#83. Four Dudes Selling Jewelry (Saturday, July 29, 2006)

What was your best day…of just getting stuff done?

The eighteen months from February 2006 to August 2007 was an interesting period in my life. Almost overnight, I had developed this burning desire inside of me to do everything I could to be as successful as humanly possible (#114) – all while having no freaking clue what being successful actually meant.

At the time, though, the answer to that question seemed clear enough.

Just start a business.

By business, I mean setting up a roadside stall in the downtown Byward Market (#112). To sell costume jewelry. But still, Daniel Jing, the initiator of this whole thing, had insisted that we go all in – writing up a business plan, managing an accounting book, designating formal titles for each of us (I was CFO). This was his ticket into University of Pennslyvania Wharton, and my excuse to not have to look for a summer job.

Well, right after each of us – me, Daniel, Foster, and Yenan – committed $300 to this venture and we bought our wholesale stock of earrings, bracelets, and heart-shaped necklaces off Liquidation.com, Daniel left for a summer program (Shad Valley) at McMaster. Leaving the three of us with no idea what the hell to do for all of July.

Which left us exactly four days after Daniel’s return for us to get it all sorted out before the August license period kicked in. And we had a lot to sort out.

So on this Saturday, Daniel called a team meeting in downtown. The first thing we did was have a chat with this girl from school – Naomi – whom Foster had recruited to help us sell all our jewelry. I suppose it was an interview, so it was all pretty awkward at least on my part, but I did enjoy feeling like a boss.

And I’d say “like a boss” pretty accurately describes everything the four of us did that day:

• We got our August vendor’s license finalized.
• We scouted out the Byward Market for the best selling spots.
• We took two buses to Walmart and bought a tent, our tables, some tablecloths, and the largest rabbit cages we could find (to hang the jewelry on).
• We called Daniel’s dad to drive us, with all this stuff, back to his house.
• We ate dinner.
• We inventoried over a thousand pieces of merchandise in Daniel’s basement.
• We put together the rabbit cages, then carefully hung every piece of that merchandise onto those rabbit cages – with almost no room to spare.
• We decided on our schedule.
• We decided on the prices.

And it was only an hour past midnight when we were done. Teenage boys should not be that efficient.

Now, all that was left to do was sell. And that would be a whole adventure in itself…