Start

Do not know what got into me this Saturday morning. But I was prepared to sell everything. I do not even know where I got the idea from or why I wanted money. I just knew I had a burning desire to sell.

I was about 5 years old, and had a pile of marbles. I was going to open up my first business and sell marbles. I knew nothing about starting a business, who does, let alone a 5 year old? But I took action. I had no strategy, no marketing, and best of all no fear! The first thing I did was set up my table. Then I made a sign, by hand, that read For Sale 10 cents for small 25 cents for large. I taped my sign to my table put out my merchandise, and I was ready to make million bucks.

I stood there turning my head down the street in both directions, no one was coming. What was going on, don’t they know I am open for business and ready to sell my prize possession marbles. What seemed like hours of me standing there and nothing happening? One of the neighbors came from across the street and asked what I was doing. I told him I am selling marbles and asked if he wanted to buy some. He came closer to the table to see what I had. He eyed over all the marbles and then picked up a big one. How much is this he asked. I said 25 cents. He reached in his pocket and gave me a quarter.

I was on my way, my first sale. Just many millions to go, before I could make a million bucks. But I was in black and I was happy. I stood out there for what seemed like many more hours. I kept looking down the road to see the line of potential customers, still nothing. It was getting hot, so it was time to call it a day and close up shop.

What seemed like hours to me standing outside, ended up being about 30 minutes. I clinched that quarter for days. I put it on my dresser so that I could look at it often.

I did not open up for business the next day. I may have had the fastest opening and closing of a marble selling business in history. But there were lessons I learned that day. Many I would not understand until I was much older in life.

How could I have made the business more successful? There are now several things that come to mind. Finding a product that the public actually wants to buy. Location. Advertising. Add on sales. And follow up. These are core practices that good business implore today.

But there are several things that I did right, in my opinion, the most important, I got started. Sure I had no clue what to do, I had no backing, no mentors, and no experience. But none of that mattered. What did matter was that I was taking action. I got started. If I was older, and more motivated, I believe I could have taken the lessons of the day and changed my operations. Moved to a location with more traffic, create more revenue by having add on sales or combo products. Educate potential customers by giving away a how to play marbles book with a discount coupon in the back. Increase my leads by giving referral bonuses, perhaps more marbles or a percentage of the sale. This list can go on and on. But none of this would matter if I did not take the first step, which is starting.