4 Things We Can Learn From A Four Year Old.

I’m playing Peter Pan.
Do you want to be Jane, like me?

Updated in Sept 2019.
I first wrote this blog 6 years ago.  Where has that time gone? My little girl got bigger, in fact she she’s just started senior school,  but her spirit is just the same.  The lessons I talked about are still just as relevant as they were back then.

Ok for those of you not clued into Disney, Jane is Wendy Darling’s daughter in the film Return to Never Land.
This was how my four year old daughter greeted her friend, one very cold morning, while we waited for the teachers to open the doors and the school day to begin. This was the start of her day, how did you start yours?
The school run this morning got me thinking. They say a Childs’ Play is their work and sitting there watching my four year old playing with her friends, made me think about what I could learn from her and how it could that be used in business.

Everyone Is  A Potential Friend, Business Partner Or Customer.

1)
My daughter seems to make friends wherever she goes. She will confidently talk to others in the playground and ask if they want to play or if she can join in with them.

Lesson: Everyone is a potential friend, business partner or customer. Always have your business card or contact details with you, after all you never know when an opportunity will present itself. Ok not everyone you speak to is going to buy from you, but maybe they have a friend looking for your product or service. However don’t bore people with the details if they’re interested in what you do then great, if not as long they are aware they can spread the word.

Action: Carry business cards on you, tell your friends what you do, and link to your business page from your personal account. Make it easy for people to find out what you do, if they want to.

Update I’ve even started gathering my own work friends – by joining a couple of network groups aim specifically at home workers like me who don’t often get to meet up with people (offline) and talk business.  We support each other and share ideas, it’s not about the heavy sell it’s a proper network.

There Is Enough Room For Everyone

2) Rather than telling her friend to be someone else in the game she asked if she wanted the same character, giving them both a chance to be in the lime light. There’s always room for someone doing the same thing as you. It’s what you do, that makes the difference.

Lesson: There is likely to be competition in whatever field you are in. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It means that that the quality of your work, the service you give needs to be better. You need to work out your personal USP (Unique Selling point). Use your USP to give yourself the edge.

Action:If you don’t already know what your USP is then, spend time today working it out. Make sure you tell others about it, is it on your website, your Facebook page, if your proud of your USP let others know about it.

Imagine Your Ideal Customer

3) So I was told on the way to school that Peter Pan was with us, my daughter knew she was going to play with him whatever, even though “he’s just pretend and not really there” .

Lesson: Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean you can’t play or work with it. Think about your blog or Facebook page, you chat to people on there, most of which you’ll never meet, or speak to in person. When you are considering how to sell your product, service or goods you need to think who needs it. Working up a profile of your customer will help you create picture in your mind of who they are, I use this picture when I write to set the level of who I am writing to.

Action: Create your own customer profile, how old, where do they live, where do they hang out? The more info you can add the more ideas about places to advertise, services to offer etc. you can get to provide your customers with what they want, where they want it.

See The Magic In What You Do

4) When your 4 you can fly, swim, be a princess and a mermaid all before school. I don’t know about you but I think we could all do with a little magic in our lives.

Lesson: day to day life can have its highs and lows, imagine how much better your day and your customers day would be if you shared a little bit of magic. Do you do something that others don’t want to, or can’t do for themselves? Then just by doing what you do best, you will be helping others think of this a magic. I create websites, people tell me I just wouldn’t know how. Ok so I learnt how but to others it’s still magic. See the magic and make your day a little brighter.

Action: find your magic, spend time with your children, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, or even just spend a few mins acting the kid yourself, enjoy and have fun. Bring that feeling into your work. As Mary Poppins says, “find the fun and snap the jobs a game”.
So these were my thoughts, now to put them into action. Next time you’re watching a child playing, spend a few minutes thinking, what can they teach me?

 Update  – six years later I’m still trying to keep the magic in my life and now I write a more personal based blog a journey into magic.

So these were my thoughts, now to put them into action. Next time you’re watching a child playing, spend a few minutes thinking, what can they teach me?

Update – children grow fast and the problem they bring with them change as they grow older.  Just like your business, the issues facing you today aren’t the same as you were facing 6 years ago. 

Let me know in the comment how your family lends itself to your business, have they taught you anything ?

Avatar for Pippa Haines Pippas Web

I am Pippa and I have run Pippas Web - web design for small businesses for 13 years. I help small business owners find their bit of cyberspace. I provide the technical know-how, so they can get back to running their business. If you like what I write in my blogs, you can sign up to my newsletter for more tips straight to your door. All list members get a copy of "How to get your business seen online in 2021".