I write again!
As I promised, I will explain some of the ideas and projects that I have done and have participated in. (also trying out a new font)
One of the fist that I remember was in the shed in the back garden of my old house, my dad had some "trash bashers". Basically, they were these crazy contraptions that allowed the user to compact the "trash" that was in their bin so that they could get more in.A simple product, with a simple aim.
My dad acquired these though his line of work as a SME Business Consultant (Small-to-Medium sized Enterprises) and he showed them to me and said "they cost me 20 quid. Do you want to go out and try and sell them for extra pocket money? Every penny you make over 22 quid you can keep." I thought "hey that's not a bad idea" so I went out and tried to flog them around the village.
My sister, usually not a person interested by "wheeling and dealing" also got in on the deal. Being older and probably a little wiser but also less daring, sold to our extended family, and close family friends in the local area. This did here well but she did not "rake it in" and I was thinking; "there are lots of other people in the village, surely some of them would like one of these"
You know in the films when a small stereotypical American kid goes around his neighborhood trying to sell lemonade or something?
Well, that was me except the products were big and metal, the cart a lot bigger and the distances I traveled were a fair bit further.
But this was my first experience of trying to sell something to people; and I learned fast. There are lots of different types of people.
I had a variety of different responses from the people around the village, I even met some I had never seen before who only lived less 500 metres away!
Some of the people I spoke to I think say a novelty in the fact there was a small kid who was only just into his teen years standing at their door offering them something. As I have already mentioned, akin to the stereotype of a small American child. They listened to what had to say, and most of them bought one. These were easy sales, mostly to people who either knew of me, or knew my parent/extended family.
Others were sceptical, that I was actually trying to sell then something that they might want; these were the the hardest sales, as they needed gentle persuasion as to the merits of the product that was on the cart I had dragged to their door. I even had one out of its packet with which to demonstrate it's simple method of use and storage!
The last kind of people were those who slammed their doors into my faces. They were the busy people, the ones who had none or little time to listen, or no desire to interact with a child. Either way, I got nothing out of them.
So, as one of my first endeavors into the world I can say it was a marginal success. I don't remember exact figures, but I came back with less than I left with; which was the aim after all.
Now I look back on it I think I should probably negotiated with my dad for a better starting price, as he did nothing toward the sales I made apart from saying "their in the shed, now off you go".
Still, an interesting experience in which I learned a lot including the basics of salesmanship.
Until next week,
Until next week,
Thanks for reading!
