Today, my 7 year old son & 6 year old daughter decided they wanted to start a business selling their goods on the street in front of our house.

My son would sell crystals that he collects (from the garden, from beaches – etc., they’re literally all over the house) and my daughter would sell the plasticine animals that she made.

Obviously, we were proud of the get up & go attitude of or kids, so my wife & I encouraged them, kept an eye on them – kept them supplied with warm drinks (it was cold here today!), and we were amazed by the amount of success they had.

They were shouting at the top of their lungs to attract attention – and it worked. Between them, within about 3 hours, they made a combined profit of just under £12.

OK, £12 doesn’t sound like a lot – but when you’re 6 or 7, £12 is a HUGE amount of money!

But the fact of the matter is – they made a profit. On day one, within a few hours of having the idea to do it.

Hands up those of us who have toiled for countless hours on businesses that never made a single penny in profit, or worse still, that left us in debt… (both my hands are up!).

So what was their business model – and how can we learn from it?

1: No overheads.

They just set up on a table at the end of the driveway, and taped on some A4 signs they’d made themselves with felt tip pens.

Is there a way you could get rid of virtually all overheads? Could you work from home, could you do a contra-deal with someone who has some spare office space, is there any way you can dramatically reduce your fixed monthly overheads?

2: No investment in stock.

When you’re a kid, it appears obvious that the way to make money is to make something, or collect something free, and sell it – or to sell a service, such as washing cars.

If you’re just in the process of starting a business, and you’re looking for products or services to sell – is there anything you can think of that doesn’t require you to purchase stock?

3: They kept it simple

Kids keep things simple, and when things are simple – they tend to work better.

Adults tend to over-think & over-complicate things.

They wanted to make some money, so they found things to sell, put a table at the end of the drive way, and attracted the attention of passers by – how simple is that?

Think about your website, and about your business plan in general – are there any ways you can be more childish, and simplify?

4: They were focussed

For the few hours that they were doing this – they were 100% committed & focussed to their business, they wanted success, and they would not stop until they had it, they didn’t come back into the house until they had sold out, even though it was really cold & was raining lightly.

In fact, my son – of his own accord – stood up on his chair  & began shouting “Buy one get one free” when he was getting towards the last of his crystals, to help clear the last of his stock.

They both came in having sold out, very proud of themselves, and are already planning their next sale.

When you’re working on your business, are you 100% focused? If you spend 3 hours sat in front of your PC, is 100% of that time spent completely focused on your business?

5: They were focussed on profit, not turnover.

As they were not paying anything for the stock, or overhead – turnover & profit were one & the same thing. But with most businesses, turnover & profit are two very different things.

It can be very easy to trick yourself into focusing on turnover, and into believing that you’re doing better than you actually are. At the end of the day though, it’s only the profit that is left after you’ve paid for your stock, overheads & any other business costs – that ends up in your pocket.

6: They took action where they stood

One of the biggest things that gets in the way of businesses succeeding, is lack of action. How many times have you had the idea to do something, but spent long periods just thinking about it, talking about it – but not actually taking any action?

Again, this is mainly an adult thing. When kids come up with an idea, they want to do it right this second, they’re not interested in talking about maybe doing it, or maybe giving it some more thought – they just want to take action.

Are there actions that you’ve been thinking about taking but putting off, that you think would have a positive outcome? If so – why not just take action right now?

Filed under: SEO General

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!