How can your family members help with your business ?

How can your family help with your business?

I have three children and they have always helped us out in any business adventure we have been on. There was a chapter of our lives that we owned a 72-seat deli in Hamtramck Michigan and MacKenzie and Maria helped out everyday, especially as greeters and entertainers.

Now, with my various internet businesses, they help out with shipping out the products. Maria is very artistic and detail orientated. She decorates the outsides of the boxes with stickers and pictures. Mack loves to tape up the boxes and help me carry them to the car. My husband even gets in on help wagon when we are busy busy busy during the various holidays such as Mother's Day and Christmas time.

I even pay for certain jobs when I have a deadline. I sell products made by dozens of moms at moms conferences like the Hearts at Home conferences that take place in Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota each year and at outdoor festivals and whatnot. 30 days before one of these events is crunch time. I need to do something everyday to get ready for these events.... I need shirts folded, product priced, items boxed up and labelled, retail bags stamped with our custom stamp, etc. For these type of jobs I may pay 1 cent to 5 cents for folding shirts, tagging products with prices, etc.

Also, I always reward the family with paying them 10% of the net sales for our family to use for family fun events like going to an amusement park or bowling or the movies. I put it in an envelope and call it our "timeoutmom" money (that is the name of the business that sells products at events and online at http://www.timeoutmom.com/), so they understand the rewards of hardwork and sacrifice.

It is important for them to contribute to the business and learn and understand about it. It makes it so much better for them to understand that sometimes mom has to go away for business or can't go to an activity because of her business. I think they are much more understanding because they know so much more about the business.

How can your family contribute to your business? Can they put labels and stamps on envelopes? Can they tape up packages? Can they count the money (a favorite everyone loves to do)? Can they ring up customers (patient customers) or bag up the purchases ?