Читать книгу Hard Cuddles - James Harding - Страница 16

YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR LAWNS/LOLLIES

‘My best entrepreneurial advice is to start.’

— Dave Morin

Making money has always been a passion of mine. I am a bit of journeyman. I’m not afraid to try something new. Ever since I was boy I always had some sort of small business going. I had employees from as early as ten years old. My first business was a car wash; I would wash our cars and then head next door and wash their cars. Showing incredible foresight and business nous, my enthusiasm for the art of the deal became evident when the next-door neighbours’ kids wanted to be involved as well. They were too young to know anything about payment, but old enough to help out. So I gave them cloths and buckets and got them doing the heavy lifting, so to speak. I became a director of car washing and finances.

At the end of the wash I would get the neighbour to hand over the money, thank the boys for their help and choof off home. 100 per cent profit and another happy client.

Then there was the lawn mowing round. I would fill up the lawn mower and whipper snipper with petrol, grab the rake and broom, lay all the equipment across the lawn mower and walk around the local area, cold calling potential customers, setting up a nice little round. I especially targeted overgrown nature strips. It is hard for the occupants to say no to a young kid ready to go with all his gear and your garden is a shambles. I employed a few friends to help but the profits shrunk too much for my liking. So my little brother was engaged to help me out.

Next was my first real crack at employment. It was five days a week and a Saturday morning at the local chemist. This round was a truly prized position and one I had to wait some time to get. I did the bulk of the days, my sister did another day or two and I sub-contracted Carlos to do the big days I didn’t want to do.

The job involved riding my bike with a backpack and delivering tablets and medicine to elderly people who couldn’t leave their houses. I was drug dealing even back then. It was a prick of a job when it rained, so occasionally Mum would drive us in the car. When I initially took the job on, I did it every day to get a feel for it and I learned what days I would get the best customers, meaning the ones that would give generous tips. Mr Edbrooke was a beauty, smoking his Camel cigarettes, he would put his hand in a loose change bowl and give whatever he scooped up. One day I received about $14 which was a fortune then. Another notable tipper was the big rock spider that lived on McKinnon Rd. He would regularly tip $5 and really enjoyed it when the kids dropped off his supplies. He would come to the front door salivating, overwhelmed by the younger company. We were all warned about him; you had to stay on your toes at his place.

Then there was the confectionery wholesaler next to Malvern station. I made up an order list of all the different bits and pieces: sherbets, pineapples, snakes, violet crumbles, raspberries, all of the favourites. Then off I would go around the neighbourhood taking orders and cash. I would tally up my orders and head to the wholesaler to buy sweets in bulk. When I got home I would break them into smaller bundles, repackage and on-sell it. This was quite a good business, the feedback was very encouraging and it appealed to the customer’s weakness: sugar, door-to-door sugar. My customers would go inside with their loot and disguise their addictions by saying, ‘Oh I’m just supporting the young kid having a go, great to see a young fella with that drive.’ Make no mistake about the choice of product on my part, I knew exactly what I was doing.

It was this last business that really opened my eyes. It was interesting to see how easy it is to sell your product to an addict. They loved it and would eagerly await your return.