my 8 yr old started her own business!

so, i've been pondering this for awhile. we don't do allowance in our home but, my daughter really does a lot of work to feed and care for our ratties (as they are all in her room with her) so they can breed and feed our snakes.

so today i came to her with a business idea. i would pay her .25 cents for every rat i feed to my snakes, regardless of size. i will also pay her .50 cents for every time she cleans one of the small nursery cages and $1.00 for every time she cleans the larger cages which house the retired or being-bred ratties.

she has a journal now... where she can keep track of every time we feed off some rats and every time she cleans one of the cages (her new "fun time thing to do" *go figure... i have a weird kid LOL she loves to clean*)

i will continue to buy all the food, treats and bedding (aspen and carefresh) etc and she will continue to feed them and clean the cages when she's in the mood and now she has her own "business"!

i'm so proud of her. she'll be learning math, how to save money, and run her own business!!! :)

now she's got the name of her business! "THE RAT ROOM"

:wuv:

That sounds cool. Wish I could find rats that cheap!

Hahaha, thats awesome aleesha, and also a good way to really get her and keep her interested in the hobby. I think anyway that you can get a kid to take pride in what they do is great. Hats off to you and your daughter..:D

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

so, i've been pondering this for awhile. we don't do allowance in our home but, my daughter really does a lot of work to feed and care for our ratties (as they are all in her room with her) so they can breed and feed our snakes.

so today i came to her with a business idea. i would pay her .25 cents for every rat i feed to my snakes, regardless of size. i will also pay her .50 cents for every time she cleans one of the small nursery cages and $1.00 for every time she cleans the larger cages which house the retired or being-bred ratties.

she has a journal now... where she can keep track of every time we feed off some rats and every time she cleans one of the cages (her new "fun time thing to do" *go figure... i have a weird kid LOL she loves to clean*)

i will continue to buy all the food, treats and bedding (aspen and carefresh) etc and she will continue to feed them and clean the cages when she's in the mood and now she has her own "business"!

i'm so proud of her. she'll be learning math, how to save money, and run her own business!!! :)

now she's got the name of her business! "THE RAT ROOM"

:wuv:

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lol nice outside the box buisness idea....its way better than the infamous "lemonade stand".....lets hope it wont turn out to be a rat stand. i can see it now..."come one and all rats for sale! buy one male get a female free!

hahahahaha trust me, i'll be using up all she can produce! i have 6 snakes coming.... um.... well.... someday (darned CITES)

currently i use 4 ratties a week!

That's amazing, Aleesha!! Better watch out...she'll grow up to be a little tycoon! ;)

That is really a good thing and a great idea. Having fun and learning at the same time is always a great thing!

Great idea! And what a wonderful first business!!!!




ps... (her new "fun time thing to do" *go figure... i have a weird kid LOL she loves to clean*)

You can send her to visit Aunt Laura any time! hahaha! :P

she had a horribly disgusting room 3 months ago and then i told her that every monday i would take her out and do something special (we usually go for lunch just the two of us) if she kept her room clean for the week... and somehow a tranformation took over... and now she's become a cleaning princess... she's gotten soooo into it. she takes all her stuff off her shelves daily and tidies them up... cleans under her bed... on the floor of her closet... the whole 9 yards... i'm so proud of her.

my little girl is really growing up!

and judy... i'm hoping she'll take this to the highest level cause i'm hoping to get her investing in mutual funds with some of the money... to show her how her money can work for her! the seeds are being sown... now the journey begins :D

Sounds like a great idea, Aleesha. Maybe in the future you can pay her closer to market value for the feeders, but then require her to buy more of their supplies to keep and breed them. :)

Thats an awsome idea!


~mike

I had the same idea for when I have kids. There will be no allowance, but they will have plenty of opportunities to earn money. I am going to have a list of chores with the payout for completion. They will earn a nice "allowance" if they actively help out around the house and yard. They will have manditory chores that keep them busy that they will get paid for, but there will be several other things they can do to earn more money eg. washing my car. They can start saving early and work to pay for any birthday presents, Christmas presents and events without mooching off of anyone.
I also plan on having them raise and breed leos, cresties, corn snakes or feeders to learn about the hobby and get a business sense at a young age. I can't wait until the day my kid walks into 5th grade science and explains recessive and co-dom genetics, and most likely being there to correct the teacher when they get stuck. I've thought about teaching them simulated drug dealing like the controversial teacher in a Chicago ghetto used to do to teach them standard and metric measurement and math, but I think thats a little extreme :rolleye2: Maybe just have them cook with me for that stuff.

I bet the cages will be cleaned more often now, thats where the big bucks are.

That is awesome Aleesha:D Better watch out....she'll be taking over your job soon LOL

she's sitting beside me explaining her "business plan" to her dad... you should hear her trying to say entrepreneur. LOL

That's an awesome idea.
Congrats.

Tell her if she starts selling F/T Ill buy some!!:rockon:

ah nice of you... but we are in canada - the shipping would be sooooo much :P

Hey since where the 1st to read about her first entrepreneur practices. Tell her I want a good deal on rats selling them by wholesale.

Wow! That's a great way for your daughter to earn some money and learn to be responsible.

A couple I know breed horses and cattle. Their 8 year old son has started breeding hamsters. He sells them to the pet store. I think it's a great way to teach him about the family business. He's learning about breeding, husbandry and finances all in an age-appropriate way. I thought it was brilliant.

originally we were going to breed her pet rats (before my snakes were eating rats) and sell the babies to the petstore... but they only give you $2 per rat... which doesn't even cover the expenses of raising them... and then they sell them for $10-12.

now that we are feeding rats, having to pay that much for an under nourished, skin and bones rat is not only a rip off financially but IMO not a healthy choice for my snakes.

so now we breed :)