This will be a story of failure, of mistake after mistake. This story will contain heartaches and overwhelming defeats. Soul crushing experience, self doubt, and self sabotage underpin this story. Such is the story of Success.
Let's begin with a simple business: Selling Water
Product 1: Bottled Water
Cost: $0.1375 per bottle
Price: $2.00
Product 2: 12oz Cans Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite
Cost: $0.3333 per can
Price: $2.00
Customers: Thirsty Tourists at the Savannah, GA, St. Patrick's Day Parade
Way to Get Paid: Cash-only transactions (able to break large bills)
Initial Investment
108 Total Cans: $36.00
360 Bottles Water: $49.50
Total Inventory: $85.50
Other Costs:
Ice: $20.00
Total Investment: $105.50
Typical Transaction:
A potential customer will be walking by my position on the parade route. This person will come buy a water from me because it's hot outside and nobody else around is selling water.
Customer walks up and asks how much the drinks cost. They ask for a bottle of water. They hand me money. I give them a bottle of water.
Market:
The parade and the celebration in total attracts millions of visitors to Savannah, GA.
(I do not claim that is the real or accurate number of people btw)
Sounds great, let's make it happen!!
I was all in! I dropped the cash and went into business!
And after a few days of preparation, I set out early in the morning to claim my good spot for serving customers.
About this time I noticed that it was a bit cloudy and foggy that day. The weather was drizzling a bit. Fuck.
I won't detail the whole story here. You can imagine how the day went: (1) Nobody was hot and thirsty; (2) Everyone wanted beer; (3) I made $96.00 in an 8 hour day.
A few notable things happened that day. I was presented with a competitor across the street. Price competition became a real thing. I had drinks left over for a long time. I had bottled water for months, I gave away cases of water to friends. The ice could have been obtained more economically, and that would have pushed me into profit. I also had several bags left over (I wasn't adding new drinks very often to deplete the ice).
I lost money overall. I did get a shit ton of beverages to fill my fridge for like ten bucks. Re-frame the experience. My business failed and I won.
Let's begin with a simple business: Selling Water
Product 1: Bottled Water
Cost: $0.1375 per bottle
Price: $2.00
Product 2: 12oz Cans Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite
Cost: $0.3333 per can
Price: $2.00
Customers: Thirsty Tourists at the Savannah, GA, St. Patrick's Day Parade
Way to Get Paid: Cash-only transactions (able to break large bills)
Initial Investment
108 Total Cans: $36.00
360 Bottles Water: $49.50
Total Inventory: $85.50
Other Costs:
Ice: $20.00
Total Investment: $105.50
Typical Transaction:
A potential customer will be walking by my position on the parade route. This person will come buy a water from me because it's hot outside and nobody else around is selling water.
Customer walks up and asks how much the drinks cost. They ask for a bottle of water. They hand me money. I give them a bottle of water.
Market:
The parade and the celebration in total attracts millions of visitors to Savannah, GA.
(I do not claim that is the real or accurate number of people btw)
Sounds great, let's make it happen!!
I was all in! I dropped the cash and went into business!
And after a few days of preparation, I set out early in the morning to claim my good spot for serving customers.
About this time I noticed that it was a bit cloudy and foggy that day. The weather was drizzling a bit. Fuck.
I won't detail the whole story here. You can imagine how the day went: (1) Nobody was hot and thirsty; (2) Everyone wanted beer; (3) I made $96.00 in an 8 hour day.
A few notable things happened that day. I was presented with a competitor across the street. Price competition became a real thing. I had drinks left over for a long time. I had bottled water for months, I gave away cases of water to friends. The ice could have been obtained more economically, and that would have pushed me into profit. I also had several bags left over (I wasn't adding new drinks very often to deplete the ice).
I lost money overall. I did get a shit ton of beverages to fill my fridge for like ten bucks. Re-frame the experience. My business failed and I won.
Comments
Post a Comment