenagers or older children. Why would teaching youth enterprise be so challenging? Well, the answer is simple really. In our case, Kaitlin and Jai have been a lot more conditioned around money than the younger siblings. They have been around longer with us as their major source of education. Our thoughts/objections/subconscious beliefs have been ingrained into these two and it is now quite a process to change those beliefs.

Kaitlin and Jai

Luckily for us, Kaitlin and Jai are both quick learners and understand the concepts we have been trying to teach. The main obstacle has been providing the “time” to put this newfound knowledge into action. Being teenagers, their lives are full of homework/study, sporting commitments, social life and social media. All of these are things we want to encourage in our children, so our challenge has been finding the time to also include a Financial Education.

But in the end, as with everything, “life” has been the best teacher of all.

Jai hasn’t had an urgency to pursue his App Developing as there was no time line on when his goal needed to be reached. But since then, his goal has changed. Jai has been accepted into the Country Week Soccer team and will be competing in Perth during the holidays. He has to pay for a good portion of this trip. He suddenly has a renewed vision and goal to aim for, and he has spent countless hours researching a variety of ways to make the money in a short amount of time, kicking his youth enterprise into action!

Jai's focus or goal has changed.....

Jai loves being active and he now has a new goal.

He has come up with different ways to make the money, some of them he wasn’t interested in before. The sorts of opportunities Jai has been looking at are mowing lawns in our neighborhood, finding items to sell and hiring out exercise equipment. Together, he and Trevor worked out he needed to find $10 a day to be able to afford his portion. He has been negotiating with us over particular jobs that need doing around the house (above and beyond household chores) and been getting on and doing them. He has gone through many of his good quality items that were a “must have” when he bought them, then realised that perhaps he didn’t need them as much as he first thought. These, he has posted on Facebook to sell.

So, whilst Jai’s App developing has taken a backseat, it hasn’t been forgotten, it is just something he has recognised as a longer term project and pursuing it now wouldn’t give him the instant money needed to go on this trip. We are proud of his efforts and are sure he will reach his goal in time.

Jai reflected on his Entrepreneurial Journey a few weeks back. Click here to view!

Kaitlin doing what she loves!

Kaitlin, our artist in residence, is finally learning to manage her energy around study, social life, sport and her youth enterprise ventures. She has put a time line in place and is having more requests for art, so has to now take the time to start each piece so it can be finished in time for Christmas (for some) and earlier for others. Having a boyfriend has actually increased her self effacy as she needs to complete certain things before socialising.

Kaitlin and Lachlan

Luckily, lachlan encourages Kaitlin to do that, because he actually wants to have a social life too!

Kaitlin and her friend Georgia are also realising the power of leveraging their time. They have come up with some great ideas around Enterprise and have put steps in place to pursue these ideas. They are longer term goals, but in the end will reap more rewards than working a job. However, they still see the need to pursue their “job” in the meantime, to give them the money to put towards their enterprise when it is up and running. We will keep you posted with their endeavours.

Kaitlin & Georgia

So the journey towards Financial freedom is always a rocky one, but one worth following regardless of what else is going on in your life. Our kids are teaching us so much along the way, and whilst all of their efforts aren’t successful, they are learning from that and moving forward……..and we couldn’t be prouder.

Children Earning Pocket Money… the Candy Man!

August 12th, 2012

We thought it was time that we revisited our little Candy Man Chayse! When we last followed his enterprising adventure he had bought his lollies and bagged them up ready to sell.

If you missed that article, then click here.

Now he has to find a market for his product and learn to be a salesman. Before we share Chayse’s exciting adventure we thought that it would be interesting to consider the benefits of children earning pocket money through enterprise as opposed to children receiving a weekly allowance.

Children earning pocket money through enterprise will develop the mindset and skills of an entrepreneur! Giving children a weekly allowance conditions them to be “workers”. Robert Kiyosaki describes a worker as someone prepared to give their time for money, whilst an entrepreneur builds systems and businesses that produce a cash flow. Workers are more often than not time poor and cash poor, whilst entrepreneurs are generally time rich and cash rich.

Why is it then that the vast majority of us leave school and become workers?

A child receiving a weekly pocket money allowance is equivalent to a worker receiving a weekly salary. Relying upon a weekly allowance won’t encourage children to look for opportunities for enterprise. Their pocket money may or may not be aligned with doing household chores, just as a worker receives payment for doing work. Many kids leave school and slot into jobs for the rest of their lives because they have not been able to explore the entrepreneur within themselves!

Chayse with his box of candy!

Children earning pocket money through enterprise develop a whole different mindset. Parents of these children will encourage their children to look around to find opportunities. These kids learn to identify problems that they can solve and they’ll learn the art of negotiation. Enterprising children understand assets, liabilities, cash flow and profit. They will understand markets and customer service and they will develop the confidence to promote themselves.

Children earning pocket money though enterprise are more likely to value their profits and spend their money wisely. Weekly allowances are easily received and easily spent (knowing that more money will follow). This conditions kids to be reliant on a salary.

Enterprising children become self motivated to make money, and as they celebrate their successes, they quickly come to understand that they can in fact make a lot more money than their friends receiving weekly allowances.

According to entrepreneur, Cameron Herold (ted.com), parents wanting to raise entrepreneurial children won’t give pocket money to their kids. They will encourage their kids to go around their home or community and identify opportunities. These kids then make a plan and negotiate with either their parents or people in the community to provide the service or product for payment.

Getting prepared with his helpers.

Selling to customers.

Kids may not be motivated to do this at first, especially if they have been used to receiving a weekly allowance. The trick here is to make sure they have a big “Why!” They need to want something badly enough. This then becomes their goal and reason.

So back let’s get back to Chayse’s enterprising story! Was he able to earn his pocket money through his Lolly Bag business?

He had his first opportunity to sell his lolly bags at his big brothers’ soccer games. During the game the spectators (his potential customers) mill around on the sidelines. So we primed him on what to say to customers. We also enlisted the help of his brothers, Amber and friends. It was all great fun and soon enough the customers came rolling in!

Now who could knock back buying lollies from a cute smiling four year old!

His lolly bags sold like hot cakes for two dollars each. Chayse couldn’t hold up the box because it was too heavy, so he managed the money jar, whilst his helpers held the box. He had to take his customers money and give change.

As word spread that there were lollies for sale, kids came racing in from all directions to buy Chayse’s product. The box became lighter and the money jar heavier… but despite the weight, he wasn’t going to relinquish it!

Chayse looked after his helpers by giving them each a lolly bag. Hopefully they will be willing helpers the next time he sells something.

Chayse also paid back the money his Dad lent him as capital to buy the lollies and plastic bags from the supermarket.

All up he was delighted with his fifty dollars net profit! He is now well on his way to reaching his goal to buy toy Nerf Guns. In fact his business was so successful, that Kit has recently decided to partner with him for his next endeavour! And under their mother’s guidance, they will research and decide on a charity that could benefit from some of their profits. So, stay tuned for that one!

Chayse is one of those children earning pocket money through enterprise. It would have taken him five weeks, with a weekly allowance of $5 a week to save the equivalent to what he profited at the soccer grounds during a soccer game.

In our next Enterprise For Kids blog we’ll introduce you to a self made millionaire who has some excellent tips for parents wanting to raise entrepreneurial kids. Don’t miss this article!

Green Super Camp Bali… Jai Shares His Experience!

July 23rd, 2012

Jai and Kaitlin also attended the Green Super Camp Bali, although their experiences were a little different to Flynn’s as they were with teenagers from 14 to 17 years old and their learning and activities were different. They also had life changing experiences and returned to Australia with plenty of stories to share and noticeable positive changes. Here is Jai’s account in his own words….

Dance & drama!

Jai being prepared by his team to present a talk to the group.

The Green Super Camp was a once in a lifetime opportunity! I reckon I learnt more in the one week I was there than I have all of high school! It’s hard to explain what we learnt, but it involved quantum strategies, learning how to trust, have integrity, be balanced, and be self motivated… We also learnt some easy ways to increase our grades!

The way we were taught these things were also very unique… there were so many skits and stories and we were involved in any way possible! Learning became fun and we found it easier to remember things.
Everybody there was so friendly and strong friendships were formed quickly.

Green Super Camp Bali

High Ropes Course.

Building project.

Although the kids on the camp were from all around the world, we all got on really well and learnt a lot about each other!

The Green Super Camp Bali was very different to any other camp I have been on… Every morning, to be able to have breakfast, we had to stand up as a team and yell out this chant:…

Team games.

Making friends... camp in the background.

“HUNGRY HUNGRY
   * clapclap *
   VERY VERY
   * clapclap *
   HUNGRY VERY
   * clapclap*
   VERY HUNGRY
   * clapclap*
   TI CALACKA PI A PI A
   TI CALACKA PI A PI A
   TI CALACKA PI A PI A
   MAKAN!”

At first we all thought this was really weird and immature and none of us were really comfortable chanting it, but after a few days, nobody cared about how they looked (another thing we learnt) and we all got right into it!

Green Super Camp Bali 2012

My favourite part of the camp was interacting with the people there and mucking around with new-found mates!
   And if I had to say my least favourite part of the camp, it would be the fact that we sat a lot and our bums were sore by the end on the camp but that was minor compared to how much fun we had.
   Overall this camp was an amazing experience and I would happily go back any day!
   I would recommend this camp to anyone who is experiencing problems in their life, or would just like to try something new!

By Jai

In our next blog we hope to visit Kaitlin’s account of the Green Super Camp Bali. She hasn’t put pen to paper yet, so possibly we will take a look at something else until she gets round to it. It will be interesting to see if the camp lived up to her expectations!

Green SuperCamp Bali Raps!

July 16th, 2012

Twelve year old Flynn confidently exited through the International airport departure gate, heading off to a foreign country for an experience of a lifetime at the Green SuperCamp Bali!

Flynn dancing at the Green SuperCamp Bali

The kids are taught Quantum strategies to learn.

Balinese martial arts in the Mud Pit!

Saying goodbye to our son at five in the morning, then watching him leave Australia, knowing that we would not be able to speak to him for over a week, left us with a feeling of tremendous pride… although we were struggling with letting him go.

Focus...

... self confidence...

... determination!

When Cathy and I learnt about the Green SuperCamp, we immediately knew that it would have tremendous character building benefits for our kids. We wanted to share their experiences on our Enterprise For Kids blog for our readers, as we strongly feel that the skills, values and knowledge that the Green Super Camp instils into kids are the same key attributes that will build future leaders and entrepreneurs.

Here is Flynn’s reflection of his camp in his own words!

The Balinese mud dance!

Supercamp was an absolutely awesome experience!

Supercamp was an absolutely awesome experience!

The biggest challenge that I faced was going to Bali on my own without my parents. I just knew that I wanted to go on the Green SuperCamp, and to do that I had to go on my own.

I loved trying all the fun activities like mud wrestling, high ropes course, Balinese dancing and seeing all the zoo animals.

I became friends with kids from all over the world. There were kids from America, Australia, Bali, Indonesia, London, India, New Zealand and Japan. Everyone there were really nice, they were happy and they persevered with all the challenges. I liked everyone at the Green SuperCamp!

One of my favourite activities was the mud fighting because I learnt self defence and I learnt how to throw people over my back. This activity taught me the importance of perseverance and to never give up.

Learning...

... the key to success!

We were taught how to use Quantum strategies to think and learn. As a result my reading has become seven times faster.

The Bali Green SuperCamp was a fantastic experience. I think that everyone should have a chance to go!

Check out this video of our enlightened Flynn the night he arrived home from camp!

As parents we have noted a number of positive changes in Flynn since the camp.

Team Building...

... responsibility and care!

At his school, the teachers have commented that Flynn has been making a real effort and that he has been keeping away from any sort of mischief. He has taken to reading books (which is something he normally avoids!), so much so that he has reached this term’s reading goal in only three weeks! He has an air of confidence and purpose with the things he does. This is evident with his responsibility with chores and with his focus and efforts when playing weekend soccer. Flynn has been easy to get along with at home and appears to be very happy with life!

Warriors!

Flynn answers more questions about his camp experience. Just click this link.

Next up we share Jai’s experience at the Green SuperCamp Bali!

If you are visiting this blog because you are interested in running your own summer camp and you’re looking for a proven formula, then maybe this information could help.

Why our Kids Wanted to Attend the Green SuperCamp!

July 11th, 2012

We were delighted that our three eldest children were able to attend this year’s Green SuperCamp in Bali. They had amazing life changing experiences that have left them with new understandings and beliefs about themselves that will remain with them forever.

Kaitlin at the Green SuperCamp Bali.

Each of our kids applied for a Green SuperCamp scholarship. The scholarships would help us cover the cost of the camp. Kaitlin, Jai and Flynn each wrote why they wanted to attend the camp.

We are very inspired by the passionate words that they each wrote in their applications. Below we have some words from Kaitlin, and we are very proud of her passion and talent in getting her message across to the organisers of the Supercamp.

Here’s what Kaitlin wrote…

“I am the eldest of seven children in my family. We have been brought up to strive for excellence and to aim as high as we can. My parents have always been determined to give us kids the best opportunities possible to get the best out of life.

This year I have started year 11, and have found it quite difficult. I have been held up by limitations of my time and motivation. I would love to attend the “Green Super Camp” in order to break these barriers. I want a life where I can be a role model and inspiration for my siblings and others. I want to be able to contribute to the world and show so many people a way to be free, but I’m still trying to work out how to get there.

Kaitlin Flying like a fox!

I’m so keen to develop a mindset for success. I want to meet new people from around the world, and absorb their confidence and energy. My goal is to become a school prefect or Head girl and to be accepted into University. To do this I need to \understand and learn about myself. I want to know what it takes to be a leader and to be confident in myself to be one.

If I receive this Scholarship, I would be determined, open and ready, to absorb all the information possible for me to be the best person I can and to motivate others to be the same. This is an experience of a lifetime, and I’m ready for it now.”

You will have to wait for the next blog to discover what each of them learnt from their camp experience! Until then…….

Jay Bennett- The Steps to Success!

July 8th, 2012

On our journey, we are finding many opportunities coming our way. Some of these opportunities involve speakers who have achieved enormous success in their chosen fields of endeavour. What makes them so inspiring though, is that whatever message they give, whatever company they work for, the principles of success are the same. One such speaker is an inspiring Californian man named Jay Bennett. He has been extremely successful in his chosen endeavour of Network Marketing.

Jay Bennett

Jay is a very fit and healthy man whose appearances can fool you into thinking he is many years younger than what he actually is. He is a walking billboard for the health and well-being industry. Jay speaks with humour and confidence and has a very good message for people who are aspiring for success.

Jay Bennett spoke for two hours and had us all captivated by his insights and passion for helping others achieve health and success. His talk was titled the “Steps to Success”. I thought that his message was very powerful and wanted to share it with our readers.

Dream

If you haven’t really thought about what your dream is then Jay suggests that is where you should start. Identify your real dreams and what you want in your life. Where do you want to be in ninety days? One year? Three years from now? Set goals.

“You have to have a dream to make a dream come true!”

Foundation for Success- ABC’s

Attitude
•   Having a Great Attitude always equals Great Results.
•   Focus on the solution, not the problem.
•   Associate only with positive people.
•   Attitude does determine success in every area of your life.

Belief
•   Believe in the industry, the company, the products, and financial opportunity.
•   Most important- believe in yourself.
•   Believe that you are more than capable and deserve success.
•   Your level of belief determines your level of success.
•   Listen to motivational audios and read motivational books and go to events.

Commitment
•   Success is one step at a time.
•   Following through on your dreams.
•   Success is a journey not a destination- commit to the journey.
•   Success is a matter of hanging on when others have let go.

Jay Bennett and Family

Jay Bennett made a big deal about mixing with the right people and keeping yourself focused and motivated. The best way to do that is to regularly attend talks and seminars such as this one.

I found a video of Jay talking about this very topic. Click Here to see him share his wisdom!

To receive a free ebook on developing success, you can visit his website here.

Hopefully you too picked up on some of his energy!

We’ve asked Kaitlin, Jai and Flynn to share about their Green SuperCamp experience in Bali. Don’t miss all the pictures, videos and excitement!

Flynn’s Honey Turns to Gold!

July 5th, 2012

When we last visited Flynn and his Honey Enterprise, he had just acquired 90kgs of quality raw honey from his Grandad’s bee hives in Geraldton. Flynn had also placed a bulk order for plastic honey pots. He was now ready to fill them up and make his first sale!

Warming the honey.

Honey pots ready to fill.

His honey was held in buckets that weighed over 10kgs. To get the honey from the buckets into the 400gm honey pots was not going to be that easy. Firstly the honey was very thick, making it tedious to decanter into the pots, and secondly it required strength to hold the honey bucket for pouring.

The production line.

Quick! Gimme another pot!

Flynn called on his mates to help. He poured the buckets into a large pot and heated it to 50 degree Celsius. This temperature wasn’t high enough to destroy the enzymes that make raw honey so beneficial, but it was high enough to make the honey fluid.

Mmmm... smells good!

Giving each pot a rinse in fresh water.

The kitchen table was wiped down and set up for the honey pot production line. The team were excited about finally seeing the product in the pots. I helped pour, whilst Flynn and his gang filled and capped jars. The jars were washed on the outside to ensure there was no stickiness and then labelled with Flynn’s “Howitt’s Honey” labels.

First batch stacked and ready to label.

The labels!

Flynn’s product looked clean, pure and professional. He understood that to get a market edge and to be able to sell his honey for a premium, his first class product needed to be well packaged and hygienic.

Flynn carefully drew up a poster pointing out the benefits of his product. This he attached to the boxes containing the honey pots. He had researched what honey sells for in the shops and online. He worked out what he could sell his honey for and still make a decent return. To provided an incentive to customers, he offered a special price if they bought more than one pot at a time. Marketing his honey required little effort. In fact visitors to our home took an interest in his honey and his honey began to sell. He gained permission from his school Principal and left a box in their staffroom. He organized with a teacher friend of ours from another school, to place a box in their staffroom, and he approached the local General Store where he was allowed to sell his pots of honey for a small commission.

Developing the brand "Howitt's Honey".

Flynn's first sale!!

His honey was selling well and it wasn’t long before he needed to re-stock all his boxes. As word got out about his product, people even began placing small orders via the telephone.

Flynn’s “Howitt’s Honey” business went very well except for one problem which I’ll explain here…

Raw honey has many health benefits that you would be hard pressed to find with processed honey. However, a downside with raw honey is that, over time, it will candy (begin to solidify). This occurs especially when the room temperature drops, like during winter. Flynn’s honey that had been waiting to be sold began to candy in the honey pots. People don’t generally want to buy honey that has hardened (hence why commercial honey producers process their honey using heat, as this stops it from candying).

Luckily this problem only happened to the last remaining pots that had been awaiting sale. He brought these home, opened them up and scraped the honey into a pot and heated it back to 50 degrees. This again, liquidized the honey and he returned it to the pots. We bought those last pots for our family. The lesson learned was that Flynn needs to sell his raw honey product before it shows signs of candying and he needed to inform his customers as to what to do if their honey does so.

Profits from Flynn's Honey Enterprise

Flynn’s net profit from his honey enterprise was outstanding!! He achieved his goal that he set before he embarked, plus much more. He learned many lessons along the way and recognized that it was a lot of work, but satisfying work! Flynn has become an expert in the honey business and has gained enormous skills and understandings of how to run an enterprise.

Flynn may now be ready to take his honey enterprise to another level. We hope to guide Flynn to move from being a small business owner to being an entrepreneur! How we do that will be shared in another Enterprise for Kids blog!

For those of you interested in having your own honey enterprise, or you would like your own bee hive for a regular supply of raw honey for your family and friends; then you could seek out an expert (such as Flynn or his Grandad) to get you started, or do a course. Or you could simply download an ebook written by a professional to your kindle. Here is one I found that looks like it covers everything anyone would need to know.

Our next post will definitely energize you! We met an inspirational man who presented “tips to being highly successful” that are well worth thinking about!

We would love to hear from you all, so please leave a comment!

New from Old… Project 2!

July 2nd, 2012

Amber’s Rabbit Hutch project was hugely successful with her making an easy sale with excellent profit! She now was looking for a new Enterprise for Kids project to keep her enterprise momentum moving forward. So she planned to visit the Geraldton Recycling Centre with her Gran to see if she could find another opportunity.

Amber finds an interesting item.

Amber negotiates with the Recycling Man

Amber's pine timber display shelves.

She was under instructions to only bring home something small, as we were to return to Burekup and we had a lot to fit into the car.

What Amber found was a small pine display cupboard. She thought that it would make a good doll house. As an alternative she could simply tidy it up and re sell it.

Click this link to see Amber tell about her plan for her new project!

She negotiated with the Recycling Centre man (batted her big blue eyes!) and bought the shelves for a couple of dollars. She sanded it back, gave it a coat of varnish and advertised it.

Sold for $15!!

... after a lick of varnish!

Once again Amber was happy with her profit. She added her cash to her money jar in readiness for her next Enterprise for Kids opportunity.

We’ve watched Amber’s confidence skyrocket from running her little business. She is developing skills to negotiate and with marketing. She is also learning to spot an opportunity. All important skills to becoming an entrepreneur!

We do hold the crystal ball and we know what Amber gets up to next! You will be amazed by the opportunities she finds.

Stay tuned for our next entrepreneurial blog. We will find out whether Flynn has been able to sell his honey!