Why Not Shark Tank It At Home?

Perhaps the only way to build young entrepreneurs, dreamers and summit trekkers is to treat them like such from the time they are young and incubating in your home. 

Everyone wants money but so many of our money trees just aren't growing, no matter how often we water them. Our kids express their desires to purchase things, we share means through which they may possibly earn money by assisting with tasks around our home that we would rather pay dollars than time to complete. As such, our kids understand (to varying degrees) that money requires work. At times the work equals money relationship becomes and expectation and other conversations or reality alterations occur. Parenting is always a cycle of challenges. 

Recently, we had a unique opportunity and decided to experiment with something we have enjoyed from television's offering of educational entertainment. Our eldest son, currently 10 years of age, had a an opportunity through friends and family connections to create and distribute a naturopathic allergy remedy. It's a quirky industry but one that many people have an appetite for and thus there is an opportunity, especially for an eager young entrepreneur. Rather than hand over a fully funded business opportunity with zero strings attached, a scenario that would be a set up for disillusionment with future ventures, we decided to dabble with micro investing in our own home. 

The Opportunity
Summer is the start of allergy season, thus Summer is a prime opportunity for Caiden's Natural Remedies (CNR) to distribute a product in the Willamette Valley of Oregon that is notoriously brutal to allergy sufferers. 

The Urgency
Caiden is still in grade school, which is not an obstacle to entrepreneurship but rather provides him the most direct path to initial sales as this is a focal point where those who are familiar with Caiden congregate. For Caiden's Natural Remedies this community creates access to the Lowest Hanging Fruit in his entrepreneurial ventures. But, school is almost out which both creates a need for urgency in getting products to market. Caiden's Natural Remedies needed an influx of cash immediately. 

The Pitch
$100 initial investment for immediate purchase of product and materials. 50% of initial investment as a loan which had to be paid in 60 days to retain zero percent interest, then 20% of each sale in perpetuity (yeah, we made a Kevin O'Leary deal with our son). 

The Plan
With the $100 cash flow distribution, our son was able to purchase his initial stock for creating his initial offering of Caiden's Natural Remedies, an allergy oil relief in a roller applicator. In addition to Caiden's deal with his initial investors, Caiden decided to reach out to those whom he felt could be key business partners, and without sharing the details of each deal, he made offers of generous commissions for those who would be willing to assist him in selling his product. 

The Process
If Phase 1 of Caiden's Natural Remedies was to acquire funding. Phase 2 would be acquiring materials for the creation of initial product offerings. Caiden was so excited to get his hands on his product and brand the Caiden's Natural Remedies Allergy Applicators. He will be hitting the streets to get his products into hands and make his first series of sales. 

We will post updates as the story develops, you can find the young entrepreneur working his grind @caidenvents, if you suffer from allergies and are looking for a natural remedy, Caiden would tell you, "I'm your man." 

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