Bead Selling Booth
Description:
My friend started selling beads for bracelets and necklaces in a booth on the campus of his college in California. Once the business picked up he hired people to run the booth and started other ones around California. He hired people to run all these different booths. Then he managed all the booths while finishing graduate school.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
He got the idea because he needed money to pay for graduate school and there were other booths around campus selling food and other items. He thought that maybe people would by beads too. Why beads? It was something cheap that he thought people would want to buy and if they didn’t it wasn’t a huge loss. It just happened to work out really well.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
There were many challenges with this because obviously he had never done anything like it before. It was definitely hard to juggle with school. Anytime there was any difficulty he had to drop what he was doing and go help. However over time this became less and less common. He had managers and employees so it was very rare that a problem got to him and if it did it was only the most important problems. The hardest part was just getting started and having the courage to try something new knowing it might not work out. The main thing he can tell people is that they need to just go with their ideas, within reason of course. And then if it doesn’t workout, try something different!
What I learned:
This prepared him perfectly for entrepreneurial work in the future. He got his MBA in this kind of work. This business was one of the biggest preparations for the work he does now. For teens that are looking for something to be this successful all they need to do is try to sell something inexpensive somewhere that has a lot of people that would be willing to purchase it. It really taught him the best way to deal with employees, managers, and consumers. The best way to learn these things is through experience.
Another important thing is to make sure that what you are doing is allowed. He had to go talk to head administrators of the college in order to start this selling booth. Make sure that you check on all the important things first!
Candy Seller
Description:
The neighborhood friends and I decided to get together and sell candy in the fort we made in the ditch by my house. We were all between the ages of 10-13, and during the summer had nothing better to do. We were avid fort builders, and loved doing things outside. After building one of our biggest and best forts, we got together, and decided we could make money selling candy and drinks to the other kids who lived in our area. We hit it off big! With my mom buying candy bars from Costco for $.33 a piece, and us selling them for $1.00 a piece. We were making easy money. I think that in the short summer we ran our little business, we made a few hundred dollars. All the while having the time of our lives hanging out together in our fort!
How I got the idea / found the employment:
We were greedy. We wanted money so we could have a party for ourselves, and thought, what a better way to do this, than selling candy at a profit to other kids. And it worked!
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
At first, it was hard to get people to come, and to actually buy our “products”, but word got around, and soon enough, all we had to do was take the money. Some things we did do to advertise our "services" was through word-of-mouth, signs, and having a fort that just couldn’t be missed.
What I learned:
I learned that anyone, anywhere, anytime can make a profit. You just have to have something that others want, and sell it to them at a price that benefits both parties. Little did I know, that I was participating in our capitalistic economy, and living the “American Dream” just by having a good time and making some money while I was at it.
Candy Vending Business
Description:
While in high school I invested in a modest number of candy vending machines. These machines accepted quarters and vended an assortment of candies. Just the act of making the initial investment and planning the placement and maintenance of the machines was a valuable one. I would recommend this to someone who has a limited amount of time and a somewhat large amount of money for an intial investment as the number of machines required to make a decent amount of money is high.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
I got this idea from my father who established and maintains to this day a similar business where he owns around 800 candy machines placed throughout Utah and generates a significant income with a limited time investment.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
The biggest challenge I faced was the initial investment. Indeed the amount of money I had for an initial investment proved to be short of the amount I would have required for a decent income. I would recommend a minimum $2000 investment with the mandate to reinvest a substantial amount of the income back into the growth of the business. This business would not be effective as a primary means of income but provides an excellent supplement to someone who has another source of income.
What I learned:
I learned that with the proper instruction through the advice of a knowledgeable person in the same industry, a business opportunity is likely to give great experience even if the returns are more modest. I gained the confidence that I would be able to run a successful business with a sufficient startup dollar amount.
Caramel Apple Salesman
Description:
A very effective entrepreneurial experience that I was a part of dealt with making and selling caramel apples around Halloween time with my fifth grade class. This time of year was perfect because apples were in season and they were cheaply and deliciously bought by the boxful. The first stage was to gather orders in advance. We would visit everyone we knew, including neighbors, family friends, and people in the ward, to fill as many orders as possible. The class would get together and form an assembly line to make the caramel apples and everyone was in charge of delivering them and collecting the money.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
The idea came from my dad who implemented it with his fifth grade class as a fundraiser. I participated in it during several years even though I wasn’t always in his class. The idea came together shortly after a major earthquake happened in Mexico. That particular fifth grade class wanted to help rebuild a school so they brainstormed ways to earn money. Caramel apples are a simple treat to prepare and an almost universally loved food; they are relatively inexpensive to the consumer and as a result easy to sell. It was a perfect fit.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
The idea came from my dad who implemented it with his fifth grade class as a fundraiser. I participated in it during several years even though I wasn’t always in his class. The idea came together shortly after a major earthquake happened in Mexico. That particular fifth grade class wanted to help rebuild a school so they brainstormed ways to earn money. Caramel apples are a simple treat to prepare and an almost universally loved food; they are relatively inexpensive to the consumer and as a result easy to sell. It was a perfect fit.
What I learned:
We learned a lot about how to keep customers happy and how to treat people respectfully. Teamwork, especially in the assembly line, was another big lesson learned. There was a lot of money to count and expenses to calculate. However, the biggest lesson learned was how complicated and fun being an entrepreneur could be. Coming up with new ideas and adjusting as unexpected problems arose really helped us learn flexibility. We realized that this was just one of many ideas that we could use to earn some extra money. Most of all, it seemed that since most of our money was dedicated to helping others, we had more success.
Clothing Company
Description:
In high school I knew three kids in my grade who began a clothing company called “Cheapo Deluxe.” At the time they specialized in t-shirts and only sold a few different styles. Their company existed mostly by word of mouth and a few fliers that were passed around school.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
One of the guys starting the business just had a business mentality about everything. He was anxious to start a business and decided on clothing. He just decided that all the students needed to have clothing and that they could provide a “cool, new look.” They divided up duties between the three as far as advertising, finance, shirt design, and other important aspects of the business.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
They said that their most difficult problem was trying to figure out a way to sell their shirts on campus. They weren’t even old enough to sign forms or start an “official” business. They sold their shirts on campus by word of mouth and only between class periods. With the help of one of their teachers, they were able to store some of their products on campus and continue their underground business.
The other challenge they faced was actually trying to persuade people to buy their shirts. Most teenagers care so much about their style and only want to wear the popular name brand clothing. They first sold to their immediate friends and family in order to get their name out and to establish their brand on the main market.
What I learned:
After their little clothing company in high school ceased to exist, these same students today continue to try to establish a clothing business in southern California while in college. They added to their group a girl as well in order to appeal to the female sex as well, something they lacked before. They also learned it was best to appeal to those they were trying to sell to, the typical California teenager. They use palm trees in their designs and typical designs that appeal and are significant to their audience. Now, in college, they also have a bigger market to which they may sell and advertise.
Clothing Sales
Description:
A friend and I started a shirt company that provided our friends and other classmates quality shirts at cheaper prices than the other retail stores in the area. We saw what the kinds of designs of shirts that were being worn right at the time and imitated a similar style. Our shirts gave pleasure and comfort to those that wore them and even a little bit of personal style. We provided easy access to obtaining the shirts, mostly because we would sell them out of our locker during passing period and also before and after school. Our overhead wasn’t very high because it was only Hunter and myself that were involved in the company. We did have friends help promote the shirts amongst other students but they weren’t on the pay roll. We did sell them shirts at a discounted price though to help get our shirts seen and more popular. I was basically the founder and determination behind the operation. Responsibilities that I had to fulfill; checking up on progress of our shirts while being produce, inventory, money management, advertising, and customer relations. Planning is a key to success, if you can properly prepare and execute an effective plan of ways of how to accomplish the various tasks that you are responsible for you will be much more successful than trying to figure things out as they happen. I think that setting goals/deadlines of getting things done will greatly enhance your production as well. We had ideas that we wanted to accomplish but we needed to vocalize them more to help make sure that they happened. I would before ever making another shirt company draw some designs up and take surveys of your market to make sure the product would be a success. Maybe even have a few people pre buy the shirts to off set the up front cost on your part. I would also greatly recommend doing whatever it takes to get the name out and among the public as quickly as possible and maybe even handing out stickers or flyers for the company.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
My junior year in high school I was working at a retail clothing store where a lot of my friends came in and shopped on a regular basis. I knew that a lot of the clothing that we were selling wasn’t actually of the best quality and that it could be better. I proposed an idea to one of my friends about starting our own shirt company and if it would take off we could expand to other pieces of clothing as well. We both liked the Idea of getting to design our own shirts and then even seeing them be worn around school. Over the next week or two we started drawing designs of what we wanted our Logo to be during our French class. After many different designs and questionable names we came to a final decision, Anarchy. The design was yellow, black, and white. Once we had the name and design we started drawing shirts and placing the design and name in different locations to see how they looked. The final design was finally ready and we were excited to get it to the printing press. Luckily both Hunter and I had a little extra money from our real jobs that we used to front for the screening and printing of the shirts. We live in a little suburb of Portland with no real industrial area near us. One afternoon after school we took a little adventure to the warehouse where we talked details with the printer. We knew that we didn’t want to have a huge over head from the beginning but the more shirts that we produced the cheaper they would end up costing. We finally settled on printing 30 shirts to start with. At this amount with the quality of shirt that we had chosen each shirt cost us roughly seven dollars to produce. We were told that in two weeks our order would be done and ready to be picked up. Our idea was underway and we were excited for the shirts to be finally done!
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
Starting any company/business is going to pose many challenges that you will have to overcome. I think that how you respond to the challenges is a great determinate of how your business will succeed. When we first started our business, Anarchy, we had a lot of doubts, challenges, and problems that we had to over come just to get the shirts made. Creativity is something that is we had to adapt into our way of thinking. We needed to be able to think outside of the box to ensure that we could accomplish what we wanted to do on our shirts. Determination is probably one of the biggest challenges that we had to making out shirts. There were a few points in the process that we were like this is a lot of work lets just bag this idea and just go watch TV or something along the lines of that. I have always been interested in business since I was young I had to work for money and learn how to save for things that I wanted. I knew that if I could endure the hard process at the beginning I could then maybe/hopefully see the rewards of an income when we were finished. What got me through the hard parts was the hope of having a good final product and being successful. Marketing was a huge difficulty when we started all we were doing was word of mouth to mostly our friends but we knew that we need to expand to more client-tell to grow our numbers of sales. We never really overcame this setback completely. One step that we took to improve the situation was we had our friends start to rep our shirts and start talking to even more people to grow the population of people that knew about the company. I think that one of the other major problems that we faced was that we needed more selection of shirts; we only had one color and one design. If we would have had more variety our loyal customers would have been able to buy more of our products which would have given us bigger revenue as well as more exposure to the public. Discouragement is a huge part of business especially in business that is focused on sales of a product. When our product didn’t boom as much as we would have liked I know I was quite discouraged and had thoughts of can we actually make this work. Only way to get over those kinds of feelings is to think positively and think about the things that you have had success with and those around you that you have seen succeed. My advice to anyone wanting to start or is starting a clothing business is to work extremely hard and know that things won’t always be easy going but if you work hard things will work out. Stay on top of what you need to do, don’t let things get backed up or to time consuming that you further putting them off. Stay positive and tell yourself that you can make this work!
What I learned:
The experience of creating a company was an unforgettable one. I learned so much about the process of business. I think that everyone needs to experience the trials of trying to make something out of nothing. I learned a lot of characteristics that I now am able to carry through out my everyday life that will help me become a better business man later on in the future. I found that I really enjoyed trying out a new idea even though this time it didn’t work out for that million dollar clothing deal. One of the best things that I learned from this experience that I have carried on to other jobs and other ideas that I’ve had is that before you have success you will have failure. Failure is inevitable when in business, sometimes you will succeed but other times you will fall flat on your face. I think that is probably the best lesson that I could have learned at that point in life. I was used to be good at most things that I did. I didn’t get out of my comfort zone as much as I should have. Later on in my high school career I was able to apply some of these lessons and techniques to another business venture that I had with a friend. This time things turned much better even if it was only for a summer job. Wanting to be in business someday it also gave me a heads up of what I can look forward to and how I can better prepare myself for the challenges that lay ahead. I have had the idea of maybe trying another shirt company and seeing if I can take better preparation and make it succeed. I think that any job opportunity/idea I have from now on will bring me back to a fond memory of my high school shirt company that didn’t work out. I think that it’s failure was almost the perfect thing at that time because it makes me now never want to have failure again. When something happens either for the good or bad, it can always be a good learning experience it just depends on how you look at the situation.
Diamond Re-Seller
Description:
After creating some capital from employment, my friend was able to begin making purchases of diamonds from auctions, fixing them up and reselling them. He would go to pond shops or auctions online or in person and purchase diamonds. He would then take the diamonds to jewelers to have them fixed up and sometimes cut to a specific cut. He then would re-sell them for a large profit. Because he had easy access to travel through some close relationships he could fly to different locations to purchase or to deliver his product. The company was run completely by himself and because of this it was easier to manage.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
He initially started out grinding down gold dust from cheaper rings found in pond shops. He would take the old rings to the shop the school had for him and would grind them down to a fine powder. After filling a few small bags worth he could sell them to a jeweler and they would then use the gold dust to create new rings. After making a good amount of money he could start purchasing more expensive rings from auctions and this was much more profitable for him.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
Some of the challenges that came up were involved in the initial startup of the business. At first he had to use the school’s tools to work with the grinding down of the gold. He was unable to own his own tools because of the cost of them at first. After obtaining some money he could then do the work at home. This was challenging at first because he was bound to the availability of the tools at school. Another challenge was delivering the diamonds to the customers. One time he had to deliver an expensive ring and had to fly to the location to hand deliver the diamond.
What I learned:
When I first heard about this business that was started, I was amazed. It is such a great idea. As far as I know my friend is still doing the same thing and will most likely continue because of how successful he is. One thing I have learned from this experience is that you can do anything you want. Someone out in the world can help you and if you have enough determination and drive you will be able to succeed. I know it is not easy to start a company, but young people do it all the time. They have a desire and know that it is possible to succeed.
Discount Card Seller
Description:
The company name is called “Green Card”. The Green Card is a foldable wallet size card that contains lists of discounts to retail stores/restaurants/entertainment/etc. The card also contains many free items to various stores. The idea behind the card is that people will buy it to save money on things that they already do and the companies that are contracted with the Green Card receive cheap advertizing.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
My brother-in-law and his friend thought up the Green Card. They both wanted to start a business, so they just wanted something fairly simple just so they could get some experience. The green card was a great way to start. They mimicked other companies in the area that had the same idea, except they contracted with other stores that were not offered on the other discount cards.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
The main challenge was getting the contracts made with the many companies that are featured on the discount card. This is mainly due to the large numbers. They had to contact and convince hundreds of people that the card was a good idea and would help the companies with their advertizing. My brother-in-law and his friend were able to overcome this challenging by simply dividing up the work load and setting weekly contact goals with company managers.
What I learned:
The main thing learned in this experience is the importance of team effort. Brian could never have pull through with this idea alone. If he tried it would take countless hours and would not be nearly as effective. By dividing up the responsibilities among many different employees and working hard to achieve regular goals, he was able run a successful business.
Fixed Gear Bike Sales
Description:
Restore and sell old road bikes as a fixed gear bike to the up and coming popular demand.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
At the beginning of the year a few of my friends and I started riding fixed gear bikes. Over the past few months there has been a great amount of interest in our fixed gear bikes. A few of our other friends were like can you help us get a bike. We luckily had some extra parts and was able to start piecing a bike together. We also had the opportunity to help clean up another bike, a beach cruiser, and sell it also. One afternoon another student on campus approached me when I was locking my bike up to the bike lock and asked me about my bike. We quickly started talking about making a bike and how he could get parts. At that moment i thought that I could sell bikes and make a little extra cash.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
I am currently still in the process of making my bike business work at a more successful level. We've now successful sold two bikes that we've pieced together. One of the hardest things that we've had is actually finding the right parts for the bikes that we've put together. One of the best ways that we are overcoming the challenge of getting bike parts is going to garage sales and picking up old bikes. Using the old bikes kinda like a junky old car, not good as a whole but has good working parts that fit specially to certain models. Another way that we are overcoming the challenge of finding the right bike parts is that we are going through a couple of friends that are very savy buying things online at very cheap prices. One of the challenges that provides small set backs but are sometimes fun to overcome are fitting the parts together to make sure the bike rides smoothly. Just practicing the assembly of the bikes is a good way to become more framiliar with how things work.
What I learned:
I'm learning a lot of good skills that I am going to be able to apply to business in the future. Marketing, having to have a good way to have more people want to come to us to help them work on their bikes or make them one of the new fabulous fixed gear bikes. I've also learned a lot of how a bike works. People skills, how to discuss prices and sensitive topics with a customer. Talking about money is also a touchy subject. Hard work is the only way to make things happen. In small business the sky is the limit the more time an effort you put forth the more reward you will see.
Gift Basket Business
Description:
A Gift Baskets are used for all occasions, from birthdays, anniversaries, graduation and holidays, They are given as gift from individuals and from business. Certainly it's an industry with tremendous "fun" potential. You get to buy lots of cute, clever gift items; you get to pull those items together in an attractive container and create a charming presentation; and you get to provide a product that delivers infinite pleasure to the recipient. Both givers and receivers of gift baskets appreciate the creativity and uniqueness of the concept.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
In my sophomore year of High School my friends and I came up with this idea because we always saw our self as being very creative and we have a very organized mind. So we figured this would have been a great place to use our creativity and gain some money at the same time. To start a gift basket business one has to be creative, organized and with a sense of fun and who loves to shop.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them: In my gift basket business I faced many challenges. One of the challenges was that we needed an organized storage place. Both of our parents were not welling to let us clutter their garages with out baskets goodies. We also had a hard time coming up with themes for the basket. Neither of us two had the time to go shopping and to deliver the baskets to the few customers we had since we were both busy with school. The biggest challenge was finding customers. And we were having hard time getting the word out to people.
What I learned: I learn that it hard to start up a business. It requires a lots f time and hard work. I also learn ways of how to get the word out to people. We handed out fliers. We donates gift basket to our school for a silent auction. One of the funny things we learn was that we did not make good business partner but we made great friends.
What I learned:
I learn that it hard to start up a business. It requires a lots f time and hard work. I also learn ways of how to get the word out to people. We handed out fliers. We donates gift basket to our school for a silent auction. One of the funny things we learn was that we did not make good business partner but we made great friends.
Golf Retrieving and Re-selling
Description:
At Hobble Creek golf course in Utah I know of some friends who go and pick up golf balls that players have hit into the creek, and then re-sell them at the golf course. In essence my friends would find golf balls that players would hit in the creek and then sell them back to those same players and earn a profit.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
I actually heard of this through my roommate Audrey and it is our mutual friends who actually executed this plan.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
The golf course was outside so sometimes my friends were unable to go because of the unpredictable weather of Utah. And sometimes their mothers (they were young at the time) would not let them go to the golf course becuase they had not finished their chores. In order to overcome this, they would try to get their chores done on time and even sometimes earlier then they were expected so that they could go to the golf course.
What I learned:
What I learned is that sometimes the easiest way to make a profit requires just a little bit of creativity. I do not think that I, at a young age would have thought of this. I was too worried about who I was going to play with that day and what toys I could get before my sister saw them.
Gumball Machine Company
Description:
This is a business my friend started during high school when he was 15. He would go to businesses like a Mexican Restaurant to give a sales pitch to the manager, asking if he could set up a gumball machine in their store. He was responsible for getting machines set up in profitable locations. This was the hard part because many people said No. Everything else was easy. He would go once a month to make sure the machines were clean and working properly. Then he would go a second time each month to collect the quarters from each machine and deposit them in the bank. This was a very efficient way to make money. He only worked 6 hours/ month, and made about $150 net profit/ month. That is $30/ hour!
How I got the idea / found the employment:
His father came up with the idea, and decided to invest in this business. His father bought the gumball machines to begin the business and set up the first location. Then he took my friend with him to place the next machine. With this example of a sales pitch, he gave the business to my friend who then ran the business. He placed the rest of the gumball machines in their locations, maintained them, and collected the money by himself. At his best time, he had 5 machines placed.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
The biggest challenge for this business was “selling” to a manager. When so many said no, he had to have a good sales pitch. He told them his objectives of earning money for college and an LDS mission. He offered them 25% of the profits from the gumball machines.
Another challenge was when his family moved to another state. He had to remove all the gumball machines from their locations (where they were already making profit) and start over in a new city. He began talking to managers in the new city, and placed his machines to get the business set up again.
What I learned:
He learned the value of entrepreneurial business. He learned how you need to have money to start up a business like this one, but once the business is running it can generate revenue. He also learned that a low maintenance business is very efficient: one in which the amount of time you work is much less than the profit you earn. He wants to start a business like this one (or a car wash, or storage unit) because nobody needs to be there working.
Inline Skate Clothing
Description:
We provided t-shirts and custom design targeted to inline skaters. Our primary markets were readers of the inline skate magazines Daily Bread and Roll Wearhouse as well as local skaters. We provided mostly silk screened t-shirts but also had hats, pants, hoodies, and other skate gear. Our goal was to provide high quality design on comfortable clothing at a reasonable price.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
My best friend and I started our clothing/design company after realizing how much we were spending on the newest, latest clothes. The skating (rollerblading) culture is so small that the only way to purchase gear was online or through magazines. The cult-like culture focused on 1) brand identity foremost but also 2) affordability. We decided that we would make our own clothes and began designing t-shirts which a friend’s dad silk-screened for us. Our designs were simple and clean. We realized it was cheaper for us to buy t-shirts or hoodies and have them silk-screened than to buy the expensive magazine/internet clothes. Wearing the shirts everyday as we skated and went to school allowed us to share with other skaters what we were doing. Our designs were good enough that people asked where we got the shirts. Naturally, we started taking orders. We made a couple of dollars per shirt.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
We decided to take things to try things at the next level. Now that the local kids had our shirts, it was time to see if we could get people from around the world to order from us. It took a lot of time and energy, but we ended up making it into both major magazines. We had no way of fielding the orders, so we ended up only supplying an email address. We put together a small catalog that we emailed upon request. The problem was the transactions took so long and were so labor intense that things never materialized. We eventually ended up selling the designs to one of the major companies. The amount was significant to us at the time, but I am sure petty for the larger companies.
What I learned:
Gleason clothing wasn’t very successful. We ended up making only a few hundred dollars, but we learned life long lessons in the process. We learned how to grow as a grassroots organization and that always being bigger isn’t always better. I also learned that getting in touch with the right people can make things very easy. Our friend’s dad already had the machines and computer necessary for the design and printing—we had no capital costs. Calling and talking with the right people at the magazines gave us free or nearly free advertising—they even had one of there staff stop in Utah and skate with us. This helped me realize that things are a lot less formal in the “business world” than outsiders think. If you put your mind to it and find the right people to work with you can become a legitimate business.
Iris bulb street vending stand
Description:
We devised a way to sell iris bulbs on our street. My father and grandmother helped my sister and I grow a garden of iris bulbs on our property to sell on the street in a vending stand. We planted and cultivated the bulbs and when the time came, we dug them out of the ground, shook off the mud from around them, separated them, and placed them in bags to sell for a price/bag. We made posters to put up on our street and made a stand with the bulbs and lemonade to sell to the passing cars.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
My grandmother helped me conceive this idea. She had already planted many colors of irises on our property and received many compliments about how pretty they were in the Spring. She helped us devise a plan to sell these iris bulbs on the roadside so that when cars came by they would see the irises and desire to buy some. We were surrounded by many farmers with large properties and we thought that they would be interested in landscaping their properties with these.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
: It was really difficult to sell the iris bulbs. It was hard for me as a teenager to believe that the hour of non-vending were going to produce a well-earned profit in the future. We had a hard time making enough revenue to compensate for the hours of work that went into our project.
What I learned:
I learned that just because you work hard at a business doesn’t necessarily mean that it is going to be profitable at first. There are many aspects of a business that help make it productive, planning reduced overhead, the publicity and advertising to sell the product, and having patience with the business in obtaining revenue. Even though we had losses at first, if we had stuck it out longer, we might have been able to sell more bulbs, the word of mouth would have spread to others about our business, and we could have made a profit that was substantially more than our overhead and work. However, we learned that by not sticking it out, we were not able to see if the risk met the benefit.
Lego Seller
Description:
I resold Lego’s that had been bought a few years before. I sold them on a site dedicated to the selling of Lego’s. The kits were bought on clearance sales and by letting them sit a couple of years they became collector’s items and could be sold for some times more than 6 times what the purchase price was. I sold kits and parts at a big markup of what I bought them for. I didn’t have any employees, but my Dad had contributed money to start off the project and I paid him an agreed percentage of the sales. I ran the whole thing by myself, doing all the tasks that had to be done including: sales, accounting, shipping, paperwork, keeping track of the inventory, shipping and making sure our web postings were accurate. I learned that I had to keep very detailed records for myself and tax purposes. One of the most useful things I learned was to keep everything in order so that you could find what you needed quickly and stay on top of the services you promise to deliver so that people are happy with you as a seller. I also learned patience, because my items didn’t always sell for a long time.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
I got the idea for selling the Lego’s from watching my Dad. He inherited some of the Lego’s from a friend and bought quite a few more on his own thinking he would resell them, but life got really busy for him and years went by with the Lego’s sitting collecting dust. I saw that we needed the room from the Lego’s and the money as well so I sat and negotiated with my Dad for what I would need to do to sell them, and we agreed upon splitting whatever was made from the sales. This agreement worked out for us because we both made money doing so.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
One of the biggest challenges I faced in beginning the business was having enough time and self-motivation to make myself count and sort thousands of Lego’s. One way I overcome the boredom of counting Lego’s was to put a movie on, or listen to music. I planned eventually on getting a scale that I could use to set the weight of one piece as the measuring unit so that it could weigh a pile of pieces and tell me how many there were. I also had to start whole new systems to the process an order would go through once it had been placed. Running this little company wasn’t the only job I had, and so I had to learn to dedicate time to the different jobs. I overcame this by scheduling my time carefully so that each responsibility had time that I could focus on it. If I were going to mentor a teen that was considering a similar business opportunity I would tell them that they should be wary of people trying to cheat their way into getting more and that before sending any product out to make sure that you have the money that was agreed upon.
What I learned:
From running this business I learned the importance of scheduling my time to allow an assigned time for each task. I learned to be more organized with the space and items I was in charge of. When doing the taxes at the end of the year I learned the importance of keeping meticulous financial records. This entrepreneurial experience was useful to me because I learned better ways to run my life and to be a better employee. The experience allowed me to see into the eyes of a manager or owner of a company and see some of what goes into the process of running a bigger company. I’ve seen a few benefits in my life as a result of running that business including a greater understanding of the need for good time management, and for good records.
Pallet Sales
Selling Golf Balls
Description:
While I was employed at Belmont Country Club, my family and I were collecting an excessive amount of golf balls, which is described in the next box. After we collected all these balls we decided to sell the balls back to the golfers who lost them. I went to Belmont’s pro-shop and compared the prices of all the different balls. Some of the sales were nearly five dollars per ball! We decided we would sell the balls at a third of whatever they were selling in the store. Also as my father pointed out, we need to nicely package the balls. Because I worked out the golf course, I asked my boss if he could not throw away the packages that the golf balls are stored in because I would like to have them. He agreed and after each sale he would keep the box and I would collect them at the end of each day. I never told him what I was using them for, but he never asked! The boxes I brought home were of all different makes, so we organized the balls into their different brands and put them in the boxes accordingly. This worked out perfectly because the balls we were finding on the course were the ones the golfers were buying and losing from the very same store that we were getting our boxes from! Most balls were more than likely going into their original boxes! We set up a small booth near the 14th green and my little brother sold golf balls about three days a week. He and I split the money 50/50 and made more selling balls then I did working at Belmont!
How I got the idea / found the employment:
I was employed at the Belmont Country Club golf course. Because I worked at the course I was allowed to play free golf there every day. Usually I would golf with my brothers and we would spend a large amount of our time looking for our balls in the hazards. As we searched for our balls we found an extraordinary amount of expensive golf balls, that rich club members were too lazy to find themselves. My brothers and I held on to all these balls and brought them home. We cleaned them and decided to use them when we play, since they were much nicer the balls we ever buy. My dad however noticed how nice these balls were and how much they cost. My dad also walked along the paths of another golf course every week for leisurely exercise. He would search for lost golf balls as he walked and would usually bring home close to a hundred expensive balls each visit to the course. My dad then came up with the idea to sell these balls back to the rich lazy golfers.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
There was absolutely no challenge in selling the golf balls back to the golfers. The balls were cleaned by us so they looked brand new (most had only been hit a few time anyways!), and the balls were in the same packages the golfers bought at the pro-shop. The only difference was that our balls were one-third of the price of the pro-shop! Most golfers loved it! Of course my family and I knew that Belmont management would not like the idea of being ripped off on their own course! To overcome this challenge I asked one of my friends, who lived in Belmont Country Club and had a house on the 14th green, if my brother and I could set up a stand and sell golf balls. He asked his parents and they had no problem with it. I was willing to pay them, but they refused. They actually helped us by checking any zoning laws to see if we were breaking any rules of Belmont and they discovered we were not. Belmont management asked my little brother to leave more than once but he always told whoever asked that he was perfectly within his rights because he was off the course and the golfers came to him. He was as innocent as a small child selling lemonade on the side of the road. My brother also never said that he was related to me! My boss never put two and two together and continued to give me the empty golf boxes!
What I learned:
I learned that just because someone is your boss, does not mean he is smarter than you! My boss was supplying me the very thing that made my balls so appealing; the perfect expensive looking boxes! But really I learned that if your capital, property, employees, and all fees are free, then one can make an incredible profit. The boxes, balls, my friends backyard, and the work of my family was all free. My brother and I made nearly one thousand dollars a week! I only made about 175 a week plus tips while being employed at Belmont! Also I learned that if you can keep prices low and still make a profit, then the revenues are enormous. We could keep our prices low because everything was free. The pro-shop had to buy each ball and box they sold, so the prices had to rise to continue to make a profit. We had zero expenses so that was not necessary for us. It was like stealing money from Belmont!
selling mistletoe
Description:
(this job was my brother in laws when he was a teenager in California)
Mistletoe grows on trees and bushes but if takes over too much of the host tree the tree will die. This made the job an easy one. I went house to house and asked the owners if they would like us to cut off the mistletoe to protect their trees. Almost everyone said yes. This gave us our product to sell without having to spend any money other than transportation and packaging. Then we would go to the super markets around Christmas and sell bags of mistletoe outside the doors.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
My friend had the idea and then came to me for help to carry out the plan. To sell a large quantity of an item one must some partners/employees.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
Finding places to sell the mistletoe. We had to talk to stores to see which ones would let us sell outside of their property.
What I learned:
That if you have a unique product that no one else is selling you can decide what to charge and how much profit to make. It is easiest to have a new business that will flourish if you have an idea that is unique.
Sold Farm Fresh Eggs
Description:
The person I interviewed bought baby chicks and housed them in a chicken coop that his dad already had in the back yard. When they were full grown he started collecting the eggs they laid and sold them to neighbors and people in the stake. He kept all extra eggs in a fridge his family had in the garage. He advertised within the stake and neighborhood and on some weekends would set up a stand on a busy street corner to sell the farm fresh eggs.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
He got the idea because his dad already had a chicken coop in the backyard that was not being used and decided he should do something with it.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
Sometimes there were way more eggs than he had time to sell and his outdoor fridge was stocked top to bottom with all the eggs. He started putting a jar next to the fridge for the neighbors and friends to leave money so they could pick up eggs anytime they wanted to. This allowed him to not have to be there every time someone wanted to purchase eggs.
What I learned:
He learned how to manage his time. This business was more time consuming than he thought it would be. He had to learn how to better manage his time in order to have the business be successful.
Temporary Student Store at School
Description:
I helped to plan and run a temporary student store during recess at my elementary school when I was in 6th grade. I had two or three other friends in the planning, preparation and selling stages with me. Before we did any of this we had to get permission from the school principal. We sold various snack foods and fun school supplies (like mechanical pencils) that we bought in bulk at the nearby Costco and sold for profit to earn money for our class. During each recess we had to have at least two people sitting at the table we set up and we sold at every lunch recess until our inventory was pretty much gone. Part of this project entailed planning the class field trip, so we had to look up ticket prices, total up how much it would be, how much extra money each person would have to pay, and print our permission forms for the rest of the class to take home to their parents. We also had to set up parents who would be willing to drive and chaperone.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
When I was 12 years old (in 6th grade) me and a few friends in my class decided to copy the idea of what we’d seen in the past where a class sets up a temporary student store, selling snack foods and such in order to earn money to take a class field trip to the local 6 flags. In order to do this we first had to first get permission from out teacher, and then write a letter to the principal explaining our idea, how it would work, and what we would do with it. We got our permission from the principal, so then we had to figure out what items we would sell, how much they cost and how much we would sell them for. I then went shopping with my mom at Costco to find the types of items we wanted to sell. Once we had all the items we advertised a bit by putting posters up and then we got a table and set it up to sell at recess. Once we got the store all set up it wasn’t hard to find customers who were willing to buy our items because the items were fairly cheap and everyone was excited because the school vending machine services were very limited.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
We faced a few challenges in our endeavors. One of which was figuring out what to say in order to get the idea approved from the principal—it was also a little bit intimidating. We knew however, that the idea had been approved in the past so we just had to edit and make the letter professional. Another challenge we faced was determining how much to sell each item for—we figured that we shouldn’t go for too much of a profit because that didn’t seem right. We figured out the prices, with a profit of 10-25 cents on each item with the more expensive items holding a little more profit. The overall organization and planning the field trip was also a challenge because we had never done anything like this before. We overcame this by brainstorming together on everything that needed to get done, and then following through with everything—such as making sure we got enough chaperones and permission slips back from the students. If I were to give advice to someone else attempting to do this project I would say that they should really think of everything that the project entails, and be willing to do everything required to do it correctly.
What I learned:
Even though this was only a temporary business idea meant for fundraising I still think that I learned a lot from this experience and it helped me to grow as an individual and as a leader. I learned some of the basics that go behind a business, how to make profit, and how to organize something like that. I think that having an experience at that age helped me to see that I actually could accomplish ideas that I have if I put enough effort and thought into them. I think the experience of carrying out a self-directed idea helped me to become a better leader and become more comfortable stepping out of my shell (I was a little bit shy).
TI calculator link cable seller
Description:
We provided a link-cable for TI calculator that could be used to put games and other programs on graphing calculators from the computer. There was a website that my brother made up and put on the internet that had contact information and a sample order form. People printed the form, filled it out and mailed it to us at our house. I made the link-cables in our garage with a soldering iron and some basic other tools as his employee. We sent them out in envelopes. My brother deposited the money in his account. He kept track of orders using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. It had columns for name, number of link-cables, amount paid, and address among other things. The spreadsheet could also calculate totals for the business. Sometimes the cables didn’t work, and he had a no questions asked return policy. If it didn’t work, he paid the shipping costs for them to send them back and he returned their money. The turnaround time for orders was quite a long time so some customers got angry.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
This business started because my brother didn’t want to buy his own link cable for his TI graphing calculator. He was interested in electronics and figured that there was some way to make his own. He found plans on the internet and made his own. He was also very web savvy, and had his own domain name. He put two and two together and decided that since they were so easy to make, he could make them for other people and charge them money. He created a website that advertised his link-cables and people started mailing in orders. He charged much less than the $40 TI charges so he started to make some money. He got so much business that he didn’t want to make the link-cables anymore and hired me as his manufacturer. I learned how to solder them, put them together and test them with my own calculator. He still took care of everything else.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
Having people working for you is not always the easiest thing to handle. I for example was not a very good employee. I didn’t make the link-cables as fast as my brother would have liked and I was the reason for angry customers half the time. He tried to get me to work harder by paying me a little bit more, but it still didn’t work. He finally started to make the ones that I didn’t make. Sometimes you just have to work really hard. He was in school at the time also and didn’t have lots of time to work on his link-cables, homework, and other extra-curricular activities. Angry customers were also a problem and so he implemented his no questions asked return policy.
What I learned:
We learned that having your own business is not easy. You have to work hard to please customers and keep up with orders. Also, a good knowledge of Microsoft Excel can really help the record keeping part of the business. With Excel you can create a record of all the orders you get and it is searchable, can calculate totals, and is easy to use. The internet also is a great way to advertise, especially if you know how to create web pages. Also, if you are going to hire someone, make sure they have the desire to work and have a good reason to so you don’t have to keep motivating them.
Trading-card seller
Description:
This was actually quite an old business I had going on. This was back when Pokemon cards were in and big. In this business I would buy Pokemon cards in bulk and then sell them at school to the other students for a price lower than the stores but higher than what I paid. I was selling them at $5 a pack and also gave out packs to friends to help me sale the cards. For every pack they sold they got to keep $1 and I got to keep the other $4. Since card trading went on everyday at school, the ability to buy cards right there and not have to get their parents to take them to the store(middle school) was a huge plus. So it was easy to sell cards.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
My dad is a businessman for a living. So I always understood the concepts of business and good ways to sell. We were having the county fair come into town and my dad was going to have his own booth for selling stuff to kids. He gave me $300 and told me to come up with something that I can sell. So I chose Pokemon cards because my dad wasn't already selling these. I helped him sell the cards at the booth during fair week and it wasn't until after, when I had some packs of cards left, that I came up with the idea of selling cards at school. This turned out to be much more effective than expected.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
Because I had help from my dad there weren't whole lot of challenges. The biggest ones I can see the average person having would be:
-Saving the money to start the business: This one may take a little time but can be overcome. Saving money is just a matter of self control and even if one does not receive an allowance from parents, there are always jobs you can get around the neighborhood. Volunteering to mow a lawn or shovel snow or pull weeds. If you are old enough and have a job, you can save that way to start out your business.
-Finding out where to buy things in bulk: With the Internet so readily available it is very easy now to find places to get great discounts when buying things in bulk.
-Knowing whats in: Think about something thats big in school. Any fads, past-times/hobbies, or other things that you think you can get away with selling at school. This needs to be something that is in high demand and preferably something far enough away from school to be more worth it for them to buy it from you.
-The fad dieing out: You need to have foresight in this because many things lose popularity over time and one must have a plan to put into place to start transferring your products to something new. Don't let this one catch you by surprise.
What I learned:
Instead of just watching my dad, I was able to get firsthand experience in running a business and having others working for me. I'm planning on being a doctor eventually so I believe the things I learned will help me run my own clinic with much more confidence.