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What It's About
A schoolyard side hustler finds sweet success in lollipop reselling!
Business Model
Skills Required
Complexity
Profit Potential
Words of Wisdom
One main thing we can take away from today's episode is that the principles of reselling apply no matter the cost of the item you're selling.
If you can learn to do this with lollipops, you can do it with other things too! Lucy's 120% profit margin is really great but not terribly unusual. And since Lucy has already mastered the candy industry, she's already thinking about what she can buy and resell next. What if in the future she’s able to purchase something for $10 and sell it for $20? Or for $100, and then resell it for $200. Or better yet, what if you could do that?
Fun Fact
Lucy is very health conscious and rarely eats any of the lollipops herself, and if she does, she always 'pays' for it by adding 50¢ from her personal account to her business account. She also makes her younger brother (age 11) and sister (age 4) pay for them. As a matter of fact, she has never given a freebie!
Side note: Way to hold that line, Lucy! You start giving out lollipops one day, and the next day it's communism.
Notes from Chris
Episode 310
Lucy Maifreddy may only be 13-years old, but she already has a second job in addition to her school duties getting paid $20 a day driving tractors and cleaning equipment on the family farm. Lucy’s family lives in a rural area of North Queensland, and they spend many hours in the car each week listening to podcasts. Side Hustle School just happens to be their favorite. Because homework and driving tractors are not enough for this enterprising teen, she has decided to make some extra money. Using startup capital from her farm gig, she purchased lollipops in bulk, which she then resells to eager customers—AKA other students—at her school. Lucy lives on the family farm in a rural area of North Queensland with students traveling by bus up to 50 km away. What could make that long trip home more endurable? Why a delicious candy, of course! Lucy noticed that her school didn't cater to those with a sweet tooth, so she knew that the market was prime for a business that did. After some deliberation, she decided that she would relieve that transportation boredom by reselling lollipops to her fellow students. She chose lollipops because they last for a long time which means that kids feel like they are getting good value out of their purchase. That and living in the tropics meant that chocolates and most other confections are not feasible investments since they're prone to melting. Buying the lollipops in bulk, she can get them for around 19¢ each and then turn around and sell them at school for 50¢ making 31¢ profit on each one, and she sells between 50 and 75 per day with very little effort. She has around $1,000 saved from the last couple of months of work and her side hustle and is looking at purchasing some products such as pencil cases and earrings that she can sell at school using her Instagram account for advertising. But the lollipop hustle is not without challenges—I'm not going to sugarcoat it. The major downside she said is that her pants are always falling down from all the change in her pocket. Perhaps an investment in a belt or change purse might be an appropriate startup expense! MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:- Chupa Chups: The only lollipop that gets Lucy's highly coveted stamp of reselling approval
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