I have a pretty far-fetched story of how I was first exposed to entrepreneurship in Middle School. In middle school, my classmates were obsessed with Big John’s pickled sausages. As you can see above, that is a jar of those sausages. Now believe it or not, I actually enjoyed the sausages myself from time to time, but because I was at school, the sausages were hard to come by. I came up with the great idea of selling these sausages to my classmates in an environment where there was no competition from the school cafeteria or anyone else for $3 for each sausage, even though it only costed me about $20 for the whole jar. In the end, I profited quite a bit, but my stunt ended when my parents caught me stuffing my backpack full of those sausages in Ziploc bags, and forbade me from selling it again for fear of maybe accidentally causing food poisoning to my classmates because they would be in my bag for hours at a time.
I enrolled in this class to find creative ways to make money in the world, because I believe that entrepeneurship is the basis of the growth of our economy.
Duc,
ReplyDeleteThis actually made me laugh, because not only have I never heard of Big John's pickled sausages, I also do not think I could be "obsessed" with them as you say your classmates were. I question how much enjoyment was really had from time to time on your behalf. Anyway, I think it speaks to your entrepreneurial qualities that you were able to recognize a consumer need, the need to consume Big John's pickled sausages, and the inability to acquire them since the school did not sell them (I can't say I blame the school). My question is how many sausages came in a jar, because I'm curious about what your actual profit margin looked like here. It seems like it could have been a promising business venture for you, had your parents not found it concerning that you were stuffing your backpack with ziploc bags pre-stuffed with Big John's pickled sausages, but then again, I can't say I blame them either. Great post and I hope you bought something cool with your profits.
Hi Duc,
ReplyDeleteThis made me laugh so hard. It's funny because I would always see these at Sams Club and wonder who on earth would buy them. You being able to recognize the environment you were in at a young age shows that you probably have a high intelligence level. Before I read how much the whole jar cost, I was curious how much profit you made because I would bet those sausages aren't even worth $3 each. Great opportunity you found. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Duc,
ReplyDeleteThis is quite a funny story. I have personally never heard of Big John's sausages, but they must be quite good to cause such a demand for them in middle school. I think it was smart to price them for $3 as that's around the price of a normal school lunch so kids would be able to afford it. I also enrolled in this class because I believe that entrepreneurship is one of the main reasons for growth in our economy and the world and I want to learn more about it.
Hello Duc,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very creative way to make money in your school. I actually tried the same thing with Chick Fil A sandwiches until I got caught by the administrators in high school. Although you weren't able to make this a long term project, I respect that you were able to recognize the need for a good and supply it at relatively no cost/work to you.
This is a very interesting and amusing way to have begun your entrepreneurship journey. I also think it is impressive that you actually partook in selling things instead of just seeing it happen like I did. Your parents should have just let you keep selling them but with a cooler or something, that is what I would have done if I were them!
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a very interesting, simple, yet solid story for how you discovered your own interest in entrepreneurship. I thought it was smart how at a young age, you recognized a need for something and came up with a decent solution to the problem.
ReplyDelete