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motivation at its finest


jenrfailla

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i'm a full time nanny by day in nyc. this last week with one of my "little darlings" has really given me a kick in the pants so to speak to get this candle business up and running! its a two glass of wine kinda night tonight!:meditate: here we go! lets get that wax a'melting! just needed to vent for a minute!!!!

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I'll join you in that motivation!!!!

I do daycare in SD and i have 2 babies who are driving me nuts with their teething, they go through spurts of not being able to be soothed at all. I also have an almost 4 year old that acts like a really cranky 2 year old... he whines and cries for his mom most of the day... that's annoying!!!Q

i don't want to do daycare for the rest of my life, but the house we bought was specifically bought for me to do daycare. the attached garage was converted into a separate daycare-with everything but a kitchen and bathroom-which are easily accessible.

but, i have my own 2 1/2 year old who will start preschool next year-bday is in august-just in time for school ... and a 7 1/2 year old so i need a flexible job so i can be home..

i'm trying to plan on being done with daycare completely when my youngest starts school. i'm sure i'll have growing pains-trying to decide what products work best, how best to sell them, etc. but, i am running out of "excitement" to run a daycare. it is sometimes a very rewarding job - getting to see kids you've taken care of grow up and become active in their school/community, but is also very draining when you get parents griping over the littlest things, parents that aren't happy no matter what you do, kids that parents don't discipline.

somedays it's a no-win situation. i used to love my job and thought i would do it forever... well, forever is a long time!!

we can do it, and so can anyone else here. you just have to have determination even if others tell you it can't be done. having had 1 biz already, i've learned

1) you don't have to have all the coolest toys, etc (ex. you don't need to order every fo on the market just because everyone on the board is glowing about it-great place to start when you're looking for places to buy fo from)

2) keep good records-sales, every receipt for every purchase, you can even claim a % of indirect expenses such as electricity, heating, etc. for your biz.(form 8829 through the irs for home based biz)

3) word of mouth is the best advertising. starting with friends, families, co-workers, parents work places, parents friends, etc. provide them with biz cards etc. offer a free sample to place at work place etc. (my mil took a wax dipped bear to her work, had it in a bag, and didn't get it out til someone asked her what that good smell was by her desk. I got $500 worth of orders at xmas, and just got another $200 worth of orders from her...

4) craft shows are good too-even a not so good day could be well worth it if you hand out a lot of biz cards-you may find a loyal customer with lots of friends.

well, trying to get the 2 1/2 year old off to bed...

Heather

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wow! bless you for doing a daycare! I know what you mean about it being very rewarding. I'm a licensed teacher but had a hard time finding a permanment teaching job. my husband and i just got married in august and i needed something that brought in consistent money so i opted to be a nanny...i also know what you mean when you say its tough dealing with kids who's parents don't discipline them...that's what i'm going through. i'm just really excited about this candle and soap thing. i tease my husband and say if my business doesn't take off...at least i can cover up the scent of smelly husband with my fo's! :laugh2:

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i'm a full time nanny by day in nyc. this last week with one of my "little darlings" has really given me a kick in the pants so to speak to get this candle business up and running! its a two glass of wine kinda night tonight!:meditate: here we go! lets get that wax a'melting! just needed to vent for a minute!!!!

My wife has been babysitting for 10 years. She's about done (mentally, physically). That's one reason we're doing the candle thing too.

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I'm a registered nurse with a special needs daycare... this is my 11th year. My youngest son will graduate from college next year, so I see a light at the end of my tunnel. I hope to close the center by the end of 2008....

Hats off to all of you, for your dedicated to children... :)

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I don't know how those of you who do day care and already have young kids do it! Some days it is all I can do handle my own kids, let alone other people's! My oldest is in K this year and my 4 year old will be starting preschool this year. My baby is 2, so we have a ways to go with him yet. I think I will stick with my candles and bath and body biz! Not to mention that we live in the boonies and no person in their right mind would come back our driveway 2 times a day, LOL!!!

Good luck!

Steph

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I envie' you guys. It takes a really special person to do the job that you do. My husband started me on the candle making spree. Bless his heart, he thought that I needed a hobby, something to occupy my time other than work and teaching classes, something to help relieve the stress from the day in and day out of my job and help me spend more time at home with our 2 children and a challenge (since I am creatively and decoratively challenged.) I am a trauma and surgery nurse. Don't get me wrong, I really love what I do, but a few times in the past year I have come home and asked myself "Why do I continue trying to make a difference," and then I get a few glimpse of why, enough to keep me going. I guess it is sort of a day care metaphor, trying to help people who don't follow through to help themselves only to see them back again in a few weeks with the same problem but much worse. One day I had a rough day at work and wanted to quit nursing all together when I saw the candle making box that had globs of dust on it. No one was home so I opened it and as I was going through the steps, it was like a release. My first candle, well let me say, went to the genius book of the creatively challenge people. I have not stop making them since and have gotten much better with time. Recently, my partners and I have decided to open a small candle shop after a few years of testing. We are doing the legal work our self. It has given us a since of accomplishments doing as much as we can on our own. Our business consist of my self, another nurse and a stay at home mom. My friend and I are trying to help the stay at home mom develop a since of independence and to show her how to take time for herself, if only for an hour. She has 5 children and is home with them most of the time by herself. I don't think our spouses think we will go through with it but last night my spouse asked me how did the SBA (Small business association) meeting go? When I told him that we have started filling out our forms and started on our plans he got real quiet. He has seen us working off and on about "the candle business" and I guess it is starting to hit home to him. Sorry I got off on a tangent. Best of luck to you guys. I will keep you in my prayers. Please let me know how everything turns out.:smiley2:

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