It seems I have always had some kind of home business. I am the visionary in our family. I used to sell a line of make-up, clothing, and jewelry before we had children. I even sold my bread at one point, but couldn't make enough money with that.

So when I found out about Usborne Books, I knew this was something that would work within my family structure and be a good, profitable family business too. So what are Usborne Books? They are wonderful educational books that appeal to kids from all ages from 9 months to 99 years! The topics range from science, history, nature, arts & crafts, hobbies, music, languages, computers, puzzles, CD-ROMS. The books are beautifully illustrated on acid-free paper and their bite-size pieces of text encourage kids to dive right in! One thing I have read about children and the books they like to read is that they are into "reality-based learning." They want to know why popcorn pops, or where the water goes when you turn the faucet on, and how a flower grows, dies and comes back again next year. These books are EXCELLENT for helping parents answer those kinds of questions! My kids love to read them sometimes as "bedtime" stories. The price point is great too--the average book is $5-7 and over 80% of our 900 title catalog is under $10. I felt that if parents had 3 or 4 children and wanted to buy each of them a book, they could find something for each child and not "break the bank."

I started almost 4 years ago and have been a supervisor for 3-1/2 years. I saw these books at a curriculum fair and fell in love! I soon learned that there were no active distributors in my area at the time. We love books, and we thought this would be a great way to build a children's library and earn money at the same time. I was pregnant with my 3rd child and my husband worked nights when I first started this business. I did mostly home shows at first and brought my then 2 and 4 year old daughters with me to "help" me with my presentations. They loved to share their favorite book and pass out catalogs. They also help me now with booths that I do at craft fairs, teacher's conferences, and bookfairs (they help pass out bookmarks for me too!)

I then branched out to doing bookfairs at preschools and daycares and fundraisers. The company opened up the school and library market for us two years ago, and that has been my favorite market to tap into. It does take time and perseverance, but it has paid off. Once the librarians see our books, they love them too! I sold $3,000 in books to several public schools last fall (October) right when I had my 4th child and all I had to do was process the orders I received in the mail from them onto the home office! It is a very flexible business for me with my lifestyle and schedule. I am glad to be a part of a business that supports moms (& families) working from home!

My favorite part about the business now is training and recruiting new people into the business. We only have about 7500 active consultants in the U.S. I love helping families find their niche in the "home business" world, even though I know Usborne Books will not be for everyone. I love sharing ideas and creative marketing tips with my group to help them be more successful in selling these wonderful books and have a supplemental training manual that I developed to help with sales and marketing. I have developed a pretty close- knit online group as well and keep up with them via email and soon-to-be an online newsletter.

The start-up costs is also an appealing factor. The company has specials every two months in the $50 to $60 range which includes 10-13 books, catalogs, and supplies to get started. There is also a larger kit for $199 which includes 35 books and supplies. The company also sponsors trips. They've been to Hawaii, Mexico, and Disney World. I am working on the Bahama trip for this year! As I've said before, I really think this is a fun, flexible family business, and if you or anyone you know is interested in finding out more about Usborne Books, please feel free to email me or visit my web site Usborne Books at Home

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