How Do You Support Twin/Multiples Owned Businesses?

Time for our Questions of the Week! This week's question comes from Entwined Community Co-Founder, Anthony.

Business Question of the Week: World News with Diane Sawyer ran a series last week on supporting American made products, stating that if every person spent $3.33 on American made products each year, we could create nearly 10,000 new jobs.

At Entwined Community, we feel the same way about supporting businesses that are owned by adult multiples or the parents of multiples. Supporting businesses owned by twin, triplet, quadruplet or more families helps create jobs and income for families just like yours. As a twin/multiples owned business, how do you support other businesses that are twin/multiples owned? For example, when we were looking for a graphic designer to design our logo for Entwined Community, we specifically wanted to use someone who was a twin or parent of multiples, and selected J4 Design, a twin mom out of San Francisco. The photographer for Alicia's photos on our About page were by twin mom photographer Sweet Shots Photography, while the photographer for our membership cards seen on our home page were by twin mom photographer Worth a Thousand Words Photography. If you have not worked with a twin/multiples owned business, share how you plan to in the future.

General Question of the Week: How do you currently support twin/multiples owned businesses? What is the last purchase that you made from a twin/multiples owned business?

Help spread the word about twin/multiples owned businesses! Find our badges on our Flickr page - if you are a twin/multiples owned business use this code for this badge, and if you are a family that supports twin/multiples owned businesses, use this code for this badge. To find the code, select the badge you like and click on "Share this", then "Grab the HTML/BBB code", then copy the code (you can choose between 75x75, 100x100 or 125x125), then paste the code into your website or blog.

Photo credit: (Star Telegram)

Weekly Wrap Up: February 27th-March 5th

Here is what you may have missed at Entwined Community this week.

New Members:

1. Added High Desert Mothers of Multiples to our list of parents of multiples clubs!
2. Added (MOST) Mothers of Supertwins to our list of twin/multiples owned nonprofits!

Question of the Week:

1. Business Question of the Week: BBC News reports that Microsoft spends $9 billion per year on research and development, especially in the areas of gaming such as XBox Kinect. Do you think Microsoft should be spending more on R&D as relates to software needs for businesses? What software programs would be helpful to you in your business?
2. General Question of the Week: Do you think Microsoft is falling behind Apple and other software companies? Should they spend more time developing software for businesses or gaming? What software programs would you like to see?

In the News:

1. From the Midtown Raleigh News: Teen twin brother/sister entrepreneurs balance school, work and a successful company. Founder Ryan got the idea when he wanted to give his mother a rain barrel, and was not impressed with what he saw in stores. Now the family biz sells barrels in 119 locations in 5 states.
2. From Bloomberg Business: The SBA's new loan programs are aimed at reducing red tape for small business access to funding. Have you tried to access small biz funding and denied or frustrated by long waits and requirements?
3. From Entrepreneur: Triplet mom and co-founder of Repax reusable shopping bags Margaret Moss shares three (naturally!) tips for budding entrepreneurs. What are your top tips for twin/multiples entrepreneurs?
4. From WOWK Channel 13: Twin mom of TLC's Little People, Big World fame Amy Roloff spoke at Shepherd University this week about overcoming adversity. In addition to the family farm, Amy is the founder of the Amy Roloff Charity Foundation, a nonprofit that supports and advocates for kids.

Blog Posts:

1. March 8th is Mardi Gras - Share your favorite traditions or recipes, and don't forget to support our twin/multiples owned businesses in the Bayou State - twin mom owned Gemini Greetings and triplet mom owned The Triple Dip Shop!

Photo credit: (Trends in Twos)

Weekly Wrap Up: February 13th-19th

Here is what you have missed at Entwined Community this week.

New Members:

1. Welcome twin parent Thirty One Gifts Independent Consultant Claire Hill, for products with style and convenience at an amazingly affordable price.
2. Welcome twin sister owned Jane Goodrich Photography, a New York based newborn and children's photographer.
3. Welcome twin parent owned Two By Two Creations, a business dedicated to making beautiful and fun things for the young and the young at heart.
4. Welcome twin parent owned Stuff 4 Multiples,with everything for one, two, three babies or more! Twins, Triplets, and multiples clothing, matching bibs, T Shirts, special gifts and more.
5. Welcome quadruplet parent owned Scrapbook Mamma, who has been helping people turn their stored photos into personalized digital photo books and scrapbooks since 2007.

Question of the Week:

1. Business Question of the Week: BBC reports that by summer 2011, UK businesses will allow for contactless payments using mobile devices instead of credit/debit cards - wave your phone over the device and you are on your way. If you operate a physical location such as a store or restaurant, do you believe your customers would be interested in using this technology? Why or why not?
2. General Question of the Week: Would you feel comfortable using your mobile phone as a contactless payment device? Would you worry about security if your phone was lost or stolen - in essence, is it really any different from using your debit or credit card in the same way?

In the News:

1. From Startup Smart: Twin brother Steven Marks discusses how his popular Mexican restaurant Guzman y Gomez is taking over the Australian dining scene.
2. From The Independent: Kate Brown, twin sister and owner of BeU Beauty Clinic in Dublin discusses how economy creates challenges for her as a biz owner and for her customers.
3. From NBC New York: Our friend and Twiniversity founder Natalie Diaz talks about how she started her business on a budget.
4. From St Louis Today: Twin father and online entrepreneur Christopher Deck discusses how his adoption of twin daughters from China was the inspiration behind his business.
5. From The Columbia Tribune: Twin sister entrepreneurs take first prize at the Mid-Missouri Entrepreneurial Summit. Byrnne & Bailey Stansberry, sophomores at Columbia College, have designed and patented stylish rainboots - the idea came to them while brainstorming a marketable product in class one day.

Blog Posts:

1. Happy Valentine's Day from Entwined Community - visit the blog to read how some Entwined Community members met their spouses. How did you meet your spouse/partner?

Photo credit: (Trends in Twos)

Weekly Wrap Up: January 23-29th

Here is what you have missed at Entwined Community this week. Don't forget that individual membership to Entwined Community is now FREE - sign up for your membership card today to get exclusive discounts and benefits from twin/multiples owned businesses.

New Members:

1. Welcome twin parent owned For Multiples Maternity, an Atlanta based online store that offers maternity clothing just for mothers of multiples!
2. Welcome twin parent owned Twins and More Store, a San Diego based online retailer for families of twins and more.

Question of the Week:

1. Business Question of the Week: Schools in Georgia may not include cursive handwriting in their curriculum standards in the fall because they believe most students use computers or text messaging for communication. How do you communicate with your vendors and clients? Do you use handwriting anymore?
2. General Question of the Week: What would you think if cursive handwriting was removed from the curriculum standards in your state? Do you use cursive handwriting anymore?

In the News:

1. From the New York Post: Twin mom Ruth Zukerman shares the idea behind Flywheel Sports℠ - which launched in Feb 2010 and now has several NYC area locations!
2. From Corona Del Mar Today: Twin Jason Meinzer is the co-founder of Bike Sharing - a software system to help bike sharing programs track their usage.
3. From the Entreprenette Gazette: Thanks to twin mom Sarah for including me in her post - I shared tip #73 prioritize and get it done!

Blog Posts:

1. January 29th was National Puzzle Day! Jennifer and Julie, twin owners of Learning Express share some of their favorite puzzles and ask what your favorite family game night activities are.

Photo credit: (Trends in Twos)