3A My Entrepreneurship Story

For as long as I can remember, I was always a pretty crafty and hands-on individual. Whether it was molding shapes and animals out of clay, or figuring out crazy new ways to utilize a mason jar. My favorite activity as a child was always hand-making jewelry out of beads (primarily seed beads). This is an activity my older sister exposed me to at just the age of 5. Fortunately enough, I mastered the skill pretty quickly. As I grew and gained more experience, the products I would make would come out more intricate and polished (it would actually look like something you can buy in a store). Beading became a hobby for me, and it was always a fun way to get creative and make some cute accessories for myself after school.

            It took me all the way until the 4^th grade to realize “wow, this could be something I could sell in school.” I would always see kids selling candy or silly bands, so I figured why not sell some hand-made authentic jewelry. I was a little skeptical towards the idea at first because 1) selling in school unless it was for a school sponsored fundraiser was not allowed and I could have gotten in a lot of trouble, 2) what if nobody buys my products. I decided to risk those two factors and go for it anyway, like a real entrepreneur. I started off with a few necklaces and bracelets and I priced them cheaper than I normally would; just to see if people were even interested in them at all. Low and behold my first customer bought 3 items from me! For me, this was probably the happiest moment in all of the fourth grade. All my hard work payed off, and all my doubt vanished. 3 weeks later I was bringing in about $20-$30 on a weekly basis. Not too shabby for a fourth grader. Unfortunately about a month later, someone had told a teacher about my succeeding side hustle and I had to shut it down. It was either that or suspension. So after that, my jewelry business solely became a hobby and not so much a business anymore.

            Fast forward to the 12^th grade. After finishing all my SATs and college applications, I had a lot of time on my hands. And with that time came even more beading and jewelry. I was making so many cute chokers and bracelets from just pure enjoyment that I later realized, I’m not going to wear ALL of this. There’s no way one person has a need for all of this. So I channeled my inner fourth grader and started selling once again. Business skyrocketed within the first 2 months. I was getting orders from people in school, people were messaging me online asking me to ship my products to them, etc.. The business itself was pretty sustainable with respect to cash flow and costs. Bracelets and necklaces would cost about 10-50 cents to make (depending on the size and style), and I would sell them anywhere from $3-$10. The only downside was all the labor I was putting in. I hand-made everything I sold, and with that comes a lot of hours. But to me it did not matter. It was an activity I enjoyed doing and it was making me a lot of money as well.

            Although my business lasted me until the end of my senior year of high school, it was an experience I would never trade. It left me with such a satisfaction and an idea of “wow, this could be something I would want to pursue in my life” (the part about being an entrepreneur). Making my own money from something I would make myself was truly an empowering feeling. But the most empowering was probably watching my small little side hustle take off, and people really loving my products.

            I enrolled in ENT3003 mostly because it is a requirement for my innovation minor. Early on this semester I came to the conclusion that I want to switch  my major from political science to marketing. This class is very beneficial to the area that I want to enter in. I think it is also very beneficial for anybody who actually wants to become an entrepreneur and wants to learn different frameworks and strategies. Gaining knowledge, different logics and strategies into creating and owning a business is probably want I want to get out of this course the most. I do one day see myself owning my own business and for that I need to fully understand all the aspects of doing so.