Entrepreneurship At Any Age
When she was 8 years old, Evelyn Espinoza sold bubble gum and other candy door-to-door in her Los Angeles neighborhood to earn money.
By sixth grade, her mom was buying the enterprising 12-year-old toys at a wholesale mart to resell at school.
Now 17, Espinoza is still hard at work. Her latest business venture, Hippie’s Candles, was named the winner last week of the Los Angeles regional business-plan competition, and a $1,750 prize, at the event sponsored by the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship and the Merrill Lynch Foundation.
“Entrepreneurship is excellent,” said Espinoza, who is in the NFTE entrepreneur-training class at Soledad Enrichment Action Girls Academy, a charter school in downtown Los Angeles.
“Money rules the society,” she said. “Everyone wants money, and it’s only right to learn how to make it in a legit way and to be your own boss.”
Espinoza said she makes candles in the kitchen of her family’s home using organic wax and various dyes and fragrances. The 11th-grader has learned to wait until she has an order “so I can make sure people pay for the supplies I use,” she said.
Sounding like a seasoned business pro, she talked about “her basic unit,” a six-inch pillar that sells for $17. Star shapes made of colored layers of wax and heart-shaped candles cost more.
Espinoza said she jotted down several ideas for her business, including making bird treats, before settling on candles. A friend helped teach her how to make them.
Espinoza would like to expand by making a catalog, adding to her candle selection and getting stores to buy her candles on consignment.
“I really see big things for this business,” she said. ” I’m just getting going.”
Photo by Rene Macura / Strategies LLC..
Angela on June 13th, 2008 12:04 pm
It’s always fun seeing these young entrepreneurs do so well. Sounds like she deserved her win!
danakeith on June 13th, 2008 11:29 pm
congratulations to her, very inspiring, such thinking for a profitable one, now look where she is now.. can tell she done it right.
Affiliate Expert on June 14th, 2008 3:41 pm
Great story, hope more parents share this with their kids to develop more young entrepreneurs in our country to bring our economy back on the right track! Great job Evelyn!
grace on June 15th, 2008 3:19 am
your so great little child! this only means that even a little person can be a good entrepreneurs. continue your hard work! it will take you to a big opportunity.
Executive Director on June 26th, 2008 6:21 pm
You did a good job but you could of done it better. Don’t get too excited about this. To be honest the other contestant should of had won. Now, her business plan was better. We all wanted the other one to win but I guess it’s ok you won. Candles are easy to do anybody could do that. You should of thought about something better! For next time I suppose. You won out of luck, not because you were good.
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