A Budding Entrepreneur
I was right last week when I predicted that Puppy would become an entrepreneur, but I had no idea it would happen so soon! She has been asking regularly how old she has to be before she can start babysitting. Since she’s only seven-and-a-half, I never took these discussions too seriously. But yesterday I was going to offer to watch Otter for a half-hour while her mother took Squirrel to karate. That’s when it hit me: this was Puppy’s big chance!
I asked if she had any interest in starting a business venture, to which she eagerly responded “Yes!” I suggested she offer up her babysitting services to Otter’s mother. She was eager to make the phone call, but I pointed out she’d better come up with a business plan first.
“How much are you going to charge?” I asked.
“One dollar,” she promptly answered. Sensing a teaching moment, I pointed out that her rate would be $1 for 30 minutes and asked how much her rate would be for a full hour. “Well, normally it would be $2, but I don’t want to take advantage of anybody,” she said, “so I’ll only charge $1.50 for a full hour.”
She made the call and was thrilled when she received her first official job. But I should have known that Puppy would take my idea and run with it. After getting off the phone, she turned to me with a sly grin on her face. “So Mom,” she said. “I’m getting $1 for babysitting Otter. But since Kitten is going to be here too, and you know she’s going to play with us, don’t you think you should give me a $1 for babysitting Kitten as well?”
She knew she had me. All of the sudden, I’m not so sure Puppy going into business is such a great idea after all!
