I started my first business out of necessity or so I thought at the age of 11. Little did I know that back then, I was practicing leadership skills, decision making, organizing and managing and living the CEO lifestyle….Which is all the basis of the 90 Day Start Up, my latest business venture. Back in the day…I went to my Dad ranting and complaining about the Ice cream man and how he always seemed to appear out of thin air…right in the middle of my favorite prime time…t.v. shows. See back then, we didn’t have netflix, dvds or dvr’s! If we missed an episode you had to wait until summer just to see the rerun!
I grew up in a neighborhood where we actually acted out the action sequences that took place on TV after each episode. I’m sure there are a few of you who are reading this can clearly remember the bionic woman and the six million dollar man! Yep…we would actually run around in slow motion acting out those scenes every week! Funny when you think about it…yeah I know. I was a tomboy back then…so I was not about to miss one minute of one episode…because I had one of the lead roles…as the bionic woman! Anyway…Getting back to complaining to my Dad. I asked him if I could make ice cups. I explained to him how it would save him money…that I would normally get from him each time the ice cream man came down the street.
My Dad chuckled at my suggestion, but he said yes. I asked him if I could use three shelves in his upright freezer to make my ice cups, so that I could just run down to the basement during commercial breaks, so that I wouldn’t miss any action! My Dad was so supportive, in fact, he reached into his pocket and gave me a 5 dollar bill. At that point, I started planning out the next steps of my startup by identifying what I needed which was basically, two 1 gallon empty mixing containers, a sleeve of styrofoam cups, sugar, five packs of kool-aid and a lemon. I made that money back plus a profit by the end of the week. I kept reinvesting and eventually there was so much traffic in my yard…it started to irritate my Dad..especially on the weekends….Well over the next few months, my Dad would come home and start to notice all of the bitten off pieces of styrofoam that my friends/customers left in his yard. At first, he didn’t complain too much…until one day when he came home to a yard full of kids littering all over the place! You know how some people feel about their lawns! My business ended that day.
Needless to say…I learned so many valuable lessons to include, you have to have a good support system and you also have to define your boundaries. I also learned that my Dad was a major Stakeholder as well as a major investor in my venture. At the age of 11, I didn’t know what any of that meant…but now I do. My Dad removed any and all barriers by supporting me, investing in me and sharing his freezer (equipment) with me.
Who are the stakeholders in your life that put barriers in your way…or support you and remove barriers that stunt your success. Sometimes your stakeholders unintentionally put barriers in your way...so when this happens…how do you mitigate or get around those issues? Check out my YouTube channel and I will continue to share many stories like these… some super funny…and sadly a few cautionary tales that you can learn from and avoid starting with my ebook that I wrote titled “Broke Like Becky”. I’ll be sharing more interesting stories were I played a supportive role in helping other entrepreneurs like you become successful.