Popular business guru Gary Vaynerchuk (aka: Gary Vee) is known for bringing his passion for entrepreneurship and marketing to help people, mostly in their 20s or 30s, succeed with their own businesses.
Gary Vee also wants to help younger entrepreneurs get a head start at successfully selling their own products and services. He recently put a cartoon video on YouTube, called “Slime is Money — The Adventures of Lil’ Vee.” The video introduces us to Lil’ Vee, an elementary school kid who enjoys selling things and trying out different types of businesses.
Here’s the video: https://youtu.be/TL5jL8NU94E
There are 3 great lessons you can use from this video, even if you’re well beyond being in elementary school.
- Sometimes, it really is about who you know.
A good business idea can come from watching your friends or family members’ habits. In the video “Slime is Money,” Lil’ Vee gets the idea to sell slime when he sees his little sister, Elle, playing with some green slime.
At first, he has some success selling green slime to his friends. But, Lil’ Vee runs into some problems when he tries to sell slime to other kids at his school.
Which leads us to the next lesson…
- Don’t quit too early.
No product or service is perfect, especially when you’re just starting out. It’s normal to run into problems and even get negative comments (online, or in real life, or both) when you first try to sell and market your ideas.
Lil’ Vee can’t get any other kids at his school to buy green slime. Some say it’s gross. Other kids think it’s just a stupid idea.
Lil’ Vee thinks about quitting the slime business. But his sister Elle tells him to not give up because he’s only been in business for one day.
- Look for ways to make your idea better.
Sometimes, an amazing idea has a bad start. For example, a great product can look ugly. Lil’ Vee decides he needs to find ways to make slime more appealing to the kids at his school.
He checks out Instagram videos about making slime. Lil’ Vee, Elle, and their friends work together to make slime in different colors. Lil’ Vee also starts following other people on Instagram, as well as liking and commenting on their posts.
Final Thoughts
Still looking for ideas to start a business? Pay attention to how your friends and family spend their free time.
Frustrated with your current business? Try improving your product or service.
We won’t do any spoilers about how things work out for Lil’ Vee. We will say Gary Vee’s “Slime is Money” video does a great job of showing kids and young adults what starting a business can look like.
Photo by Aman Upadhyay on Unsplash
