Entrepreneurship: Doing What Comes Naturally

April 2008

The Marriott sisters have figured out a formula for happiness: create a business that seems like a hobby. The three siblings from Morgan County – Bailey, Morgan, and Kelly – love working with children. Their babysitting business is an enjoyable activity that comes naturally to these young entrepreneurs. The idea to start a babysitting business sprang from the girls’ personal experience of being watched by others during the summer. The three sisters received quality supervision, and once they reached high school they were inspired to provide the same for other families. Their venture started out as a way of making extra money during the summer. Now the sisters receive business calls several days a week, year-round.

Babysitting has proven to be both a frustrating and rewarding activity. The sisters have difficulties when kids miss their parents or throw tantrums. They know it’s not easy to discipline someone else’s children. But with the challenges also come successes. Bailey has figured out a way to deal with behavior problems with a technique she calls the “spoon game.” Children are given three spoons a day. When they are bad or in get into trouble in some way, one spoon is put into a cup. If all the spoons wind up in the cup, the children don’t get a treat like baked cookies or getting to grab a toy from a bag of goodies she brings with her. She also has an activity box she takes to each job, containing puppets, crayons, paints, sidewalk chalk, and other creative tools she can use depending on the situation.

The sisters have benefited from their work experience through life lessons and material rewards. By starting off slowly and flexibly, they earned fair market prices for their services. They had younger cousins around, giving them experience observing and taking care of youth. Working with children over time has helped them hone their childcare strategies.

Most of their business comes through word-of-mouth advertising, so they have also learned the value of doing a quality job and keeping customers satisfied. They have been rewarded for their efforts with enough money to help pay for trips to Europe, tickets to ball games and rodeos, occasional shopping sprees, and still enough to put into savings.

All the sisters have been 4-H members for more than half their lives. Bailey credits 4-H for teaching her how to make others feel accepted and included – an important skill for working with young children. The sisters haven’t limited their activities to babysitting. Morgan mows lawns and Kelly is interested in cooking projects that she also sells. Bailey has her eyes set on attending the University of Missouri to learn about agribusiness. Her advice to other 4-H members thinking of starting a babysitting business is “Go for it! It gives you such great experience with money management and people skills. And the parents make excellent references.”

Do you know a 4-H young entrepreneur?  Send profile ideas to Adam Loftin, 4-H Center for Youth Development, at 573/884-7929 or acl7f4@mizzou.edu.