1M2030 Story #17: Youth Entrepreneurship
Hi, my name is Jack Bonneau, and I am one in a million. This is my story.
Hi, my name is Jack Bonneau, and I am one in a million. This is my cause and story.
My mission and vision are to provide youth and teens the opportunity to experience and learn about entrepreneurship, business, financial literacy; and to develop life and social skills that will positively impact them their entire lives.
My story started when I was 8 years old, and wanted the LEGO Starwars Deathstar, but it cost $400. I asked my dad if I could have it he said sure, but I would have to buy it. I was 8 years old; where am I going to get $400?
My dad suggested that I start a lemonade stand. I thought it was a good idea, but instead of putting it at the end of my street, we put it at our local farmer’s market. That summer, I sold $2,000 worth of lemonade and ice tea, and after expenses, I made $900, and yes, I did get my Lego Deathstar!
The following year I wanted to do it again, but I wanted to share my experience with other kids. They would learn how to operate a lemonade stand in a public place, learn how to greet and serve the customer, make change, take credit cards, and at end of their shift they figure out their revenue, expenses, profits, and tips. Kids do all their own math. The next year I started Jack’s Marketplace, where we sold great products made by young entrepreneurs and shared their inspirational stories. Kids operated Jack’s Stands and Marketplaces at farmer’s markets, events, and local malls in my state. Over the five years, kids between 7 and 12 years old have operated thousands of shifts. One of the many incredible experiences was when kids would start operating Jack’s Stands, and they became more and more comfortable and confident in running the location and speaking with adults.
Then they moved on to operating a Jack’s Stands and Marketplace location, selling lemonade and great products made by other young entrepreneurs sharing their stories with customers. Many were inspired by the products and stories of the young entrepreneurs that they were selling that they created their own products, becoming entrepreneurs themselves. This experience was the most rewarding for me that I wanted to bring to as many kids as possible. Recently, I’ve changed Jack’s Stands and Marketplaces to a non-profit to be able to work with other non-profits who support youth entrepreneurship to reach as many kids as possible in the U.S. and outside.
When I turned 13, I wanted to create a business that would continue my original mission and vision, but that would appeal to teens. With the help of my dad, we began learning about when millions of kids used to have their own paper routes, delivering billions of newspapers monthly. Each youth who had a paper route had their own small business. They delivered newspapers every morning and/or afternoon before or after school seven days a week, rain, snow, or shine! They sold newspapers to new neighbors on their route, they collected the money owed to them and paid for the papers they delivered, and they handled their customer’s complaints. They learn about time management, financial literacy, and budgeting. They learned responsibility, grit, developed social and life skills that lasted the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, these opportunities don’t exist for teens today.
I saw the rise of services delivering food and groceries across the country and saw the similarities with youth delivering newspapers decades ago. This is why I founded my second company Teen Hustl. Teen Hustl is a hyper-local, community-based delivery service that local neighborhood teens deliver from restaurants, groceries, and packages from Amazon Lockers and UPS stores to their local neighborhoods on eco-friendly bikes and electric scooters. Teen Hustl brings back opportunities for youth to deliver items to local neighborhood homes and businesses as youth did decades ago, but updated for today’s gig economy. Through Teen Hustl, teens gain valuable work experience, learn time management, financial literacy, responsibility, and develop grit, social, and life skills as teens had decades ago.
Jack’s Stands and now Teen Hustl continues my mission and vision to provide youth and teens opportunities to experience and learn about entrepreneurship, business, financial literacy; and develop life and social skills that will positively impact them their entire lives.
1M2030 Stories
1M2030 Stories is a weekly feature of a young leader and their unique story.
If you think you have a compelling story to tell, we invite you to send us your article to info@1m2030.org.