It all started the Summer before my 8th grade year. Greg and I stopped by the local Long's drugstore, and I saw something I'd never seen before:
Banana Bubblicious.
Now, I'm a big fan of banana flavor, if it's subtle enough, so of course I bought it. I've never been the biggest fan of gum, but some things must be done. Needless to say, it was awesome!!
I only chewed one piece, and I saved the rest. School was starting the next day, and I wanted to have some gum for school. Little did I know but taking the gum to school would be a life-changing event.
As it turned out, that was the only piece I chewed. I ended up selling the remaining pieces (4 if you remember the package size) for fifty cents. Not each, mind, but total. Either way, I made enough to buy 2 packs.....
At the time of these events, see, Bubble Yum and Bubblicious were selling for twenty to twenty five cents per 5 piece pack.
What did I do with my .50 cents, you ask?
Well, I bought 2 packs for school the next day. Those 2 packs net me $1.00.
Which was enough for 8 packs....
I'm sure you can see where this is going.
Within a very short span of time, I was buying a box of gum (24 packs) every day, and selling same. I paid between $4.80 and $6.00 a box, and I was netting $12.00 every day.
As I said, it was quite a little racket.
Like all successful dealers, I followed the 3 rules of good business:
1. Give them what they want. My biggest sellers were banana, orange (both bubblicious), wild cherry, and regular old bubblegum flavor (bubble yum).
2. All cash all the time. I never extended credit. I'm sorry, but if you can't scrounge up the dime for your gum, you'll just have to think of something else. On a side note, I never traded gum for sexual favors.
3. Never get high on your own supply. Shortly after the onset of my entrepreneurial career, I gave up gum chewing almost totally. I would enjoy the occasional piece with friends, after the work day was done, or on special occasions, but very seldom did I indulge.
There were other considerations, of course. I did pay for protection (one piece a day to my muscle mark), and at least once, I had product stolen from me....but these things were just the cost of doing business. All in a day's work, so to speak.
Oh, and by the way, Greg was doing the same thing. We had different classes, and different clientele, so there were no 'gum turf' wars or anything. We were like Sears and Macy's.
This went on for months, and thinking back, I can't remember why we stopped, but we did. It was really a sweet deal.
And, in case you're wondering, I never got caught. Not many dealers can say that they went their whole career, from budding start to well deserved retirement without a single bust. To my knowledge, I was never even surveilled, or thought to be a person of interest.
I wish it was that easy to make money now.....
Buenos con queso,
T.
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