Our Home-based Homeschool Business

In July 2005, my DH and I became the proud owners of Discount Home School Supplies. We had been praying for an opportunity to increase our income without me having to get a job outside the home. With five children, our budget was very tight. We also wanted to serve the homeschool community in some way. At this time, I was doing some contract work for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and I was enjoying this work very much.

One night, I was reading our bi-monthly state homeschool support group newsletter published by NCHE , I found an ad for a “Homeschool Business For Sale.” I told my DH about it, and after we prayed about it and slept on it, we decided to contact the owners of the company.

We were not the only ones who contacted them, but God has His Hand in this whole business. They spoke to us first about the business. After we heard the details, we decided that we needed to see the business in person. So we traveled to their home which was about 1.5 hours away from our home. After we met the owners in person and saw the business operation, we made our offer to buy the business. After a few days of talking and discussing the various aspects of taking over the business, we took them a check and signed the papers to make the business ours!

We spent several days making our garage ready to house our new business, and finally one Saturday late in July, we traveled once again to pack up the business and relocate it. The first month was definitely a month of intensive “on the job training.” If something could go wrong with the computer, ordering system, or shipping, it went wrong! I learned to work with the faith that God would get me through this time of my life. My children and husband were a great support and help to me. We postponed our plans to start school in August and waited until September.

After the first month, things settled down. I learned how to use the computer system. And I was able to order what I needed, and the correct items were coming to me. And the children were learning how to operate a business. And we did start school right after Labor Day.

Now, almost 6 months later, we have settled into a good schedule of running a home, a school, and a business all from one location. The children have learned to pitch in and help when asked, and I have learned that I can’t “do it all.” I have a part-time office assistant who works 3 days per week. I have talked to hundreds of homeschoolers, many of whom are first-time homeschoolers. And it is such a blessing to me to be able to share with them what I have learned about the various curriculum that is available.

In the next month, I hope to have our brand-new website up and running. This has been a labor of love for me to update and describe many of the products we carry. I wrote earlier this week about “Why We Chose to Homeschool”. I want to touch other homeschoolers' lives, just as my life was touched by homeschoolers before me. The first goal of our company is to glorify God in all that we do. This means that sometimes we do the right thing, even if it is not the best thing for us financially. Eventually, we would like to have a store-front in our community, and our eventual plan is for the business to grow enough for my husband to leave his full-time job outside the home to work for our business full-time.

Tami Fox

Discount Home School Supplies

http://www.dhss.com

discounthsbooks@yahoo.com

828-632-9114

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Comments

Untitled Comment

7:01 AM, Jan. 15, 2006, posted by berrymorin

Best of wishes on your new business venture.

Great Service and Prices!

5:50 PM, Feb. 24, 2006, posted by

Tami:
One of the women working your booth at the UNIFOUR conference was very helpful!. She led me to just the books I needed. Plus, my DD is enjoying the Explode the Code books we bought from you......at the best price around!!! Much continued success.
Michelle

Edited by eyecorn on Feb. 24, 2006 at 5:51 PM