Month: May 2012

Pulling the Money Bunny Out of the Hat!

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Amber contemplating her enterprise.

Amber didn’t waste any time jumping into her New From Old money making enterprise. She bugged me to take her to the Dardanup Tip to see what she could find. So after her Saturday soccer game we paid a visit.

At the tip there is a salvage area where anything that could be recycled is put aside and sold.

Almost immediately Amber spotted an opportunity! She saw a damaged rabbit hutch. We looked over it and could see that it was generally in good structural condition and could easily be repaired. However, it did need a paint job. So Amber went up to the Tip man and struck up a deal. She bought the cage for $10.

Ten Dollars was a real bargain! We looked up the exact same cage sold online in kit form and saw that people were paying $180 for them.

Chayse helping Amber repair the rabbit hutch.
Amber fixing the door latch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arriving home there was a buzz of interest as the neighbouring kids headed around to see Amber’s rabbit hutch. They were really curious to see what she was up to. Amber bought a couple of paint brushes for $5, then using some old house paint she found in the shed, she and her friends, Darcy and Lauren, set to work painting. She also employed her brother Flynn and his mate Dan for $2 each to fix the broken part of the cage. They thought that would be awesome! Enterprise for Kids was now becoming infectious in the neighbourhood.

Amber employing Flynn to help her fix her rabbit hutch.
Darcy lends a helping hand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was all great fun and in no time at all the cage was ready to be sold. Amber continued her research into what to sell the cage for. She spoke with Darcy’s Mum about cages and also to Nicolette from next door. Both had owned rabbit cages and understood their value. Finally Amber decided that she would ask $90 for the bunny hutch.

Her next job was to put a free advert on the local Buy and Sell Bunbury Facebook page. She put her ad up with a photo and waited for a response.

You wouldn’t believe it! Within ten minutes the cage was sold for the full $90. In fact two other people had their hand up to buy the cage if the first deal fell through. Amber met and thanked the man who came round to pick the cage up and eagerly took the cash payment. She really did pull the money bunny out of the hat!

Now for the picture for Amber's Face Book advert
Amber's finished enterprise idea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All up, an outstanding result! In only a few days, Amber’s profit was $71 after costs. She is well on the way to attaining her goal. With her money jar now looking very full, she was rearing to go for another visit to the tip! She has already begun developing an enterprise mindset around business and money and her financial IQ is growing!

We will let you know how Amber goes with her next “New From Old Project”.

Next up we will pay a visit to Flynn and see how his buzzing honey enterprise is going!

An Apple a Day Keeps the “Fremantle Doctor” in the Bay!

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Jai, like many teenage kids, is fascinated by the internet, social media and gaming. If you allowed him, he would spend day and night on his computer, iPod or cell phone chatting to his friends, playing games or searching the net. We are careful that he is well rounded with a balance of activities such as kicking the footy and playing with his family, whilst at the same time allowing him the opportunity to immerse himself into his passion.

Jai leads a balanced life.
Jai loves technology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we introduced the Family Project to Jai he knew exactly what he wanted to do. In fact his very grand idea was spawned by a family friend who has been able to develop a hugely successful company based around building Apple Apps for iPhones. Let me tell you in a nutshell his inspiring rags to riches story.

A friend of ours was originally from Switzerland and had worked most of his life in a newsagent. He also had a passion for windsurfing and would take every opportunity to visit the West Coast of Australia in pursuit of the consistent strong summer winds that make the WA coastline a windsurfer’s heaven!

In Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, the wind is named the Fremantle Doctor because it appears to come from the nearby coastal city of Fremantle, and it brings welcome relief from the summertime high temperatures.

Our friend then decided to leave his Switzerland home to follow his passion (and the Fremantle Doctor!) and set up home permanently in Geraldton (a small coastal city 500km north of Perth). He literally became a beach bum who spent his afternoons windsurfing and kite surfing and in his ample spare time he would play around on his computer.

He taught himself how to program apps for Apple iPhones and was able to make a few simple applications which he tried to sell online.

This is where his enterprise kicked off!

From the comfort of his backyard hammock, one of his Apps began selling. Sales exploded, and millions of people from all around the world downloaded it, and for each download he received a payment. He became an over night millionaire!

This entrepreneur has since built a multi million dollar company with three other partners, all from Switzerland, who incidentally, have also followed the Fremantle Doctor to Geraldton!

What this amazing man, with no formal qualifications, has managed to do in only a few years is mind blowing.

His story inspired my fourteen year old son. Jai’s enterprise plan is to build an Apple App and sell it online. How he will manage to do that is not known yet. All he has to do is have a goal and a rough plan, then focus on and tackle each of the steps one by one. Maybe Jai too will become an overnight success like our friend!

Jai often has "hair raising" ideas...
...but he always settles for what he's good at!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In our next blog we revisit Amber and see how she is going with her New From Old enterprise.

Kaitlin’s “Enterprise For Kids” Idea!

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I admire those very creative people who can draw!

Sadly, I am not one of those people, although there are some very artistic people in my family.

My sister won first prize in Australia’s richest art prize. a $250 000 prize for an artwork she entered into “The Signature of Sydney”, which really kicked off her painting career. Also my grandparents and Aunt on my Dad’s side were respected artists. So it is not surprising that our eldest daughter Kaitlin has an exceptional skill with drawing, and in particular pencil portrait sketches. From when she was very little, she would draw for hours and over the years has honed her skill. Her Mum, Cathy, also has exceptional drawing skills and has encouraged and taught Kaitlin many of the skills she has today.

Kaitlin's drawing.
Kaitlin's portrait drawing.

When looking for an enterprise opportunity it makes sense to look at what one is skilled at, then see if there is a need or problem in your community where your skill could be put to use.

Up-skilling yourself in your area of interest and becoming the best there is in that field, will likely increase the demand for your kind of talent and services. As a result, customers will choose you over your competitors and are more likely pay a premium. I wrote a Enterprise for Kids post on this very topic a number of blogs ago, so if you would like to learn more about how up skilling creates enterprise for kids’ opportunities, then visit here.

Kaitlin’s talent with drawing is the basis of her enterprising idea and she explains her business plan in this short video.

Kaitlin loves drawing.

She plans on spending $70 to buy the drawing and framing materials she requires to run her business. She will draw people’s portraits from a photo and sell it either framed or unframed. She will market her service on Face Book. In our local area there is a classified Face Book Buy and Sell Bunbury. Her aim is to complete one drawing a week with a sale value of about $30. In her video Kaitlin considers the road blocks with her business and has looked at solutions.

So we have covered all our kids’ enterprising ideas except for one. In our next post we share Jai’s passion for electronics and gaming and how he plans to turn this interest into a money making enterprise.

Kit’s Pocket Money Idea

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Plenty of kids receive pocket money from their parents. The kids then either save it or spent it. When we used to give pocket money to our kids, they would spend it straight away. Usually they spent their money on “junky” things that didn’t last long. This was very frustrating as a parent, so we looked for ways to teach our children to use their money wisely and to build a money mastery mindset for them. From these early days we have come up with some fantastic ideas which we’ll share with you in a later blog. You may also be interested in our views on kids and pocket money.

Welcoming Kit and his Entrepreneurial Idea.

This particular blog is about Kit’s pocket money idea and how he plans to run his enterprise.

Looking for a need…

Kit saw that there was a need in his neighbourhood for dog walkers. Whilst many people in our community walk their own dogs, there were also many elderly or busy people who own dogs and either didn’t have the energy or time to take their pet for a walk. Kit figured that he could offer a service where he could take their pet for a walk on a lead.

At first, when he shared his idea, we thought that he had gone bananas! Firstly Kit has always been afraid of dogs and secondly, he’s only six years old.   Allowing a six year old to walk the streets with other people’s dogs was certainly not looking like a good idea!

However; one thing we have learnt is to never stifle a child’s enthusiasm and condition him to think that his ideas are not good enough, so we decided to play along with his pocket money idea.

Road Blocks…

We talked through a business plan with Kit and investigated the road blocks that he may be faced with. Then we investigated the solutions.

The main issue was that he was too young to walk other people’s dogs, so we discussed that he needed an older person to go along with him. This would also provide reassurance to the pet owners that their dog would be looked after. So luckily his grandad offered to help out (he reckons he needed the exercise anyway!).

The other issue was that Kit wasn’t confident with dogs. So the plan was to carry a pocket of doggy treats to keep the dog happy and obedient. In addition Kit would provide his own dog lead. By offering doggy treats and a lead Kit was “adding value” to his service.

Dog Walking was Kit's Enterprise idea
Could this be the next "Dog Whisperer?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fee…

Kit decided that he would negotiate a walking fee of $5 for a half hour walk and if he had one customer a day then he could pocket $35 a week.

So it was on. Kit was now officially a professional Dog Walker!

And who knows…..from these humble beginnings, he may even become the next famous Dog Whisperer!

In our next “Enterprise for Kids” blog we will introduce Kaitlin’s very creative,  enterprising idea and her well thought out business plan. Stay tuned for that one….

The Candy Man Planning an Enterprise!

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All kids love lollies (Candy for our American readers)! Chayse too really loves lollies! So it came as no surprise to see Chayse planning an enterprise that revolved around lollies.

Now Chayse is only four years old so he needed a little help formulating his plan. Initially he liked the idea of buying a heap of lollies, but I think he was thinking that he was going to be the one eating them!

Eventually, after much explaining, it became clear to him that he would be selling them, not eating them himself. His brothers and sisters all thought his enterprise idea was pretty cool and I’m sure were thinking, “Why didn’t I think of that!”

Chayse planning an enterprise with his $50 start up capital.

We don’t have a video of Chayse explaining his business plan. In fact, there isn’t much to it so I’ll just explain for you here.

We have lent Chayse $50 to run his business. He plans to buy large bags of lollies from the supermarket, bag them up into small mixed bags, then sell them for twice what he paid. His market will be all the hungry kids who play and watch soccer games on Saturday mornings at the local soccer fields.

If his enterprise goes to plan he will double his money or get 100% return! That will put a smile on any young four year old’s face.

We will keep you updated with how his money making enterprise goes.

Next up is Kit planning an enterprise. Kit is so excited that he reminds me of our late over-zealous Jack Russell Terrier when she used to go out for a walk!