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Teaching It, Learning It, Doing It!

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Redema, LLC

Ben Kim.48dayscoach.com

His & her businesses, homeschooling 3 boys, and working full time is a tall order. This couple has some advice that’s helped them make it all work!

I’ve done the last two stories on entrepreneurs under 21, so I decided to do this week’s on a homeschooling family (over 21) that has accomplished starting not one, but two home businesses while continuing to work full time! It may sound overwhelming to most, but have you ever noticed how most successful entrepreneurs work very long hours, but you rarely hear them complain. Why? There is an energy generated when you are working towards your dreams because you enjoy what you are doing.  Work doesn’t feel like work when you are doing what you love!

 

Ben and Karen Kim must love what they do to accomplish so much.  Caring for their 3 boys, Ian (8), Jonathan (6), and Karson (3), and now in their second year of homeschooling, Ben also works full time at night as a translator and Karen works full time as an ESL instructor and graphic artist at UCF. In addition, Ben has a coaching business he’s developed through 48 Days. Karen’s business is running Redema, LLC, selling a unique product which she has taken from conception to sales!

 

What I love the most about this couple is that although they each run their own businesses independently, they are each other's biggest cheerleaders! Some of their best advice they have learned is to be sure to communicate well with each other, making sure you both stay on the same team. I’m sure that this has been one of their secrets to keeping all the balls in the air. With harmony in the home, things always flow more  smoothly—business or no business!

 

Starting a company from scratch

It’s often said that necessity is the mother of invention, and this is one mother that needed her invention! Pregnant with her first child, she really needed an adjustable footrest, but there was nothing to be found that met her needs. So Karen decided to create her own and their first business, Redema, LLC, was born. Karen says that although she loves being an educator,  

 

“I've enjoyed learning how to be a small business owner and Itranslating my creative talents into an invention.We both like being in control and learning more, but the most satisfying part is knowing that we are truly helping others in some way.”

 

Learning as she went, Karen finally had a prototype of her product to enjoy with her third and last son, and by 2006 had her first batch of manufactured prototypes. Her first sale was at Christmas, 2006, and by early 2007 had a garage full of her newly created product.  The soon-to-be-patented Redema Ottoman Footrest, is sold primarily online at RedemaLiving.com and has already reached every continent, including Australia. She credits her international reach to connections as an ESL instructor and missionary friends.

 

The nitty-gritty of getting things up and running:

After opening a business account, she used low-interest credit cards to finance about $20,000 to get the first run and other business aspects going. She has had a little help from family to help with the patent fees. Sales have been steady, but has yet to take off like she had hoped. Understanding that it takes time to build a business, she believes in her product and knows it fills a need. Learning where and how to continue to market her product is just one of many learning curves she’s experienced. One valuable lesson she shares that she learned later in the process was the value of mentors and coaches. Two of her favorite sources of mentoring are www.48days.com and Barefoot-Executive.com.

 

Karen gives the most credit to mentor Heather Juma, founder of http://wealthsuccessandwomen.com/.You'll notice that Karen and Heather’s web site are quite similar in design, because she’s now Karen’s web designer.  Building a web site was one of those learning curves almost every business person has to deal with at some time, and Karen’s started at Yahoo Hosting.

 

Even with Karen’s graphic design background, using Yahoo templates, it still took her almost three months to get her site up and running. Selling a retail product involves much more than a business that doesn’t have to work out payment options. She stuck it out, and now has a state of the art web site. (Check it out! Redema.com)

 

Yahoo Hosting is a great place to start, but once you know what you’re doing, you’re freer to choose other options. Moving towards a Web 2.0 approach with a private host, she found it to be a much better fit.

 

She has also started using Kick Start Cart on the advice of one of her mentors. She’s really glad she made the shift, but she’s back in a new learning curve! For those of you not familiar with Kick Start Cart, it’s a shopping cart system that not only provides a secure checkout for your online customers, but offers a suite of tracking and peripheral services to make your job a little easier.

I said a little.  Then again, who ever said starting a business was easy?

In retrospect, would you have done anything different?

Karen says, “I guess I would've ordered half the amount of my first shipment. I wasn't aware of online business mentors like I am now, but they are plentiful.”

 

Ben’s Story

Ben’s start-up story is much simpler, Ben Kim's “3 Step Breakthrough," is a coaching service directed primarily at Korean pastors first, and other Koreans in the US, Korea and elsewhere”. He has worked in the ministry for many years, with a great passion to train others.

 

Offering these services online may be quite new to some Koreans, especially to the over-40 generation. He says this has been the biggest challenge, but he loves assembling his ideas and product in one place online. As the concept catches on, Ben will be established in his field.

 

Ben Kim's 3 Step Breakthrough" was established about 3-5 months ago and his web site can be found at http://benkim.48dayscoach.com site is where he started first.Dan Miller's 48 Days.com team was instrumental in setting up his current web site.  Dan Miller has a program called 212 degrees, which is part mentoring, part promotional, very unique program that helps launch new coaching businesses.

 

Coaching is the hottest new business idea of the decade, and as you read Karen’s story, you can see why. The world isn’t as simple as it used to be, and it’s a rare person that can do it alone. There is so much to learn from other’s experience, and more and more people are realizing that it’s worth paying someone to skip the ‘trial and error’ stage.

 

Ben's costs have been minimal, since his service is an online product. He takes payments through Paypal, set up with 48 Days assistance.  Paypal has so many  helpful services for the small business that many people don’t realize exist.
He also does most of the home schooling during the day, since he can work at home.

 

Managing Time-how they do it

Karen gets most of her business done at night after the boys are asleep. Being a self-confessed night owl helps that out, and only (!) puts in 1-4 hours a night, but  allows herself a break if she’s just too wiped out.She knows her priorities!

Ben also works on his website at night while working his on-call translator job over the phone.Slow nights allow more work.

 

Any Advice??

“Do your homework, talk to anyone and everyone willing to listen -- even it if is an invention (contrary to popular belief, I am not aware of a single person who wanted to "steal" my idea badly enough to do so -- of course, I had a provisional patent pretty early on, though too).Whether you are taking business classes or not, keep seeking mentors, read all you can and communicate with your spouse.You need to absolutely be on the same team!  I wasn't aware of online business mentors like I am now, but they are plentiful.”

 

You can find them online at RedemaLiving.com and BenKim.48Dayscoach.com. The ottoman looks like it would make an ideal Christmas gift!

 

 

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