Not All Outsourcing Is Going Abroad: Potty Training Becomes Uniquely American Lately, I've been seeing numerous articles about the lastest trend in parenting: outsourcing everything from potty-training to baking cupcakes for class. Apparently, parents all over America are buying into the notion that some parenting duties are best left to "professionals." Parents are paying $60-plus an hour for someone to teach their kid to ride a bike. Others plop down $200 for five sessions to teach a kid how to "listen to your body and go potty on the potty." For only $450, one "professional" will break your kid of thumb-sucking. To be honest, this makes me just roll my eyes and shake my head. I can't imagine paying someone to participate in some of the great rites of passage with my child, especially when I can get my Mom to do it for nothing. Think with your head, people! Your checkbook isn't always the answer! Besides, how else is a child going to learn to curse if you keep paying someone to patiently clean up a few accidents or kiss a few boo-boos? Seriously, this new trend is a great example of how entrepreneurs can suddenly become relevant by recognizing and seizing opportunities in changing times. As it happens, all this outsourcing has been going on for a while, but it's just now coming out of the closet. (Perhaps because it got crowded when people outsourced closet organization too.) There was a time when nobody wanted others to know they were outsourcing certain parenting duties. Now, it's all the rage to let others know your kid has his own bike coach. What happened? First, the entrepreneurs offering these services got more Strategic (the S in SPUD) in targeting dual-income parents holding responsible time-consuming jobs. Further, they started marketing their services as a way of helping parents remove themselves from anxiety-ridden situations so that their time with their kids would be happier and of higher quality. The logic was, "Let us put up with the crying and tantrums and turn them over to you once they've mastered new skills. This way, you don't have to be the bad guy." What an ingenious approach. Suddenly, the "shame" of outsourcing morphed into something parents could actually brag about. Now, some outsourcing parents see themselves as better parents than those who try to tackle every aspect of child rearing on their own. Whether you agree with the whole concept of outsourcing parenting duties or not isn't the point here. The point is that relevant companies (and entrepreneurs) are nimble and willing to make the changes necessary to make their products or services relevant. This trend won't last forever. But there's a good chance the entreprenuers who created it will be successful again in another field. How about you? Could you create a new trend or at least increase demand for your offering simply by re-thinking your key messages and how you market them? If you don't know, rest assured there are plenty of people you can pay to do that thinking for you. That's one check I'd be willing to write if I were you.