Join Our Chat about Building Cottage Industries

In this letter to Terri Camp, Kaitlyn MacMillan, discusses her family’s home business. Be sure to join the HomeSchool Chat tonight (Monday, November 12) at 11:00 p.m. to find out more about starting your own home business.

Dear Terri,

I am Kaitlyn MacMillan.  I live near Lexington, Kentucky.  Our family has been home schooling since the birth of our first son. When I got him home, he started teaching me the joys of motherhood from the very first moment. My husband, David, and I have three children: 12, 8, and 6.  We also home school a friend's daughter who is 8.

I started writing years ago to supplement my children's education.  If they needed a story to illustrate something we were learning, I wrote one.  I am also working on a series of six home-schooling articles for a Christian magazine called Media Spotlight. 

For our family, learning is the reward of schooling.  We love to learn. We will do anything to seek out information and put it to use. We search out real live opportunities to learn.  No kidding. We have wrung chickens necks and trained llamas. We are real hands-on people!

As my kids get older, there are more expenses for their upkeep. Both of my son's have recently gotten orthodontic devices.  My eldest began high school this year which consisted of some rather costly curricula.  Every year, we consider HSLDA dues the 'tuition' for our school.  It is a necessity for the proper functioning of our school.  But with all of these other expenses, the budget was short.  Well, in our home, the kids are needed. God added two more hands because He saw that we needed more help.  Our home school belongs to the whole family.

We put our heads together to solve the problem.  The solution: Public schooler's have fund raising campaigns.  Why couldn't we? While looking at mail order catalogs, I melded some ideas together and came up with a cute gift idea.  Our Make-Your-Own-Snowman mugs were born.

The gift package consists of two large mugs with snowmen motifs on the front.  In one mug we placed 2 packets of gourmet cocoa and 2 biscotti. In the other mug, we placed a small bag with two pieces of coal and five red pebbles.  Then we figured out a simple and attractive way to package the mugs.  On the front of the package, we put a label with a poem that my mom wrote:

Making a snowman with a friend

Most surely melts your heart.

Here's coal for eyes, red rocks for mouth;

You supply the carrot, love and art.

(Just to keep the cold from doing harm,

Enjoy some treats -- to keep your tummies warm.)

The mug set sells for $10.  The materials were purchased at various wholesale clubs and discount stores.  Our profit is about $6/set. So, great, we had a product, but could we market it?  My 8-year-old son called the county courthouse. He asked if he and his 12-year-old brother were allowed to sell things door-to-door without a license.  They said, "Sure."

Then we had school. 

Economics: The kids priced all of our goods and

found the best buys. 

Manufacturing: The kids washed the cups to remove

the labels.  Then they prepared the 'snowman bags' and stuffed the mugs

with treats. I packaged the mugs.

Marketing: My 6-year-old daughter went into a coffee shop and asked if they would carry our fundraising item in their store.  They were happy to help.  Who could resist a well-mannered little entrepreneur?  The children will also sell the gift sets at local businesses and in neighborhoods.

We have had great fun and plan to think up other ways to pay for our school needs.