Krystal Judah is helping her children learn responsibility and good financial sense through entrepreneurship at Green Light, Go!
THE OWNERS
Micaiah, age 12, and Jonah, age 11, operate their cotton candy business under their parents’ guidance, and along the way are learning valuable lessons about entrepreneurship. For example, when the price of boxes to ship their cotton candy increased, they realized they would have to increase their product price by ten cents. The boys own five cotton candy machines for live, onsite spinning and one industrial machine for pre-packaged sales. They learned how to handle the required cleaning and regular maintenance of the machines.
The boys pick out the flavors they want to offer, and Krystal helps with the ordering process. The two boys are the face of the business at lots of local events, so they have learned how to answer inquiries and handle difficulties when they arise.
Accomplishments with UW-Whitewater SBDC
- Business strategy
- Contract negotiation guidance
THE EVENTS
Some of the events they attend as young entrepreneurs include Beloit Farmers Market on Saturday mornings and home games of the Beloit Sky Carp baseball team. The boys have become contracted vendors at ABC Supply Stadium, spinning cotton candy onsite. Their business is a little more complicated than typical lemonade stands or other youth businesses because cotton candy is a heavily regulated item requiring an annually renewed insurance food certificate.
Micaiah and Jonah have learned to build relationships with customers at these events and those relationships have led to selling their cotton candy at graduation parties, quinceaneras and Awkward Nerd events. One of the most popular items for these events are cotton candy glitter bombs.
The importance of community involvement is not lost on the young business owners. Micaiah worked with a school fundraiser to help donate $200 to a water project in the South Sudan. Jonah was asked to attend a local family fun fest on behalf of Green Light, Go! The business has donated at least $100 each of the last two years to the YMCA of Rock County to sponsor their family fun night. The pair has also attended successful events at the Muskego Circle Community Center two years in a row. The fundraiser events benefit specific people suffering illness in the community.
THE OBSTACLES
Some of the obstacles the business encountered in getting started involved large start-ups costs for machines, shipping boxes and the yearly food permit and insurance costs. Krystal said, “My first stop for everything business related is the Small Business Development Center (SBDC).” She works with Ron Chisholm, the center director at the UW-Whitewater SBDC. “Ron is amazing! As a first-time business owner, even the little things seem big. Ron helps make everything manageable. He really helped me in understanding technical contract language. He helped me form my own questions for negotiating business contracts.”
Krystal wants to be sure the boys still enjoy their childhood and their own summer activities while being entrepreneurs. The business hires temporary agency employees from time to time to attend events when the boys cannot. “They quickly learned it is expensive to hire someone else, so they are selective and choose when it is important to them to hire external employees,” Krystal said.
THE FUTURE
“They would love to diversify their products because on humid days cotton candy melts quickly. They are hoping to expand to include snow cones soon,” Krystal said. The success of Green Light, Go! Is inspiring and we look forward to seeing what Micaiah and Jonah do next.
