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Working for Myself:
What’s Cooking with The Pampered Chef?
When my husband was in graduate school a couple of years ago, I started looking for a part time job opportunity. I had a 3-year-old daughter and a 1-year-old son at the time, and wanted to keep them as my main focus. I was a teacher before the kids came along and wanted to do something where I could interact with people and challenge myself. While I loved reading Goodnight Moon to my children (over and over again), I needed more mental stimulation!
After doing a lot of research, I decided that I wanted to run my own business, but wanted it to be flexible and part-time. I settled on becoming an independent consultant with The Pampered Chef. I had NEVER considered going into direct sales before, but when I looked at the details of the business, it made sense for me.
Pampered Chef consultants do cooking demonstrations for our customers in the host's home. We share ideas about how our tools can make time in the kitchen fast and simple and earn commissions on our sales. The average consultant makes over $100 per show, which usually comes out to be over $25 per hour. I never considered myself to be a "sales-person", but as I share our products with people, they WANT to buy them! I was not sure if I would be able to overcome the stigma of doing “home parties”, but was blown away by the enthusiasm of my customers. They love the quality of our products and the fact that they get me to help them with customer service, recipes and gift ideas. Our fundraising program has also been a big hit with local organizations. They were thrilled that they could receive a portion of sales collected through my website and that they could have a fun and social party that would yield a check in their mailbox!
When I joined The Pampered Chef, I went into business for myself, but not by myself. I get to be my own boss, but also enjoy the benefits of working with a company that has been around for 25 years. It is truly a “turnkey” business. When one begins, he or she receives a crate with over $350 in products and materials, including software to run the business, paperwork, a training video and even a cute denim apron! There are training opportunities galore. I simply have to be motivated to set aside some time for work and to provide good customer service.
About a year ago, my Pampered Chef customers began asking if I did classes for children. They emphasized the difficulty of finding local and affordable cooking classes for children, and the need for new birthday party ideas. After doing a lot of market research, I branched out and began What’s Cooking (www.whatscooking.info). We use our quality Pampered Chef products to teach children how to safely prepare food with their families. Our classes are ideal for birthday parties, scout cooking badges, homeschoolers and playgroups, and are ideal for children ages 4 and above.
If you are eager to learn more about how you might start your own business, I would be happy to speak with you about your thoughts and concerns. I can be reached by e-mail at: michelle@whatscooking.info
