There has been some discussion on the KMLoop recently about how long it may take before you see a profit, how long and how much time, money, etc. you invest in your business, and how to respond to inspire our spouses to hang in there with us when things are tough or slow.
Kindermusik educator Heidi Day of Highland Village, Texas mentioned the discussion to her husband, Greg, who, in turn, wrote a letter back to her about what other KM husbands should consider. I am reproducing it below with permission from Heidi and Greg. Names were removed to protect the innocent. 
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From Heidi: Loopers, I told my husband about *****’s and ********’s predicaments and he ended up writing me this letter. I thought it was worthy to share with you all.
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These guys are looking at it like this: my wife is trying a business that isn’t working. Maybe these men missed the part about the average small business loses money for 5 years; 5 YEARS. I want to say to these men, HEY, think about what you are saying; say it slowly, “give — up”? You really don’t want to run your family like that!
I know how you guys feel, you’re trying to make decisions for the family that are right but you don’t have all the facts. Here’s something to think about, You send your children to school; why? So that they can become more than they are. That’s all. It’s an enrichment process. You’re not growing an astronaut or a doctor; you’re going to let them choose what they want to be. But you want them to grow to the point where they have the option to choose anything they want.
Take it from me, my wife has been doing Kindermusik for over 10 years. The benefits to our family has been immesurable. Did she make money at first; duh, no. She’s tried several things. She started by finding an independent music program and did a couple of 3 and 4 child classes. Pretty much didn’t work. Then she did discovery toys. Then she stumbled on Kindermusik and got help from a couple of other teachers in the area. Still hit and miss but in her second year she had some growth; something like 15 students.
She still wasn’t satisfied so she decided to just teach in another teachers studio. That worked for several years and now she’s independent again. But now, with about 15 years of child training behind her she’s roaring out of the gate. If you want to see magic happen then you let your wife get 15 years of experience doing what she wants to do and you will see it.
Gold isn’t just how much money we are making or losing doing this. How much would you pay for a good relationship? How much would you pay for a true partner for life? $20? $1000? Everything you’ve got right now? The quesiton for me was never ‘Is this business working?’ the question for me is Am I or is she learning somehting from doing this?’ I think that we all know the truth that often there’s more value in failure than in success and that the law of the universe decrees that before success there must be failure. Otherwise success isn’t sweet. As a matter of fact, if there wasn’t any failure then would there be any success? No, we’d have to call it something else.
So men, get on the process of enriching your family and stop preventing opportunities for finding the real gold in life. I’m not saying to sink you life savings into something that’s risky but my experience with KM is that it’s really not that much (for what you get out of it). I say, let her do it and give her the tools and backing to stand on her own. She’ll contribute and make the right decisions, too. Be like us where her income only paid for kids activities for a long time, while learning how to achieve so much more than money.
Greg, KM Husband
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Can you hear all the applause, Greg? You’ve got a standing ovation from Kindermusik educators everywhere! And, in this Georgia educator’s book, you’re definitely a “peach” of a guy! 
Della 
