The Bottom Line: August, 2012

The Bottom Line is a series that was first introduced on the Shafer…Power! blog in April, 2012.  Whereas the business definition of bottom line is “the line in a financial statement that shows net income or loss,” here we do a brief recap of our progress toward our goals.  Since “Earn Some Spare Change” is our fourth goal, we’ll provide an update on our actual bottom line as well.

Our goals for Shafer…Power! as follows:

1. Have Fun: Early in the month of August, the kids got a real treat when we were invited to Austin’s premier cupcake shop, Hey Cupake!, to learn how they make their world-famous cupcakes.  In addition, they got to roll up their sleeves and make their own batch of goodies.  The icing on the cake was, well, the icing on the cake.  As you can see from the photo above, they were speechless when they saw the storage bins full of cupcake frosting.  (And speechless is something that doesn’t happen very often with these kids….insert smile here.)

2. Learn Something: As part of our cupcake-making-experience, we were fortunate enough to spend some time with the Founder of Hey Cupcake!, Wes Hurt.  Wes allowed the kids to pepper him with questions about starting his business but the best piece of advice he offered was in response to Owen’s question, “do you have any advice for young entrepreneurs?”  Wes simply stated, “just keep doing what you’re doing and ask questions.  And keep asking questions.  One thing I always encourage and I do on a daily basis is ask why.  Why, why, why.”  I thought the advice was great and something we should all try to instill in our children.

3. Share in our Success: When realizing we were going to have leftover cupcakes, our goal of sharing in our success immediately came to mind.  Who doesn’t like cupcakes?  Fortunately, we were able to connect with the folks at the local Ronald McDonald House and delivered a fresh batch of goodies so the families staying at the house could have a small treat on Sunday afternoon.  While visiting the RMH, I sat down with my daughter Malia to share with her the purpose of our visit and while she may not have completely understood, she did enjoy leaving behind cupcakes for others to enjoy.

4. Earn Some Spare Change: None of our activities in August involved selling any products, therefore, our bottom line at the end August is the same as July.  Something tells me that’s going to chance in the upcoming months and we’re looking forward to it.

In Summary…August was a great month for Shafer…Power! and one I believe will leave an impact on the kids.  I think every time we walk into a deli in the future, the kids will probably look at me and say, “hey daddy, we know how those cookies or cupcakes were made.”  And I think it’s a fun part of the process…for them to have an awareness of how things are done.  I really enjoy talking to them about it and understand that even though they are young, they’re taking notes in their mind.  Only time will tell what sort of impact our adventures will have on them.  But one thing is for certain….we’re sure having fun along the way.

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