My First Job: Candy Arbitrage
Michael Fertik
Serial Entrepreneur and Venture Capitalist michaelfertik.substack.com "Robinhood of the blogosphere, Sherlock Holmes 2.0 of Databanks" - Handelsbatt
When you see a market opportunity, seize it.
I learned this life lesson at a young age – at the time, though, the market was simply defined in one glorious word: CANDY.
Just three city blocks from my school stood a bodega.
My classmates – tender young things from the Upper East Side – saw a store in a slightly seedy (though perfectly safe) area. To me, it was a chance for brokerage, ripe for purchase with my allowance. And as a kid who lived in the Upper West Side (at the time, much, much less nice than it is now), I had absolutely no qualms about trekking to the location.
Then, it was off to the bus stop, backpack filled with Snickers, M&Ms, gum, you name it.
Hungry after a hard day of learning, my classmates were the perfect exemplars of “demand” as they waited to go home. My supply – marked up about 300 percent – disappeared with nearly unquantifiable enthusiasm.
And I came away realizing that with some legwork and the ability to meet demand, you could turn a very tidy little profit.
VP & Partner for Strategy & Transformation Consulting - Digital & Analytics for Consumer Goods, Retail, Health (Former IBM & Accenture)
11 年Nice article. Brings up good memories of my first entrepreneurial success - flavored water arbitrage. I was 12 years old and found a new/unbranded flavored water for $0.79 at some random mini-markt on my walk to the school bus. I was thirsty - my orchestra buddy was thirstier. He offered me $3 for my bottle. The next day, I brought two. At the height of my week-long bubble I was selling to half the orchestra for $5 a bottle. The next week I had 10 bottles in my bag, couldn't give the stuff away, no one was talking to me at lunch, and my financier (mom) was angry that I'd wasted her money on "clear koolaid". Lesson learned - you can't live on trends, value pricing shouldn't be mercenary, and bubbles always burst...but relationships and loyalty last.
Product Designer ? Front-end Web/Mobile Design Development
11 年I would peddle water guns in the spring from the dollar store and made off pretty well...
President at Reputation.ca
11 年That's very clever. Funny how entrepreneurship is a lifelong obsession.
International Branding, Licensing & Franchise Development
11 年Same first for me too in Southern California; Now & Laters had the highest margins https://www.itsalldirect2u.com/ProductImages/25577-large.gif