When my son was 18-months old, I was excited to teach him the basic building blocks of learning – the alphabet, numbers, shapes and colors. After searching several stores for an all-in-one kit, I settled for buying individual pieces at various teaching supply stores in my area. I filled a box with mismatched flashcards, kindergarten charts, books and puzzles, and called it ‘Mama’s School’. My son and I sat down with ‘Mama’s School’ almost every day for about 20 minutes. By the time he was three-years old, he could read. Parents at nursery school and playgroups began to ask how I had taught him. At this point, I knew I had a viable business idea.
In 2007, my son started full-day school, so I began to look for suppliers to help me create my product. Fortunately, my step-son is a graphic designer, so I didn’t have to look far for someone to create the designs I had in mind. I gave him the vision for each teaching tool I wanted to include and he brought my idea to fruition on the computer. We wanted the teaching tools to be modern, unique and innovative. After six months of creating the designs, the files were transferred to the supplier and a prototype of Teach My Toddler was developed. With a few small changes to the prototype, the product went into production and I took delivery of the first 1,000 Teach My Toddler kits. Today, Teach My Toddler is the multi-award-winning, all-in-one learning kit for toddlers 18 months to three years.
Through award wins, trade and consumer shows and lots of PR successes, I managed to sell the first 1,000 Teach My Toddler kits in six months. I placed another order and began to create Teach My Baby, the award-winning all-in-one learning kit for babies six to 18 months. Teach My Baby was an immediate success because a lot of consumers are looking for a ‘smart’ meaningful baby shower gift and Teach My Baby is a perfect choice.
Sympathising with parents concerns about literacy and math, I decided to create the third learning kit in the Teach My Series, Teach My Preschooler. It is the first all-in-one learning kit that aims to truly prepare children for kindergarten with Ready To Read, Ready To Print, Numbers to 100 and Early Math.
I make the entrepreneurial path sound so simple and straight-forward! To be honest, it has taken a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get Teach My to where it is today! When potential ‘mompreneurs’ approach me with an idea for starting a business, I am very honest about the time and financial commitment. It takes a lot of determination and dedication but with entrepreneurial passion, you can make it happen!
