I was reading @Helen's article about balancing business and family life and it sparked a few questions in my mind:
1. What ways have you found to involve your kids in your business? I'm specifically thinking of younger kids, but all ideas would be welcome!
2. If you've given your kids jobs -- did you pay them? And if so, how did you account for that on the business side?
My oldest just turned 5 and is so curious about the business -- I'd love to find little jobs for him to do.
Great Question,
We have 3 kids 10F 8M and 5M all wanting to help where ever they can. We run a fish and chip shop so its a bit hard to help cooking and serving customers, but i have had the older 2 on the registers beside me and had them using the POS for me and giving change to customers.
I don't really let them do any of the food prep as we are an open kitchen and customers dont really want to see young children cooking their food.
I let them help me count the money at the end of day. gives them so much confidence in counting and adding the dollar values up.
They do come in on weekends and "help" fill up the drinks fridge with drinks but that last about 10 minutes before they are bored.
I find any little way to get them involved in our world is a confidence booster for them.
Great conversations though.
These are great ideas @dimo10! We run a small cafe, so I love the idea of them stocking drinks/shelves (although I do understand that they'll get bored). They're a little small to count money, but it won't be long before that's an option, and it's a great teaching opportunity too. Love this!
As someone who grew up in the business with my parents, it is invaluable to a kids work ethic and motivation in future life.
We have always had takeaway restaurants since I was the age of 4, so i know what it takes to run and operate a busy business.
When I got a Corporate life after Uni, i once had a manager ask me how I was so confident in delegating tasks and putting in effort, all I could say was that is how I was brought up. We work as a team and we get it done. Everyone is all in to complete the task.
This is so interesting @Candlestore! It sounds like he's getting such a well-rounded experience -- from tech, to manual labor, to the creative side. What an incredible experience!
These are such great ideas @CordellMartin! I love how you find little ways to involve them in the bigger projects. That's super creative, and also shows them all the steps that are involved in making things happen. Great ideas!
My kids are involved at earlier ages by rounding up shopping carts from the parking lot, they can help plant and fill pots, and just being around the register makes customers happier. As they get older say 8+ then they can start learning the register with supervision and how things work for checkouts, and get responsibilities that this area, be it one table or two, is their responsibility. Customers love seeing a 10 year old check them out at the register and see the next generation coming into the family business.
I love that you involve them from such a small age @VanKalkerFarms, and it seems like you've found some great age-appropriate tasks for them. My 5-year-old loves being at the cafe. I have often worried that customers might feel like he's "in the way," but one of the special things about our restaurant is that it's family owned and run, so maybe it would be more welcome than I thought. You've given me lots to think about!
