Babysitting Service
Description:
When I was a teenager, I actually started my own Babysitting Service for my neighborhood and ward. The services provided were those of watching couples kids on multiple days throughout the week for different amounts of time for a fairly reasonable price. Once contacted to babysit, I would find out information about the kids that I would be babysitting and then come up with a list of ideas of things that I could participate in with the kids while with them. These ideas might include game, projects, treats, reading, music, and outdoor activities as well as many others. I also had a number of different books, materials and supplies to help me be able to better entertain the kids as well as myself. I would plan these activities but also ask the kids what they would like to do and adjust my plans accordingly. I always mad e sure to have something fun for the kids to do and made sure that we would never end up doing something the kids might find boring or dull. When the parents returned home, I would fill them in on everything we did and tell them how their kids behaved. Overall, through my planning ahead, most kids were extremely happy with me babysitting them. This in turn encouraged the parents to keep calling me back to babysit their kids over and over again and gave me a chance to earn a good amount of money during my teenage years.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
I first thought of this idea before I was actually old enough to babysit. I had always loved being around younger kids and playing with them. I thought to myself that it would be great to be able to do something I loved and earn money while doing it. So, when I was old enough to start babysitting on my own, I made flyers about myself and my willingness to babysit. I passed these flyers out to my entire neighborhood and members of my ward. On the flyers I put specific qualities that I possessed that I believed would make me the best and most reliable babysitter. I also included a rate that I wished to be paid but said that I was open to negotiations. After passing out the flyers, I began getting calls to babysit and I was able to begin earning money as a young teenager.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
At first it was difficult to get families who didn’t know me very well to call me to babysit. I overcame this by asking those people who did know me if they would pass along a good word for me to their friends who had kids that needed to be babysat as well. After I had established a good babysitting relationship with a small number of family friends, news began spreading about the great service that I provided and I began getting more and more calls to babysit for people that I hardly even knew.
Another challenge I faced at first was coming up with enough creative ideas to keep the kids entertained while babysitting. I kept doing the same things over and over again which was getting pretty boring for me and especially for the kids whom I regularly babysat. So I decided to put some more research into getting new ideas. I went to the library and found a number of books with great ideas. I also talked to my mom and she helped me come up with some pretty good ideas. Finally, I began to think outside the box to create more unique ideas that I couldn’t have come up with if I had continued thinking the way I always had.
What I learned:
Mostly I learned a lot about kids during this experience. I have always loved kids and this job helped me to better understand them and to create ways to interact with kids that I can use with my own kids in the future. I also learned the importance of advertising. Without producing flyers and spreading the word about my babysitting service I probably wouldn’t have received very much business. Finally, I learned the importance of hard work. If I hadn’t of put in much time or effort into creating ideas for babysitting I would not have been providing a very good business. But since I did put hard work into creating those ideas it paid off greatly by me gaining more families to babysit for and more calls to babysit each and every week.
Child Service
Description:
A summer time day care that is cheaper then putting your children in an actual day care. The day care lasted for four hours three times a week. We would play games and do activities with all of the little kids. We charged two dollars per kid per hour. We would play games and do all sorts of activities with them. We also tried to incorporate education into the activities that we did.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
I actually got this idea because of my own personal experience. When I was a wee little one my best friend and I had a brilliant idea to start our own neighborhood business. Our parents were very supportive, giving us ideas of what we can do, and helping provide supplies for us. We had to organize the day and times of when we were going to hold our little day cares. We had to advertise what we were doing throughout our neighborhood.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
The main challenge that we faced with starting up our little day care was getting all the parents to trust us with their children. Pretty much the only way for us to overcome this was by getting referred by others. When one parent had a good report about their experience with us they told everyone else. Another difficulty was trying to hold all the kids attention. My friend and I learned that by splitting them up and doing all sorts of stations, it was easier to keep everyone entertained.
What I learned:
Growing up as an only child I was never around the constant noise and stress of little kids running around. It taught me a good lesson on being a mom. I had to not only have a constant knowledge of what the kids were doing, but also keep them entertained and happy. I also found that it actually was a lot more work then what we had originally planned on. But by having our own little day care it gave us confidence that if we have goals to do something, with hard work, we can accomplish it.
Creating a babysitting business
Description:
When I was 14 I started my own babysitting business that I continued throughout my teen years. I started by being offered babysitting jobs by my closest neighbors and realized I could spread the word that I was willing to baby sit for anyone who lived nearby since I didn’t have a car. Since there were other girls in my neighborhood doing the same thing I was I tried to think of ideas to make my services unique. I started bringing craft activities, snacks, and other toys for the kids I was babysitting. My responsibilities varied depending upon the parents’ requests. Sometimes I would have to cook dinner and put the kids to bed if it was in the evening, other times if it was in the day I would just play with the kids and make sure they stayed safe, out of trouble, and followed the rules the parents gave me. I got paid $6/hr for one child and a $1 for each additional child.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
I first got the idea when one of my neighbors asked me if I could baby sit her two kids. I tried it and I loved playing with her kids and taking care of them. I loved it so much I would have done it for free but when I learned I could get paid for it I thought it would be a good opportunity to make money. That neighbor spread the word that I babysat to our other neighbors and people in the ward and next thing I knew I was getting a lot of job offers
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
Some challenges I faced were in relation to the frequency of job offers that I had. Some times not many people would call wanting a babysitter so I figured I needed to get the word out some other way than just depending on word of mouth. I made fliers to pass out in the neighborhoods around me and that seemed to boost business. The fliers listed all the services I was willing to provide, my contact info and the first aid care I was educated about.
I also faced challenges with some of the children I babysat because they would be disobedient at times. Once I realized I should probably talk to the parents about what to do next time one of their children was disobedient, I felt more comfortable and prepared for how to handle the problem.
Another problem I faced was the wide variety of times I would be asked to baby sit. Some people would call last minute, or want to schedule a time at a time when I had other plans. I would often have to decide if I wanted to cancel my other plans so I could baby sit instead or I would have to decline. It was a sacrifice either way. I just had to decide what was more important depending upon the situation.
What I learned:
This experience was more valuable to me than just being able to earn some extra money. I learned a lot by overcoming the challenges I faced. I learned a lot about caring for kids as well as how to cook. I learned how to responsibly save money since I didn’t know when the next time I would earn some would be. I learned how to make sacrifices in order to help other people. I also learned safety precautions and first aid in order to be better qualified and trusted by the parents who hired me. I learned how to present myself to future employers by advertising my services.