There is a lot to wrap your head around when building a TpT business. Today we are taking a break from business strategy and honoring TpT spouses. But, if you are looking for answers and tips for your business, head over to our MasterMind group: www.growwithusmastermind.com.
If you’re building a TpT store, you realize how much work really goes into it. It’s not a get-rich-quick type of business (not that those really exist anyway). It takes a lot of time and effort whether you are still teaching in the classroom or not. And, then you add all of your regular life to-do’s into the mix and it can feel like something’s got to give. Enter, the TpT spouse.
TpT spouses are amazing! They do a lot and don’t usually get a lot of credit. They support us in our business goals, listen to us stress about things they might not understand, help free up our time so we can work on our business, and some even start to work in the business with us. So, April and I decided that it was time to honor these spouses. We brought on 3 of the TpT husbands that we know so they could share their perspective.
Scott: The husband behind the Not So Wimpy Teacher
First up on our podcast was Scott the husband behind Jamie at the Not So Wimpy Teacher. When Jamie first started the business, Scott thought of it as a hobby. He that she could use it to maybe earn enough money to cover her TpT expenses. Jamie was a teacher and Scott was working full-time at night as a nurse. At that time they also had four young children at home.
He first started helping Jamie out by taking over more of the household chores. Since he worked at night he had a chance to get groceries and clean the house before the kids were home from school. This allowed his wife time to work on her TpT store while she was home in the evening.
But, after downloading the app on his phone he started to hear all the cha-chings and realized the potential of the business. He started helping her with pinning so she had more time for creation. Then, he started listening to podcasts and watching tutorials to learn more about it. As the business continued to grow he was able to cut back on his nursing shifts to take on more of the tasks for the business, eventually quitting his job altogether.
Scott now handles Facebook and Pinterest advertising for the store as well as the finances and technical issues.
Favorite things about the TpT business
Scott admitted it’s the best career he’s ever had. He enjoys having more time at home and no longer misses his kids’ concerts or games. And, he gets to spend more time with his wife. He also loves that there is always something new to learn.
Advice for others
- When working with your spouse, make sure you know what your roles are so you aren’t always second-guessing each other.
- Scott and Jamie use the Wunderlist app to keep track of their business to-dos. This helps to keep their business life and personal life separate. Instead of talking about business all day long this allows them to add things they think of to the app to address once they are working again.
Peter: The husband behind Performing in Education
Peter is April’s husband and also a high school government teacher. He admitted that he was not surprised when she started a TpT store because she’s not satisfied doing just one thing. And, he wasn’t surprised when she invested a lot of time into it because she isn’t the type of person to just do a hobby.
He knew that it was really turning into something when they were on their way home from the annual conference years ago. They had scraped the funds together to be able to go and she had spent a lot of time networking before presentations. On the way home, her sales spiked and her phone was cha-chinging like crazy. She was finally featured in the newsletter, something she had been working hard to make happen.
Most difficult part of being a TpT spouse
When asked, Peter mentioned that he thinks the hardest parts of being a TpT spouse is when the annual conferences roll around and someone has to stay home to take care of the kids and keep the house running. He also mentioned it can be frustrating when she starts talking about something she’s really excited about or frustrated with from the business or a social media conversation she’s had and forgets to fill him on the details so he can understand what she’s talking about.
Jon: The husband behind Fun in 5th Grade
Jon is married to Angie and works as the Grounds Foreman for a school district in their area. When Angie started building her TpT store he didn’t really know a lot about it. She explained it as a way to make extra income. She would come home from work and spend most of the night working on it. It was really time-consuming at first. But they worked together to figure out how to make some things to work smoother over the years.
He first started thinking of it as a real business when the income started to exceed what he had expected. She would (and still does) show him the TpT app so he could see what she was making or how much it had increased over certain periods of time.
Most difficult part of being a TpT spouse
Jon mentioned the hardest part of being a TpT spouse was the amount of time Angie spent on her phone with social media at first. She was easily sidetracked with it.
Advice for other TpT spouses
If you are a TpT spouse and want to help out, but don’t want to work in the business, Peter and Jon suggested looking around to see what tasks you could take over at home. It could be helping out with cleaning or cooking dinner. And, if you have children at home, look for ways to entertain them or keep them busy (or quiet) to give your spouse time to work.
We want to take a minute to thank all those TpT spouses out there. If you have a spouse that’s supporting you in your business, make sure to let them know you appreciate them.