Tycoon @ the age of 6??
By: Nim Bar Levin
Tags: Parenthood, Young Business Leaders, Business, Family

I met one of my friends (hi there Tommy!) last week and told him the latest business story of one of my Kids. Tommy asked if I have more stories to share and once I started pouring more of them — he said that I must share them with other Parents, too.

So here I am — writing my first item on Medium :-)

A little about me — I’m 41, married the Keren (Poonchi), father of Jonathan (YoYo), Daniel (DoonDoon) and Amit (Tooni). Yes — we looooove nicknames… (I’m Shnooki, btw).

YoYo and DoonDoon are 10.5 y/o twins, and Tooni is 6.5 y/o.

I’m working @Dynamo — a startup operating in the Parent-Kid-Smartphone arena. We create value for both Parents and Kids in this domain. Fun!

I wrote a business book for children — Buzz’s Business — which shares little entrepreneurships by a little Kid— Buzz.

So the first story I’d like to share with you is about DoonDoon and how he created — without understanding it (I hope…) — a monopoly when he was 6 years old… Here goes:

One of the activities in my Kids’ school is a yearly market where the Parents donate different products such as fruits, vegetables, sweets, flowers and such. Then all are being sold to Kids in different stands located in the school’s yard.

That year, one of the stands was a Popsicle stand with different flavors. A couple of days after the event my wife received a call from DoonDoon’s teacher… The teacher did not explain much, but simply said that “DoonDoon was a bit of a trouble maker during the market event, something related to the Popsicles”. My wife gave me the job to discuss with DoonDoon what happened there.

As usual in these cases I always ask my Kids in a “by the way mode”. Not calling “yo boy get here now, we need to talk” or something. I learned that I get more information and more authenticity this way.

And in our family the best “by the way” way is while we’re riding our bikes. I used the opportunity when DoonDoon and I went riding together and asked him “How was the market the other day?” and then after he answered the Kids’ ultimate reply “It was fun” I tried to understand what happened there. It went something like this:

Me: I heard that there was an issue with the Popsicles or something?

DD: Yes. The teacher didn’t like what we did.

Me: Interesting. What didn’t she like?

DD: I asked some Kids to buy Popsicles from the stand and then we opened our own stand of Popsicles next to the market’s stands.

Me: (somewhat puzzled…) OK… And the teacher didn’t like it. I think I understand why. But I’ve got to ask you — for how much did you buy the Popsicles in the market stand?

DD: 1.5

Me: And for how much you and your friends sold them in your stand?

DD: 1.5

Me: (feeling like a good parent who will soon teach a lesson) Hmmm DoonDoon — why did you think that anyone will buy from you and not from the original market stand? It’s the same price, no?

And then DoonDoon replied something I wouldn’t have imagined a 6 years old could answer:

DD: Well daddy — I told my friends to buy all the Apricot flavored Popsicles, and this way the Kids who wanted Apricot flavored Popsicle would have to come to our stand. We were the only ones who sold it.

Me: …………. ;-)

Next story: The twins first real profitable business and how I taught them what is P&L (Profit & Loss).