In June, we took our dog Gabby to the neighbor kids to get a good scrub down. She needed it, and I love supporting a kid’s entrepreneurship efforts. I always buy the lemonade or the homemade greeting cards or the cow-shaped freshie. Making your own money is empowering, and I’m here for that.

When we picked the dog up, my kids were amazed when I exchanged a newly washed and brushed Gabby for a $20 bill. On the way home, they brainstormed ideas for their own business. My kids are 10, 7 and 5, and while I hate to throw any shame on them, they are not very creative. All they could only come up with was washing dogs (taken) or a lemonade stand (impractical).

I asked them to think about things they were good at. The girls said riding horses, showing their steers, playing basketball and swimming. Ethan, the 5-year-old, confidently said, using the chainsaw (in his dreams). “Maybe we could teach other kids to ride horses,” said Cora. Not a bad idea, theoretically, but I don’t think most parents are interested in having their kids learn to ride from a 10-year-old. “What if you paid us to feed our horses, Mom?” asked Clara. I laughed, but she was onto something. “What if other people paid you to feed their horses?” I asked her. “Would they do that?” “You know how we always do Aunt Makayla and Uncle Nate’s chores when they go camping? What if you did that for other people?”

As born and bred farm kids, my kids are adept at chores. They can flake hay to horses, check water, dump grain to calves and collect eggs. They can feed and water baby chicks and will reliably feed Gabby (when I remind them). Why not help them start a little business? Small hobby farmers and horse people are always looking for help with their chores.

Serendipitously a couple of days later, I got a text from a friend asking us if we’d help them with their chores while they were out of town for the weekend. Since then, the girls have taken on three more jobs. This week, with the help of their dad, they are feeding pheasant chicks, milking a nanny goat and playing with a yellow lab. Each morning, their dad rouses them at 7 a.m. (that’s early for kids on summer break), they get dressed and he takes them to the little farm. They are quickly learning that working your business is hard work but has its perks, aside from the money. They’ve poured fresh goat milk over their cereal all week – proud as peaches at their efforts.