We are Nico and Mason. We are 5th graders and young entrepreneurs.
Our company name is OJ & Co. We created our business name by combining our last name initials, O and J, and we wanted it to be like a real business so we added Co. We decided to sell deodorant, soap, and lip balm because the TREP$ Marketplace was taking place very close to summertime. Our moms helped us think of this idea and we liked it so we stuck with it.
During summer break, people run and are sweating and the heat can make people’s lips chapped. People also like to shower after they sweat so we said “Let’s make them smell good.”
We wanted to make products that were all natural and also effective. The deodorants contained coconut oil, baking soda, cornstarch, and essential oil. We made the soap using a melt and pour mango butter soap base and essential oils. And finally, the lip balms were made with coconut oil, beeswax, and essential oil. They all smelled really good. We set our products at an affordable price point so that everyone could try them. We also didn’t have high costs because we already had a lot of the materials at home, and we also hand made our signs and advertisements instead of having them printed. We priced them all at $2 and also offered a bundle which included one of each for $5. We also had a bonus treasure map that was included with our bundle, or it could be purchased on its own for $1.
One of our struggles at first was not knowing if people would want to buy our products. But our friends told us that we had a really good idea so that gave us some more confidence. When we were at the Marketplace, we felt excited and nervous at the same time. We thought everyone had really good ideas and products. We sold out of most of our products during that evening. So that made us feel really good and proud that we accomplished our goal. We made $92 that night. We shared the money we made, and are saving it for an RC car or a dirt bike. A couple of things that we would do differently next time is to make more product and become better salesmen by being more talkative and explaining why they should they buy the product.
