Archive for April, 2007

“April 30th marks a special day in the lives of children.? It is a day to celebrate children and books.? Known as El día de los niños/El día de los libros, or Children’s Day/Book Day, this is a day to celebrate the joys and wonders of childhood and the importance of books in our lives.

By including books in the celebration, families can begin to develop new habits that will instill a love for books and reading in children.? Reading daily to your child for at least twenty minutes can become a family tradition.? Children will enjoy the experience and grow to love and appreciate books.“

This words come right out of a flyer from the American Library Association.? One that I hope many of you found around your communities over the past month as we prepared as teachers and parents for this day of recognition of our children and their lives being touched profoundly by books.

As busy mompreneurs I realize it’s challenging to find that recommended 20 minutes a day to read, and we all realize the importance of making that time available to read.? Reading is the skill that lasts a lifetime.? Teach them to love reading, and they will carry that love with them into grade school and middle school and high school and beyond.

Below are some book titles that are from this same flyer that bring Spanish and English together for reading fun.? My philosophy as a mom of three (all of whom are being raised to understand and speak both English and Spanish) and as a teacher of thousands is get?our children?reading early in two languages.? (Did you know that children receiving instruction in two languages via music or verbal exchange or TV?or DVDs read sooner than their monolingual peers?? It’s true!? Reference:? Dr. Ellen Bialystock, 2001)

My Shapes/Mis formas? by Rebecca Emberley

Bebé Goes Shopping by Susan Middleton Elya

Spicy Hot Colors / Colores picantes by Sherry Shahan

Lupe Lupita, Where Are You? / Lupe Lupita, ?dónde estás? by Gladys Rosa-Mendoza

I chose these four selections because, even if you don’t speak one word of Spanish, the pictures and easy style of text might lend itself to a comfort level that will allow you to at least try them!? Ask a Spanish-speaking friend to help you pronounce words you don’t know, ask another parent who knows Spanish to maybe help you or call me – Boca Beth on our toll free number (1.877.825.2622)!

Really, I still answer my own phone unless I am out doing a live event somewhere.? But I always return my phone calls, don’t you?? Communication is the key to all of our success in the world of entrepreneurship!? Let’s give our children the tools they need to be successful in communicating in this global society – reading and speaking a second language!

Happy Educating!? ?Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

Not too long ago, I decided to make a bold move in my business. I set business hours! My business is technically ‘open’ only Monday through Friday, 9 am through 6 pm.

It was a really tough decision. But being ‘on call’ 24/7 was really affecting my work. Scripting is easiest when you have a stretch of time to work, and breaking it up with constant questions just wasn’t helping me get that work finished. I also felt like I had no time for family – and after all, isn’t that the main reason we enjoy working from home in the first place? Plus I worried about my support person – she was tackling weekend posts as well, and I felt she wasn’t taking enough time for herself. Something had to give.

I do have an emergency line for my clients – a simple form that sends an email message to the support desk and also sends my cell phone a text message. I felt more comfortable having a place for those extreme emergencies that just couldn’t wait until morning. And I do check messages a few times over the weekend or at night to look for other high priority issues that really need to be addressed quickly. But otherwise, I try to save it for the next business day.
One of my resellers asked me how the new hours were working out. She was thinking about adopting the business hours for her business as well, but was worried about how her clients would take it. I told her that I hadn’t had any complaints yet – either my clients weren’t saying anything, or they realized that it wasn’t fair to ask a company to be open at all times. I think most people understand. After all, how many stores have ‘always open’ hours? Why would we expect that of a home business?

If you’re feeling like you’re always working, or you don’t have time for family anymore, you might look at adopting normal business hours. Treat your email inbox as a storefront – close it down at night and on the weekend, and open it up during specified hours throughout the week. It’s tough to start, but once you do that, you’ll realize just how important it is to keep a life outside your business – for your sake and your family’s!

Susan

I’m baaaaack!!! First thing’s first… Got a no go from Oprah/QVC. I am REALLY REALLY fine and a little relieved. I was not “there” yet. I have so much still to do before I’m ready to play with the big dogs and I know it. About the packaging experience; it was such a great time! I had a friend go with me, so we made it a gal’s road trip. We saw the final presentations for the class (there were 4 industry sponsors including me) and everyone did so well….?but my team made a small?miscalculation. Okay, if you don’t want a lesson in packaging science 101, don’t read any further because it’s about to get complicated. As usual, I’ll try to nutshell this, but it’s gonna be hard. Packaging Science 101: You have your primary packaging which is the packaging your product is in. Then you have your tertiary packaging or the “carton” or shipping packaging that your primary packaging which contains your product is in. When developing your packaging you need to think about maximizing space for the most cost effective transportation. In my case, my product will be coming from China, so transportation costs are REALLY important. A standard shipping pallet is 40×48 inches. To minimize damage you do not want any overhang, so ideally your pallet full of cartons needs to fit neatly on a pallet and be able to be stacked 2 high in a shipping container or 18 wheeler tractor trailer (which hauls the shipping container). Aesthetically, they developed a FANTASTIC primary packaging for Grill Charmsâ„¢. LOVE IT!!! They did my pallet layout such that 190 cartons could fit perfectly on the 40×48 shipping pallet. In my shipping or tertiary cartons, they designed my primary packaging so that 12 would fit PERFECTLY into my shipping carton. They left out 1 small detail… there needs to be “headspace” in the shipping carton. (Headspace, is the area of empty space between your product/primary packaging and the top or ceiling of the tertiary packaging) There is some fancy dancy formula to figure out what that number should be… mine should be ? of an inch and they did not factor this into the equation. The headspace somehow makes the entire pallet perform better on compression tests. (right amount of headspace=less crushing) Aaaaagggghhhhh!!! Okay, so you see my dilemma… If I make the tertiary packaging ? inch bigger to allow for headspace, then it will not fit on the 40×48 pallet doubt stacked and there will be more likelihood for damage, so the pallet layout and number of cartons per pallet needs to be completely reconfigured. Another option is to make my primary package shorter. Well, that sounds all easy breezy, but when you see the packaging “unfolded” in its flat form you notice that changing 1 dimension on the finished box, pretty much means changing all of the dimensions on the dye. If you quit reading about 30 seconds into this I DON’T BLAME YOU! If you didn’t and have stuck with me…thank you, but… ARE YOU NUTS??!!! I’ve got an email into the students and the professor as there was nothing they could do at the banquet/presentation so hopefully it won’t be that big of a deal. We shall see how it all turns out. (Come to find out later… the students where fine, the problem is NOT a problem YIPEE!!!)

Now for the mommy guilt… when I got home today from being away from the family for a day I was so excited to see everyone and wanted to have some special family time, so my husband and I took the kiddies to a park to play. Instead of being 100% into my girls and their fantastic accomplishments of hanging on the money bars without me holding on and sliding down the slide on their tummies, as much as I tried to be completely in the moment with them, my mind kept wandering to PACKAGING! Then the guilt of me thinking about packaging overtook the though of packaging and I had to give myself a big ol’reality check right then and there by the twisty slide. This problem will be solved and forgotten in a blink of an eye, and in almost that same blink, those moments at the playground will be gone too… no more thoughts of packaging on the playground!!!

Leslie Haywood, Founder and President of Charmed Life Products, Inventor of Grill Charmsâ„¢? www.grillcharms.com

My first post with mompreneursonline’s blog took place earlier this week!? I think we all just jumped right in and never really thought about a nice little introduction (you know, those ones when you are in a team building session or a conference break out group and you are asked to introduce yourself and give one little tid bit about you that is relevant to that group!).

So, here we go…….

“Hi/Hola -?My name is Beth Butler, known?better as Boca Beth around the kids?edutainment world thanks to a?bilingual product line I?created and produced (along with a team of awesome people – studio team, music producer,?graphics?designer, web master who is the mac-mama, my sister who just joined our company after 16 years of?teaching children and more!).? I have a degree in Elementary Education and spent more than 10 years in the classrooms of children ages 2-10!? As I brought?my passion for teaching into their lives I also brought my love of Spanish as a second language.?

I was born here in?Florida and?had the great opportunity to live in Chile as an exchange student then Mexico and then I married a Latino.? Mix that all together and you have one bilingual Beth Butler!? I live in a community where my neighbor is from?Ecuador, my children’s friends are from Puerto Rico, Cuba, Columbia, Argentina (you get the idea!), and I have daily opportunities to remain fluent.

We are raising our three children to be bilingual – to appreciate other’s cultures and to respect the need for more than one language in this ever-increasing global society.? I have two high school boys (though I swear they must have skipped many grades because I am way too young to have a 17 and 15 year old!) – both of whom were Spanish Student of the Year.??My boys’ father is my first husband (the Latino who gave me a big ‘Oh No’ moment many moons ago in our now-defunt marriage!!!).? They both?understand tons of Spanish, but it’s like pulling teeth to get the older one to speak one word of it.?

And then there is the little sister who is 7?… Megan is?from my new husband who has not one ounce of Latin blood running through his veins!? She can roll her r’s like there is a tiger purring within!? He works for a wine company (that truly comes in handy for creative juices flowing during song-writing time!) and continually insists on more and more Spanish spoken around the home.? (He must have another South Florida trip coming up soon because he’s been on this Spanish roll lately!)

So – that’s me – a mompreneur who took her passion and love of Spanish as her second language, mixed it up with her patience to teach all kinds of children and?created the Boca Beth Bilingual Product?Line ( a?fun, easy and affordable way for every parent and teacher to give the?gift of Spanish as a second language to their child without knowing Spanish themselves plus give the gift of English as a second language to every Latino child struggling to get that head start they need on learning?English?at a young age).”

Happy Educating!? ?Sea feliz educando!

Beth Butler? (aka BOCA BETH the?educator, entertainer and ever-loving mom)

I love partnering up and working with others. Not only do you get a fresh perspective on your business, but you can move a lot further when you have others who are lending a hand.

Besides starting a partnership, there are three partnering up methods that I’ve personally used with success, and strongly recommend for any Mompreneur who wants to grow her business: joint ventures, virtual assistance, and reselling.

1. Joint Ventures - As Mompreneurs, we wear a lot of different hats, but we can’t be expected to do everything solo. Combining efforts with another Mompreneur adds to our product lines or services, and enables us to increase our markets. Plus it increases motivation – there’s something very empowering about working as a team vs. by yourself.If you’re as lucky as I am to have found others that you work well with and who have complimentary but non-competing skills or products, a joint venture is a perfect way to grow your business without putting in more work.
2. Virtual Assistants – When I first started thinking that I needed help with my business, my biggest concern was finances. I had no idea how I was going to pay someone for help when I wasn’t exactly rolling in the dough. But I knew I had to do it for my own well being.The funny thing is, my productivity and motivation increased so much after I outsourced Sherri (another Mompreneur!) for support that I was able to complete more projects and get more additions done. Now I don’t have to be on the computer for twelve to fourteen hours a day, so when I am on, it means I’m fresher and can focus much better. Of course, I really lucked out – to say Sherri is the best is an understatement! But having help really does make a difference.
3. Reselling – I know where my abilities lie, and I know those areas that are not my strengths. I love programming, thinking up ideas and troubleshooting, and enjoy customer service. I am not good at marketing or design type work though. So I decided a few years back to decrease my costs and sell directly to web designers. I sell the base script to the web designers, who add their own design and styles, install it onto their clients’ sites, and sell it to them under their own brand.I can’t stress enough how this type of B2B sales can help a small company! Everyone wins. I make less per script, but my support questions decrease (one reseller with 100 clients means I get one support question vs. 100), and I don’t need to worry as much about marketing. My resellers win because they are profiting from my scripts, and are able to provide their clients with a much-needed service. The clients still pay the same amount as if they would have purchased it directly from me, but now they have a backing of two companies with different skill sets, which helps when problems or questions arise.

   If you sell products, consider selling wholesale to other moms who then sell to their own clients. If you offer services, think about other companies that could use your services, and sell to them so they can offer those services to their clients. It really is a great way to broaden your customer base and sales!

Again, partnering up makes a huge difference to a Mompreneur. Remember, we can’t do it all alone. We need a little help too! Consider working with other Mompreneurs on projects or even in sub businesses, and you might find that a team environment makes for that much-needed boost to your bottom line.

Susan

When you program for a living, your entire career focus is to create systems that will make life easier for others. So if a client mentions that there is a bug in the system, or asks if it’s possible to add another feature onto the system, it’s very difficult to say no. I’m horrible at that – feature additions especially are hard for me to turn down! When added to the nearly non-stop support requests, it’s difficult to find time to get these systems completed.

The other day (after realizing that I had planned on getting a CMS system out in January, and it’s already April!), I sat down with my husband to develop a plan of attack for all my projects. He suggested an accountability log, where I note the different things I do each day and set concrete goals for releases. He also noted that I tend to flit from project to project as I see things that need to be changed, so he suggested that I plan to tackle one system at a time until it’s completed, jotting down any changes I need to make to the other systems.

So far it’s working pretty well. I’ve completed the new site builder release and am zipping it up today for testing. Tomorrow I’ll do the same for the new catalog release. Next week I’ll complete the CMS system and plan the sales site. In between, I’ll continue on with client projects and support requests – again, these are logged (and plenty of time added for things like support). As I notice other issues, I’m adding them to my OneNotes lists so I can tackle them when I work on that project.

If you have a business in which you have a lot of projects, and you need to attack those projects in a more organized manner, I strongly suggest creating an accountability log. Make sure to add due dates and specific changes you’ll be making, then create a course of action to handle all those changes, one at a time. Then have your spouse or a friend keep you accountable for meeting those deadlines. You might be surprised at how much easier it is to stay on top of things with a log to keep you on track!

Susan

The other day, my brother talked about getting a new computer, as he’s starting a business of his own and wants an updated machine. One of his big concerns was whether he should buy a laptop or a desktop. I’ve been both routes, so we talked about the pros and cons of each, to help him make a final decision. I know others have had the same question, so I thought I’d jot down my notes to hopefully help someone else out there.

• Speed - This is a big one if you use programs that have a lot of CPU need, like Photoshop (or in my brother’s case, movie making programs). Though not always the case, laptops generally don’t have the same speed that a desktop has if you’re spending the same amount on both. A lot of money goes into making components portable and small when you’re talking about a laptop. So if you’re interested in a system that will work with this type of program, a desktop might be a better choice for you.With that said, the laptop I bought runs just as fast, if not faster, than the desktop I bought a year ago. I don’t use those CPU intensive programs, and maybe I’d notice it more if that was the case. But I don’t – so for me, the laptop doesn’t have any noticeable lags in this department. I didn’t buy the cheapest laptop in the store though. So it’s very important to look at the power behind a machine, ask the store reps, etc. to make sure the one you buy is powerful enough for your needs.
• Freedom - This seems to be a no-brainer at first! A laptop gives you so much more freedom. If you want to take your kids outside to play, you can bring your laptop outside and work. If you plan to go on vacation, you can choose to keep checking email with a laptop. Wanna head out to a friend’s house for the day, or just go downstairs and watch a TV show? A laptop keeps you connected.But wait! I think you’re seeing a pattern here, aren’t you? A laptop means you’re always connected, all the time. Always. And when you’re a home business owner, one of the big struggles is that it’s hard to separate yourself from the business. If you choose a laptop, you *can* take that laptop with you on vacation – and is that really needed?
• Clients - This is actually a very important consideration when you’re looking at your decision from a business point of view. If you start a business in which a client needs to look at programs you’ve developed, ask yourself if you want clients to come to you or if you want to go to clients. If the answer is ever going to clients, that makes your decision really easy – a laptop is best.There is another scenario though. If you only plan on going to clients once in a great while, consider asking someone else if you can borrow their laptop in the case you’d like to go meet with a client. Or better yet, partner up with someone else (anyone who knows me well knows I love partnering!) who has a laptop to double present. That way you keep your desktop but have access to the laptop if needed.
• Displays - If you’ve used a laptop before, you know how teeny the keyboard is (usually with no number pad) and how small and hard to read the monitor display is. Not to mention that the screen itself is way too low for the placement of the keyboard. It makes for a pretty difficult every-day scenario.Before you completely nix the laptop though, keep in mind that it’s usually very easy to connect an external monitor and keyboard to a laptop. So you can use the laptop just as you would a desktop, hooking all your equipment to it. Then when you want to go out, unplug all of those extras and take a cordless mouse with you.
• Kids - Here’s one the computer stores won’t mention. But when you’re a Mompreneur, it’s absolutely imperative that we take our kids into consideration when doing anything business related! The bottom line? Laptops are much, much more easy to ruin by dropping or spilling. As someone whose child just spilled some bubble stuff into my laptop while reaching over to turn Crazy Frog on, I can tell you that it’s a big concern when you have kids.The solution? Keep the laptop up high when you’re not using it. And no matter what else, do not ever, ever buy a laptop unless the store has a very aggressive spill policy! If you have kids, it’s going to happen. I don’t care if you have a very strict no-food-or-drink-in-the-office policy. It’s going to happen. Kids get sick, water globes break, things fall down, etc. And if it’s just a keyboard, you can replace it for twenty bucks. If it’s a laptop, you’ve got a thousand dollar item that needs replaced!

  One big plus with the laptop though is that you can close it when you’re not using it. This is a huge one for me! My daughter’s play area is in the back of the office, and there are times that I’ll be out of the office cooking or cleaning or going to a PTO event, and she’s in the play area by herself playing. She has her own computer, but it’s an older one and nowhere near as cool as the laptop, so she always wants to use mine. I can just set it on standby and snap it shut though, and I don’t have to worry about her getting into it. Yet. (She’s going to figure out the latch soon enough!)

So what did I pick? If you couldn’t guess, I picked a laptop for my needs. I really wanted to be outside while my daughter played in the back yard, and I wanted to be able to take my computer with me if I was meeting with clients. And because I can use an extra monitor and keyboard, and purchased a decent enough laptop with the power I needed and a good spill policy, I felt that was my best choice. I wouldn’t trade it – I doubt I could go back to a desktop at this point!

My brother, on the other hand, chose the desktop because he doesn’t want to be tied to the computer. This way he has one place that the computer lives, and he prefers ‘going to work’ instead of taking work with him. It also gives him a little more processing power for his graphic and movie programs, which is his most important need. We’ve already discussed working together should he need to go visit clients, since our businesses compliment each other but don’t compete.

In the end, the most important thing to do is to weigh all the pros and cons and decide on the best course of action for your particular needs. Keep in mind your lifestyle, your CPU/program needs and even your kids’ tendencies, and you should start noticing yourself leaning in one direction.

Susan

April 25, 2007Today I am preparing to go to

Clemson
University for the final presentation and banquet for the industry sponsors of the class of 2007 Packaging Science 420.? To give you some background, I’ll quote a thread I posted when I was first chosen for this wonderful opportunity.?

“January 23, 2007:? This is just a reminder that we all have very valuable resources right under our noses that sometimes we forget to tap into. Your local colleges and universities and technical schools are full of bright and talented people that would jump at the chance to do some work for little or no money and maybe some extra credit or a grade. If you need a web site designed, your local college has students in Web Design 401 that can help. If you need a CAD drawing of your product or prototype done, your technical college has a class on “Solid Works”. You need a boost in sales, talk to the Marketing and Advertising Department head about becoming a class project. Need a new logo, talk to a professor in Graphic Design. My story… I have invented a new product and needed to have the packaging done (as you may know, in consumer goods, packaging is sometimes even more important than the product itself) So I approached a university with a “Packaging Science Department” and now will have the following done:

PKGSC 420, Package Design and Development, is the capstone course of our undergraduate curriculum. The students are introduced to a systematic procedure and supporting documents to carry a package design project from an idea presented by marketing or production, through writing of a consistent set of package and packaging material specifications. Intermediate steps include: idea generation, idea prioritization and selection, describing the packaging system in a Total Product Concept, preliminary economic analysis, collection of design information, distribution, geometric, performance (structural and shelf life), graphical and packaging process design, planning for design verification, construction of a prototype packaging system, testing of the packaging system, re-design if necessary, economic analysis (manufacturing economics only), writing of specifications, documentation of the project both in writing and orally. Projects generally encompass all facets of the packaging system, including the primary package, the secondary package or shipper, the tertiary package or pallet, the machinery required to fill and assemble the package, and the distribution system

They chose Grill Charms as their project!!! This is THOUSANDS of dollars with of work that a small start-up like me could not afford. I’m just so excited I can’t stand it!!! I’m spreading the word because there are students out there that are excited to work with you, if you just give them the chance. If you have a problem in your business, chances are there is a college nearby that has the resources to help. Just a tip that has paid off for me and I want to share with my fellow mompreneurs.”?

I can’t believe the semester is over already!? That was in January and it seems like just yesterday.? I’m so excited to see what they have come up with!? DH (Dear Husband) has made arrangements to watch the kids while mommy goes off to college J? I am going to enjoy just being in a hotel, all alone, no nighttime story, no brushing multiple sets of teeth, driving my car and listening to my radio station as loud as I want…? It will be so nice!? (I love my kids more then life itself, but you moms… you know… 1 night all to myself!!!? YAHOO!!!)

Leslie Haywood, Founder and President of Charmed Life Products, Inventor of Grill Charmsâ„¢? www.grillcharms.com

Most of us have been there…a rainy day with the kids all inside or a long car trip where you know the family (and your sanity!) could really benefit from less teasing and sibling bickering. What to do? How to take a negative and turn it into a positive as all the motivational experts remind us to do?!

I feel really lucky in these moments. My mom has told me (along with countless others), “Beth, you have the patience of a saint!” And I do! I don’t know if I can attribute it to my more than ten years in the elementary and preschool classrooms or simply a God-given-gift, but I run with it every chance I can! (Don’t dislike me for this one as I have MANY vices my friends!)

Realizing that most of my fellow mompreneurs may not have that gift of exceptional patience (particularly when on hour four of a six hour car trip where you started off with delusions of family contentment playing “Count the number of yellow cars you find!”). And too I realize that most of my peers might not have a teaching degree either. FEAR NOT AMIGAS! I will provide you with the shortcuts, the ‘cheats’ from “Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader.” (Where last week I flunked out on a second grade earth science question mind you!)

Simply do this – visit this FREE web site for more ideas than you and I will ever use in ten lifetimes of teaching for thirty years! Seriously, whoever started this idea of teachers sharing ideas with teachers virtually, online is a genius and genuine great gal in my eyes. Why reinvent the wheel we always say, right? On Enchanted Learning (don’t you just love the name?…it makes me feel good all over!) you can download coloring pages, educational mini-books to do right along with your little darlings, craft ideas, and so much more.

Sure, there is a subscription level to join for $20 per year if you feel so inclined. I can tell you that after using their resources time and time again I felt truly great about shelling out less money than it costs to fill my convertible’s tank with gas lately!

So do it for your kids! Do it for your sanity! Do it to be able to pull from a goody bag full of cool “Save My Sanity” tricks any time the need arises!

Happy Educating! ?Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

April 24, 2007

Still nothing new on the manufacturing front, but I got a call from a potential online customer.? This call made me delve into the issue of “drop shipping”.? Here is my situation… he wanted me to drop ship for him, but from what I understand, that would be offering a customer (online retailer) a wholesale price but I would do the work of fulfilling the individual orders.? Someday I might have a huge facility where a ton of people pick and pack my orders for me, but for right now… it’s me, myself and I.? I most certainly do not want to alienate an entire market because I won’t drop ship, but my time is going to be spread so thin that fulfilling orders for a wholesale price just doesn’t make sense to me when I should be out pounding the pavement.? I plan on fulfilling orders for my online customers that order from my website, but of course the profit margin makes it worth my while to do.? What is one to do????? There is the option of a drop ship fee, but how much should that be, what is customary and acceptable for my time picking and packing?? My business plan is based more on the William Sonoma type retail store target market not online sales, BUT I do want online support from a handful of great online stores.? How do I keep?EVERYONE happy and wanting to buy?? I would LOVE to be represented by some fantastic online retail sites, but what if they require drop shipping?? When I find the answer, I’ll let you know!

Leslie Haywood, Founder and President of Charmed Life Products, Inventor of Grill Charmsâ„¢? www.grillcharms.com