Hello 2010 - Are You A Child Friendly Year?

No, no, no . . . it can't be true. February already? Now listen 2010, you're messing with me. Slow down a bit. I need time to write this blog and send e-newsletters and twitter and sell play equipment to savvy retailers and clever doctors and it's impossible to do all that when you insist on marching on so quickly!

If you're like me, the year is racing past and your to-do list is already longer than the queue outside the Myer stocktaking sale a few weeks ago.

Fortunately, the Child Friendly Solutions customers are an organised bunch and we have shipped Play Panels to a lovely long list of shopping centres and medical practices and even a trotting club! I know! Apparently going to the trots is a great day/night out for the family and now you can cheer on your favourite filly at the Bankstown Trotting Club, knowing your toddler is happily and safely occupied with a Child Friendly Play Panel. Giddy up!

New Clients
The latest 'child friendly' gang include:

• Shepparton Medical Centre
  
• Mount Barker Central
  
• Dalyellup Family Medical Centre
  
• Monkey Mania, Chippendale
  
• Stockland Wallsend
  
• Stockland Glendale
  
• Stockland Bateau Bay
  
• Ark Vet, Lindfield
  
• Harbour Town West Beach
  
• Centro Toombul
  
• Sunshine Centre, Greenacres
  
• Alice Plaza, Alice Springs
  
• Westfield Bondi Junction
  
• Onslow Library
  
• Union Street Medical Centre, Maclean
  
• Frenchville Foodstore
  

Are you a twit?
Yes, we finally 'tweet'. You can find us at www.twitter.com/childsolutions. We are tweeting (hopefully!) interesting stuff every day, including retail information, parenting tips, play equipment ideas, inspirational business events I'm attending and sometimes really interesting stuff like what I'm planning to have for lunch (today it'll be tomato & onion tuna on country cheese crackers with a leftover-from-Christmas-shortbread chaser - scintillating huh?)


THE OCCASIONAL TIP - The mess-free way to keep play equipment clean & hygienic
An easy way to keep play equipment clean & hygienic is to use baby wipes! Keep a pack of wipes on hand to quickly wipe down toys or play panels after the child with the chocolate ice-cream cone has left. Quick, mess-free, disposable - love it.

If you're really serious and want the hospital grade variety, Tuffie Wipes, we just happen to sell them. These are the wipes hospitals use to get rid of germs from any and all surfaces. Click here to learn more.

And if you're really, really serious about preventing cross-infection, you should know that hospitals no longer use anti-bacterial sprays on surfaces because apparently the sprays just make the germs airborne. A simple soap-wipe gets rid of them all in one quick swoop. No fancy pants chemicals required. Good to know for home too huh?

You can find Child Friendly Solutions Play Panels, Play Tables and other play equipment at www.childfriendly.com.au

Moving

Is there a more hideous process than moving house?

Yes! Moving office as well.

And of course, in the middle of everything, Child Friendly Solutions experiences an unprecedented demand for play equipment. It's like some kind of twisted version of Murphy's Law, but bringing lots of good things all at the same time.

Obviously I'm not complaining. With the recession in full swing (or is it?) all new business is welcome.

Meanwhile, I've decided to create a little 'zen' corner in our office, in the hope that our good fortune continues and that pesky little recession scuttles off to wherever it came from.

My good friend Charle gave me this little stone goddess for my birthday two years ago. She also gave me an introduction to National Australia Bank and we have helped kit out several of their branches with Play Panels.

Now that's the kind of friend a girl in business needs! Spiritual inspiration and the slightly more 'earthly' inspiration of a flesh & blood client!

Free Report - Increase Sales With A Child Friendly Approach

If you’re a retailer experiencing tough times, here are some sobering statistics that could help you.

Research shows that 85% of parents shop with their children in tow BUT 91% of them experience difficulty making a purchase due to their kids distracting them?

That means that a significant number of your customers are potentially walking out the door, without making a purchase, just because dear little Johnny and darling little Jane aren’t occupied and are bugging mum and dad for a donut.

How does that translate into lost sales in your business? If you lose $100 in sales a day from these customers, that equates to over $35,000 in lost sales each year.

Ouch.

Fortunately, it doesn’t take a huge amount of time or money to keep those mums and dads in your store spending. You just need a safe, space-effective play solution and a few tips on how to maximise sales, all of which you can find right here in our Free Report.

Happy reading!

Child Friendly Solutions has been assisting Australian retailers with in-store play solutions for 10 years including Big W, K-Mart, Westpac, Toyota and Forty Winks. You can find Child Friendly Solutions Play Panels, Play Tables and other play equipment, as well as lots of information on becoming a child friendly retailer, at www.childfriendly.com.au

The Child Friendly Army

I received a lovely call from my friend Leonie last week saying she’d just been to the dentist and seen a Child Friendly Solutions Play Panel in the waiting room, keeping two toddlers (and their mums) very happy.

She sounded so excited to find one of my company’s products out there, in the real world, being used by real people, although I put her excitement partly down to the hysteria of actively ignoring her impending root canal.

But seriously, this is one of the best parts of having your own business; knowing that you are providing a product or service that is really helping people and making their life a little bit easier.

We often receive emails from grateful parents thanking us for helping to inject a little sanity into their shopping excursion or trip to the doctor as their children are safely and quietly occupied by play equipment that they know is safe, like this one from Kim, who saw our Play Panels at her local doctor’s surgery:

The Play Panels were MARVELLOUS. They kept my kids entertained during the
gruelling wait.

And that's what put a spring in my step today!

You can find Child Friendly Solutions Play Panels and other play equipment at http://www.childfriendly.com.au/

All About Child Friendly Solutions

Hello there,

Lovely to meet you.

I'm the owner of Child Friendly Solutions, a business that was founded in 1999 to help retailers keep the little darlings who go shopping with their mums and dads safely occupied in stores (without the use of strong rope and/or metal cages!)

Since then, we have sold over 5000 play solutions to nearly 700 retail stores, shopping centres, medical practices, hospitals, pubs, clubs and government offices around Australia, NZ, the UK and the good ol’ USA (pleeeease fix your currency soon!)

And me? I’m a Melbourne-bred, Sydney-converted former marketing consultant who loves kids, but can see (with the exceptional clarity that can only be borne of knock-down-drag-em-out experience) the pitfalls of shopping with them. Hence, Child Friendly Solutions!

Happy reading and let’s start talking. I’d love your feedback on any post that rings your bell or gets you hot under the strap of your baby bag!

Michelle Barraclough :)