I have just had the business education of a lifetime…having to do with the famous quote, “necessity is the mother of invention.” (by Plato, of all things). My daughter is taking a missions trip to Central America to help build a school, work with the orphans and widows and support the work at the hospital. She is going with her youth group and is so excited as she has a heart to help others, and it is quite an adventure for her. When I heard the amount it would cost, and added in the passport fees, doctors appointments, needed vaccines and medications, I thought- no WAY! Being one who makes up a new business when I see a need that people will pay for to get met, I said-“well, guess we need to start some business to make the money for you to go. What can you do to raise the money? What do people need or want that you can do that they will pay for?” (That is business 101 boiled down to one sentence)
She saw that people have some chores or work to be done that they would pay a teen for. So she ordered a free business card-and decided to write a letter, not asking for money, but telling others about her trip, why she wants to go and if they had work they needed done that she could perform for a donation. Her card has a catchy name for her business-and it said, “cleaning, child care, yard work-you name it, I’ll try it”. Amazingly, friends started calling with their need: taking care of pets, organizing basements, cleaning out garages, doing yard work, cleaning a kitchen (for a woman who broke her leg recently). She met the NEED. She also went to some craft fairs to see if there was something she could make to sell; she came up with several currently “in” crafts for which she bought supplies, kept track of expenses, income and costs. She met the WANT. She designed an additional business name and card, which she included with each craft and had order forms if she didn’t have the style or size the customer wanted. She learned that sometimes customers complain and want a return or they want a color she didn’t have in stock but had to purchase, and how to negotiate misunderstandings about the order/product (CUSTOMER SERVICE).
She has raised her funds and then some. She is thrilled that her own need/goal was met through her own work. It was a pain in the neck at times as she had to WORK during summer and go to hot flea markets to sell her products and get up early to clean houses during spring and summer break. But she is going on the trip….and around the corner next year is a choir trip she wants to go on. Fortunately she knows now that to obtain some of her own wants and goals, she can look at what is a need or want, how can she meet it, how can she make her own business, earn money and make it happen. Invaluable.
Identify the NEED or WANT. Create the SOLUTION. Be in the FOREFRONT so you will be noticed and your service/product is wanted and you stand out above the rest. Deliver positive CUSTOMER SERVICE. Learn that CREATIVITY, PERSEVERENCE, ORGANIZATION and PEOPLE SKILLS is what creates and makes a business…and meets our own personal goals and wants as well. Be your own entrepreneur. Business 101.