How to Teach Your Kids the Power of Adding Value

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I live on a golf course.  If you push it right off the 7th tee, I get to keep your golf ball.  My family spends a good amount of time playing in the back yard.  I’m very thankful that none of us have been hit yet.

Photo courtesy of iStockPhoto.com

Photo courtesy of iStockPhoto.com

Earlier in the summer, I was in the back yard playing pitch and catch with my boys.  Suddenly, a shiny Titleist Pro V1 came flying into the yard.  My 7 year-old ran to grab it.  Then he took it up to the course and sold it back to the owner.  He provided a small service to this man and added value to his life.  He made $2.  I was one proud dad.  My wife was mortified.

Now imagine a 7 year-old toe-head with a huge smile doing a victory dance.  It was awesome.

That episode got me thinking about how my dad taught me how to work when I was a kid.  I mowed his empty lots.  I dug ditches.  I worked at his carwash.  He gave me jobs instead of money, and I am grateful for that.

I’m sure I will do the same with my boys.  However, I want to teach them how to create tremendous value and be paid for it.  I want them to catch the entrepreneur bug at an early age.  If they can learn self-discipline as well, they should never lack.  Or at least they won’t be a burden to the taxpayer.

So here is what we did to start their first business.

Inventory

We went to my neighbor who has lived on this street for years.  He has thousands of golf balls that he’s collected over the years.  I took my 7 year old with me and we offered to buy some of his golf balls in bulk.  I was going to play the role of the bank and finance their startup.  They could pay me back from their cashflow.

Somewhat unfortunately, my neighbor is so fond of my son, he just gave him about 150 golf balls.  I really wanted them to learn about cost of goods sold, but my neighbor would not take our money.

Preparation

These are used golf balls.  Many are in great shape.  Many had head-butted cart paths and trees.  Many were just dirty.  So we grabbed a bucket, dumped all the balls in there, and filled it up with water.  Even my 4 year-old baby girl got in on the action to play with the water hose.

We then cleaned and dried them off.  I had the opportunity to discuss quality control with them and the importance of creating an excellent product.

Sorting

If you are a golfer, you know there is a big difference between some balls and others.  We then sorted all the balls into three groups.  Group A was the Pro V1 and its equal.  Group B was filled with the NXT type.  Group C were the ones you would hit into a corn field and not go looking for them.

Packaging

When we had our groups sorted, we packed our product.  Each bag contained 5 golf balls – 0ne from Group A and two from both B and C.

Our thinking was if the A ball could be around $5 out of the box, then we would sell the group of 5 for $5.

Sales Pitch

I then taught my boys the sales pitch.  When a golfer tees off and lands close to our yard, the run and grab a bag of their product.  They then locate the golfers ball for them.  “Sir, we have the best deal in town!  Buy a Pro V-1 for $5 and get four balls for free!”  It is a sight to see.

I want my boys to learn how to create value for others and generate income, and they are getting a taste.  It was a joy to see the light in their eyes when they made their first sale.  I love it when we are throwing in the back yard, and they drop their gloves and run to get their “inventory” to sell to a customer.  I hope that it will start a drive in their bellies.

So here’s to Will and Ben – business owners!

Question: How did you learn to sell? What other ways can you think of to equip the next generation? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

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Categories: Business, Life Lessons

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  • abuchanan

    I would go door to door looking for leaf raking jobs in my hometown. I later advanced to a sales clerk at a men’s clothing store. I was fortunate to be taught by some “old school” people who believed..do what you say, show up on time, treat others fairly and with respect, SAY THANKS, etc.

    Many that I encounter today don’t share these basic values and it’s a shame.

    • Allen, I remember when my dad would teach me how to approach and serve his carwash customers. It was very uncomfortable for me at first, but after a while, it became natural. That has served me well since then.

      We are fortunate to have had some great training in our younger years.

  • rnschmidt

    Bo I love this. I did exactly the same thing when I was young. I used to fish in the golf course ponds and at some point I realized there were a lot of lost golf balls stuck in the mud. So I did what any kid would do…I jumped in and walked the perimeter barefoot and collected all of the golf balls I could find. Then, I cleaned and sorted them into old egg cartons and set up shop on Saturday mornings on the back nine. It sure beat begging for allowance!

  • Christopher Kidder

    Bo…. what a fantastic story and such a great lesson!

  • Michael Pink

    Life’s about doing the best we can with the “golf balls” in our own “back yard”.
    My first paid job was weeding the home garden. When we moved to a big apartment building downtown, my brother and I started a shoe shining business and a dog-walking service. By then I was in 5th grade.
    Fast forward to age 55 and life as an office tenant-rep for 25 years. And the best thing I’ve ever done to add value – lots of it!
    It’s called Investing In Communities® and all of us brokers and all of our clients can benefit. And that’s only part of the story. Imagine if every time we handle a brokerage assignment, we make more money than we usually do from referred business, AND our client is able to support their favorite charity for free, AND our client and we are written about as community heroes in social media stories about the impact of the funding on the charity, which is added value for the charity and us. For short, call it IIC. But, whether you use the short or the long name, Investing In Communities is pure win/win/win.
    How’s that for value-add?
    Please join us at http://www.iiconline.org.

    • Hey Michael – thanks for sharing about Investing In Communities. I will have to check that out.

  • Tim Davis

    I grew up in a building material store – my father founded a small chain of 15 stores in the late 70’s to early 90’s. I worked in the store every single day after school, and all day on saturday. I priced PVC fittings, one and time with a Sharpie, “40” on a 3/4″ coupler denoted $0.40 in the pre-point of sale days. I stocked the nailbins, and measured doors in the racks and marked the spine “2-6 HC” or “3-0 SC” ( the latter a 36″ exterior solid core door)

    I honestly have no idea how anyone could raise a child without a busines in their life. It was the difference in how my brother and I were raised.

    Great story.

    • Love that story, Tim. Some of us are very fortunate to have been taught to work at an early age.