Month: September 2024

Over the last 20 years, we have trained over 6,000 Relax Kids coaches who LOVE their work. Here is a list of all the joys of running your own business.

1. Flexibility and autonomy

You are free—free to set your own schedule and tailor your sessions to fit your lifestyle. This flexibility allows you to balance your home and family life. Having this control brings such joy and inner freedom. Some of our coaches choose to work just half a week yet earn enough to meet their needs.

2. Creative Freedom

Owning your own business allows you to be creatively free. You can come up with new activities and experiment with new ideas that keep you motivated and bring great joy and satisfaction.

3. Direct Impact on Children’s Lives

Running your own children’s wellbeing business gives you the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the lives of children and their families. You can help children develop essential skills, improve their emotional intelligence, and build their resilience. There is no better joy than seeing children transform before your eyes and seeing the joy on their parent’s faces.

4. Personal and professional growth

Setting up your business does require you to step out of your comfort zone and develop new skills. This can be scary but lead to significant personal growth, which brings inner joy and contentment.

5: Building a Community

Having your own business allows you to build a community around you. You develop connections and encourage collaborations. You can also be part of a community with fellow coaches and teachers (especially if you choose to join a franchise). Being part of a community brings so much joy.

6 Job Satisfaction and Fulfilment

Running a business that focusses on your passion for children’s wellbeing can bring so much job satisfaction. The joy of seeing children develop and knowing that you are contributing to their happiness can bring you so much joy.

7 Legacy Building

Creating your own business allows you to build a legacy that can potentially pass onto future generations. What a joyful thought!

Before you go…

You might be interested in other articles on setting up your business.

Creating a vision for your business is crucial to help you know what you want and where you want to go. Here are some tips from Marneta who has been running her own businesses for over 30 years.

1. Your Why

Start by working out your WHY – Why do you want to run this business? What problems do you want to solve? What is motivating you to do this work? This will help you create the foundation for your vision.

2. Identify Core Values 

What values are important to you and your business. Make a list of all the values that are important to you. Make a list of the top 3 values and refer to these often as they will be part of your business vision.

3. Envision your Future

Take your mind into the the next 5-10 years and what do you see? What would you love to be doing? What impact would you like to be making? What would you love to achieve? List this on a piece of paper.

4. Write It Down

Write down a simple vision or mission statement. be clear on what you want to do and who you want to make a difference to and why you want to do it.

5. Vision Board

Create a vision board with pictures and words from magazines. Create something that inspires you and encapsulates exactly what you would love for your future.

8. Review and Revise

Revisit your vision and mission statement regularly to make sure it is relevant as you and your business grows.

Before you go…

if you’re serious about starting a children’s business, you may be interested in this article

According to the BBC today, Boston Gramma school has seen a rise in social interaction and a decline in bullying since implementing a ban on smartphones during the school day.

The secondary school introduced a “Digital Detox” policy in the summer term, aiming to reduce the negative impact of social media on students.

Teachers reported a noticeable increase in noise levels as students began talking more without the distraction of their phones. Additionally, the school observed a significant drop in bullying incidents. The deputy head teacher noted that students were now engaging in face-to-face interactions rather than being glued to their screens.

The school’s decision aligns with guidance issued by the Department for Education, which encourages schools to minimise mobile phone use during the school day to improve behaviou and reduce disruptions. Prior to the ban, half of the incidents resulting in students being placed in isolation were related to mobile phones. Since the policy took effect, there have been no such incidents reported.

The deputy head teacher emphasised the school’s commitment to creating a safe environment where students are not constantly exposed to potential negativity from outside sources. By limiting access to smartphones, the school aims to foster a more positive and supportive learning atmosphere.

Banning phones in schools can help: Increase Social Interaction and encourage face-to-face interactions, fostering stronger social bonds and communication skills. Reduce Bullying as students are less likely to engage in cyberbullying or be exposed to harmful content. Improve Focus and Learning as students may be better able to concentrate on their studies and absorb information more effectively.

Mental Health as reducing exposure to social media can help to alleviate stress, anxiety, and FOMO (fear of missing out).

Download our free wellbeing pack for activities you can do at home without the use of phones.

#phoneban #cyberbullying #calmaclassrooms #schools #teachers #modulephones #digitaldetox

Pros:

1 Creative Freedom: As a self-employed individual, you have the flexibility to design programs, classes, and services according to your vision and expertise.

2 Flexible Schedule: You can set your own hours, which gives you better work-life balance, and work around your family.

3 Direct Impact: You are totally in control and have the opportunity to create a direct impact on the lives of children and families. You can tailor your services to meet their specific needs.

4 Potential for Higher Earnings: With successful marketing and a loyal client base, self-employed individuals can have the potential to earn more than they would as an employee.

5 Personal Satisfaction: Building a business around your passion is hugely satisfying.

Cons:

1 Financial Risk: Self-employment can have financial uncertainty, especially in the early stages when income can be inconsistent.

2 Administration Challenges: As a business owner, you are responsible for marketing, accounting, and other administrative tasks, which can be time-consuming.

3 Isolation: Working on your own can be isolating, and you may miss the community, camaraderie, and support of colleagues.

4 Work-Life Balance: Running a business can lead to longer hours, and it can be difficult to separate work from personal life in the beginning.

5 Inconsistent Income: Earnings can fluctuate based on client demand, which can create financial stress and uncertainty.

Both employment and self-employment in the children’s wellbeing sector have their unique advantages and challenges. 

To help you choose which is right for you, take a piece of paper and write pros and cons that are most relevant to you in your life and now. Spend time with the list and see which situation you’re most drawn to.

Before you go…

You might like to read this.

How can I run a successful children’s wellbeing business?

What do I need to start my own business running classes for children?

How easy is it to start my own business?

What do I need to know to run classes for children?

So, you want to start running classes for children. You know children face increasing pressures from various fronts—school, social media, and extracurricular activities—and prioritising their wellbeing has become more crucial than ever. 

You want to start a business that offers classes focused on helping support their mind and body and positively impacts their lives.

Running your own business and teaching children is rewarding, but many don’t know where to start, so don’t take the first step.

Here are some tips on how to start.

1. Your Speciality and Experience

Before launching your business, it’s important to know your speciality. To be successful, you need to focus on exactly where you want to help and know how you can help.

To do this, take a piece of paper and track your life, your jobs, and what you have enjoyed doing. What are your interests, and what books do you have most of?

In the 90s, I looked at my book shelf, and there were 3 categories: meditation, fairytales, and entertaining children. I combined all my interests and wrote my first book, Aladdin’s Magic Carpet, which was a fairytale meditation for children.

Being clear on your skills and specialities will help establish yourself as an expert when you start to share your knowledge.

Here are some ideas:

Do you want to focus on physical wellness and run activities that promote physical health, such as yoga, fitness, or dance?

Are you interested in the creative arts and have experience in art, music, and drama?

Are you drawn to emotional intelligence and have experience working with the mind and helping people express their emotions?

Do you want to run meditation and mindfulness classes and teach children tools to manage stress and anxiety?

Or do you want to do a combination of all of them?

What type of classes do you want to run?

2 . Your Target Audience

Once you know what type of classes you want to run, you need to ensure there is an audience willing to pay for your classes. 

Who is your audience?

What age group are they, and do you want to run classes for children, their parents, or families?

Conduct surveys and chat with parents in your area. Get an insight into their problems and what they need. 

This will help you come up with classes that can be the solution to their problems. 

3. Your Offering

Once you know your niche and target audience, it’s time to create a curriculum. 

Make sure your classes are engaging, age-appropriate, and most importantly, bring you joy.

Do you want to run any of these or a combination of them?

Interactive Activities: Games, crafts, and group discussions to keep children engaged.

Mindfulness Techniques: breathing exercises, guided imagery, or yoga to help children relax.

Life Skills: Teach children how to manage emotions, resolve conflicts, and set goals.

4. Your own business or franchise?

As you work on your offering, you may need to consider which is the best option for you.

Do you want to start your own brand of classes and do something new or work with an existing franchise?

Get a piece of paper and work out the pros and cons for both. (See our article on this.)

Consider the following:

If you start your own brand, you will have to think about creating your own class lessons and marketing materials.

Do you have lesson plans and a class structure, or will you have to start from scratch?

How long will it take you to create your own materials? 

Do you work best alone or in a community?

Do you want to try something new and unique or go with a tried and tested brand?

5. Your documents

Before you start running sessions, you will need to get various documents.

Police Check

In most countries, you can’t work with children without an enhanced police check. 

It can be very difficult to get one without one, so you will have to contact an umbrella body or be part of a local charity or organisation and get one through them.

If you join a franchise, they can be more straight-forward, as most can do this for you.

Insurance

Even if you run free sessions, you must have public liability insurance. 

This is to protect you in case anything happens in your classes.

Contact insurance companies and do a price comparison to see which is the best for you.

If you join a franchise, they will often have a recommended insurance company.

First Aid

In most cases, this is not compulsory but a recommended addition to your skill set, as it is always good to know what to do in an emergency.

Safeguarding Course

This is not compulsory but highly recommended.

6. Your Business

Once you have your classes and your documents, you may want to take a simple business course or join a local networking group so you can get information on tax, accounting, and marketing on social media.

If you join a franchise, you will be given more guidance on this to help you as you start out.

7. Marketing your business

Create a marketing strategy to reach your target audience effectively.

Online Presence: Create a professional website and/or social media platforms and share engaging and valuable content related to your wellbeing business.

Community Engagement: Work with local schools and community centres to promote your classes.

Word of Mouth: Encourage satisfied parents to refer friends and family by offering incentives or discounts.

We hope this has given you an insight into the steps you need to take to start your own children’s wellbeing business.

Please do read through other articles on this subject to help you make the right decision for you.

Before you go…

 You might like to read this.