Kids helping
your business!
by Tash Hughes
of Word Constructions (www.wordconstructions.com.au)
Running your
own business or working for someone else whilst also
being a parent is not easy. There’s a definite balancing
act that changes daily.
Sometimes,
instead of separating your roles as parent and business
person, it can be rewarding and fun to combine them. The
following list includes a number of ways your child or
children can help you in your business – the idea is to
spark more ideas that suit your lifestyle.
By getting the
children to help your business, you are spending time
together in a constructive way, you may save some time
and they get to feel important and involved, learn about
what you do, take some reasonability and learn specific
skills. It’s win win and it beats them getting into
mischief whilst you are in a busy phase of business!
These ideas are
in no particular order and their usefulness depends on
your business and the age of the child; many ideas can
be adapted to suit older or younger children, however.
☺
Putting stamps on
envelopes – even when they’re not about to be used!
☺
Folding letters and
placing in envelopes – be careful with personalised
letters and labels!
☺
Putting flyers in
letterboxes on the other side of the street to you
☺
Sorting stock or
supplies into piles (great for building their maths
skills, too)
☺
Decorate your work
space with drawings and paintings to inspire your
creativity!
☺
Wash paint brushes or
other business tools
☺
Test all your pens to
get rid of the empty ones
☺
Sharpen your pencils
☺
Tape up boxes that are
packaged for delivery
☺
Help pack boxes of
customer orders
☺
Collate pages of
documents into order
☺
Fold newly printed
brochures
☺
Put collected business
cards into your card holder
☺
Staple together
documents if there’s a pile of them
☺
Act as models for
trying new products or developing patterns
☺
Pose for marketing
photos
☺
Add your name stamp or
label on envelopes, brochures, catalogues etc
☺
Sort your paperclips or
rubber bands into sizes
☺
Give feedback on
colours or styles of new ideas
☺
Keep you in touch with
the younger market and trends
☺
Provide creative names
for new product lines
☺
Help with any
handwritten aspects of work – ruling lines, crossing
out, copying a phone number, etc
☺
Typing out a copied
document
☺
Finding a particular
internet site for you (assuming the child is old enough
to safely search the net)
☺
Collect the mail for
you
☺
Sort receipts or
invoices into months for accounting purposes
☺
Cross cheques – and
write them if old enough
☺
Set up templates or
filters on the computer for you – you’ll be amazed at
how soon this can occur!
☺
Check off incoming
orders for complete information
☺
Stock take
☺
Open and sort mail as
it arrives
☺
Brainstorm new ideas
and marketing strategies
☺
Answer standard emails
for you
☺
Send faxes
☺
Data entry
☺
Filing
☺
Hand over necessary
tools or equipment as required
☺
Count money if you have
a cash operation or a petty cash tin
☺
Set up star charts for
your achievements in the business
☺
Tidy up your desk …
☺
Look for new patterns
or pictures for you to work from
☺
Seal envelopes once
filled
☺
Count brochures or
business cards for distribution purposes
☺
Pack your supplies
before meetings or business appointments
☺
Write reminders for you
as you work (eg buy more staples, ring client X on
Tuesday, get printing quotes)
☺
Listen to your work to
ensure it makes sense
☺
Research prices on the
phone for you
☺
Label your files or
drawers or document trays
☺
Teach them your
business name and description – you never know who
they’ll mention it to!
☺
Answer the phone
And remember,
even if takes them three times longer than you to do
something, if it saves you time and/or gives you some
quality time together then it’s worth every extra
second!
Tash Hughes is
the owner of
Word Constructions and is available to solve all
your business writing problems! From letters to
policies, newsletters to web content, Word Constructions
writes all business documents to your style and
satisfaction.
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