First Entrepreneurial Foray
// March 15th, 2009 // No Comments » // Marketing
I was your typical 7th grader, had an acne problem which was probably less serious than I imagined at the time, a close circle of friends, and penchant for sweets and mischief. Particularly, I was really into a certain bubblegum I’m sure you’ve heard of called “Bubblicious”, it came with all these great flavors and it was big and real juicy for the first few chews.. man, there was nothing better than those first few chews.
Anyhow, I was hanging around by the lockers in between classes when some kid pulled out a pack of this gum and took a piece out to chew on. Of course I asked him if I could have a piece. He said, ‘Sure, I’ll give you a piece for a quarter’. Luckily I had a quarter on me at the time and as I walked toward my next class I thought, ‘Man, that was a whole quarter.. not cool. I should buy my own gum and save my money.’ By the time I got to class I was thinking ‘I should buy extra gum and sell it to other kids, then I can buy my own gum for free!’
So, I spoke to my mother about my idea and she drove around and found a place that sold a 5-pack of Bubblicious for only $1.00. I took that pack to school the next day and sold 4 at $0.50 each. Not only did I get to enjoy my own pack, but had managed to make a profit of one whole dollar! Within a week I had my own private little briefcase full Bubblicious, you wanted Watermelon Wave? Sure thing! 2 packs of Paradise Punch? Right here friend! Pass the word along!
Within 2 weeks I was pulling in a little over $20 a day profit. That’s $100 a school week, quite a bit at the time for a 7th grader.
Later on I moved into the Dirty magazines and tapes market, which ended up being quite a bit riskier (and lucrative).
Now of course, kids can’t sell anything at the school without permission (i.e. without a cut) and boys don’t care about getting a dirty mag or video when they’ve got the internet.
However, the principle was as sound then as it is now, as it always has been and always will be. Pick something you’re interested in and know about, and sell it. Sell the heck out of it.
