

11-year-old entrepreneur recycles sweaters to make scarves - AndrewWarner
http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2009/sep/28/colorful-creations-young-entrepreneur-11-recycles-/news/

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jacquesm
I read that article as 'mom employs 11 year old in her business'. Both as a
laborer, a designer and as a marketing prop.

"Logan sells her creations in Hip Chics, the boutique her mother owns in
Clemmons."

And why on earth did an 11 year old have to borrow $2500 from her grandmother
to 'start her own business' ?

~~~
joshfinnie
When I first saw that $2500 figure, I was taken aback as well. But then I
thought maybe she has a website and that could justify $2500! Alas, no! Did a
quick google search for "Logi B. Designs" and nothing!

Now I really need to understand why she needed $2500 from her grandmother...
that is a lot of sweaters!

~~~
pbhjpbhj
Company registration, 2 sewing machines, table, costume jewellery, buttons,
wages for the sewer, wages for Grandpa, attendance costs for Ohio show,
liability insurance, other overheads, ... sounds cheap!

Her job would contravene child labour laws in the UK,
<http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/ParentsRights/DG_4002945> : _The youngest
age your child can work part-time is 13 years old, with the exception of
children involved in television, theatre, modelling or similar activities._

I had thought there was a family business exception but I appear to be
mistaken.

Also recent (this year?) law changes mean that under 16s (IIRC) can't be
company directors, previously it was either very low (5yo) or unlimited, can't
quite remember.

------
Retric
If she really wants to become a fashion designer this really is the only
useful thing she can do with her time. My little sister did the same sort of
thing by selling her artwork. Her net gain over 4 years was probably less than
if she had worked retail, but it was fun and informative. Few things are
informative as looking at something you made that nobody wants to buy.

PS: I think my sister learned more about running a business doing this than
most people get from an MBA. She paid for her own materials and would
occasionally sell below cost to recover her capital, but she would also sell
out of her more popular items, thus so forecasting future sales was important.
She learned how to sell things one on one. She even got a taste for what
people liked which is probably far more useful for an artist.

~~~
pbhjpbhj
_She even got a taste for what people liked which is probably far more useful
for an artist._ IMO what people like is not what an artist should make, crafts
people make stuff people like, artists make stuff that makes us think, if we
like it then that's sometimes a bonus. It's a subtle difference.

Sometimes "artists" create things so ludicrous that no-one could possibly want
to buy it because they think that it must then have a strong message, if
they're famous already Saatchi buys it for a few million and the soul of
humanity mourns.

------
edw519
_"Kids just make such great entrepreneurs," he said. "They're not beaten down
yet by all the other obligations and everything else."_

That's a good lesson for the rest of us.

~~~
hughprime
And the lesson is that we should discard our obligations by moving back in
with our parents and getting them to pay all our living expenses?

Kids make great entrepreneurs because the standards for success are pretty
low. This kid is spending two hours making a scarf and then selling it for
$18-$25.

~~~
edw519
_And the lesson is that we should discard our obligations by moving back in
with our parents and getting them to pay all our living expenses?_

No, that's not the lesson. Care to guess again?

~~~
teej
I think hughprime's point is that the bar of success is set ridiculously low
for this age group. Anything remotely resembling "real work" is praised as
great success.

The only "lessons" to be learned are pat-on-the-back motivational snippets.
There isn't anything practical to be gleaned from it.

~~~
edw519
_The only "lessons" to be learned are pat-on-the-back motivational snippets._

You and hughprime both bring up valid points, but both of you still missed the
lesson that jumped off the page at me. It's simple, but incredibly elusive.
And included in my original post. Look again.

I was referring to being "beaten down". I'd be willing to guess that the
biggest reason that this 11 year old was able to accomplish anything at all
was because she didn't know that she wasn't supposed to be able to.

Most adults I know don't even try something they should because they have
already beaten themselves down in their minds. It's so sad and such a waste.
They could learn something from this child.

~~~
jacquesm
That's true, and in that sense being a little 'childish' (as in ignoring
people who say 'you can't do that') can go a long way. After all, 'you can't
do that' usually means 'I can't do that, so I think you can't do that'. But
that's not always true.

The general case of kids optimism is that most of their optimism turns into
realism (or worse) by the time they're young adults because most of their
little schemes at world domination have failed.

The child from this story operates in a make-believe ecosystem set up by her
parents and grand parents. In the real world, with bills to pay and going it
alone she wouldn't stand a chance.

When I was 15 or so I had a little gimmick, people would throw out their old
TVs, I would fix them and sell them on Queensday (the only day in the year
when anybody can sell just about anything in nl), and I'd rake in a pretty
penny.

After all, my 'source' was the garbage dump, my gain was 100% profits on
everything I made because I didn't have to pay any taxes and there were no
costs for parts (I'd just cannibalize another TV). My only real 'cost' was the
solder (and it doesn't take much to fix a TV in terms of the solder you use)
and some tools. I'd be kidding myself if I thought of it as a business though.

I certainly learned plenty and it was a useful experience but lets reserve the
words for what they're meant for. Anybody that is not able to sign a contract
in his/her own name should probably (but not always) not call themselves an
entrepreneur.

~~~
edw519
_I certainly learned plenty_

Maybe more than you realize.

Obviously, the term "entrepreneur" is used quite loosely in this example. But
that does not discount the incredibly valuable experience this girl is
getting. She has positive mental attitude, initiative, passion, a little
vision, and gets off her butt to get work done. IMHO, that puts her in the top
1% of her peers in the things that will be important in her future.

It's easy for some of us to take these things for granted because we had to
find our own way to success. But believe me, I know so many adults that could
make their lives so much better if they were only this "childish". That was
the lesson I was trying to cite.

~~~
tjr
Indeed. When I was a kid, I would have ideas for things and just do them.
Maybe it worked, maybe it didn't, but I always learned something.

Now when I have ideas, I analyze most of them to death, out of concern that...
what if it doesn't make money?... what if there's something better I should be
working on instead?... etc. So many of my ideas die unused.

Sometimes I see someone else have the same idea and run with it. For example,
I thought of the same basic idea as the AfterTheDeadline software, around the
same time. I didn't implement it, but someone else did, to great success. Why
didn't I do it? I couldn't think of how I could sell it, or who would even use
it.

Of course, I applaud the success of AfterTheDeadline. But I gotta stop
destroying my own ideas under the hammer of paranoid analysis.

~~~
jacquesm
Your childhood truth still holds, worst case you will learn something.

Go do those things and who knows where it will lead.

------
bilbo0s
Brilliance. Sheer, unadulterated brilliance!

-Wile E. Coyote

