The Million Dollar Paper Route
Posted on December 14, 2015 by Brian Marks, One of Thousands of Entrepreneurship Coaches on Noomii.
My paper route helped me become a millionaire.
When people ask me how became a successful entrepreneur they expect to hear tales of the great schools I attended or of the world class companies I worked for that gave me that extra edge. My reply is really quite surprising: My paper route helped me become a millionaire.
Time travel back with me for minute to the streets of Brooklyn circa the 1960’s. Every morning, I got up very early, hours before school, loaded up the Daily News into the bag attached to my bike and pedaled off to hand-deliver the paper. Each week, I eagerly knocked on my customer’s doors to collect the money for the paper, and hopefully a tip for me. I was 11 years old and this was my first job.
So how did I morph from a Brooklyn kid with a paper route to an award-winning, hands-on entrepreneur with a record of entrepreneurial achievement that spans more than 30 years and that has generated over $1 billion in retail sales? I learned three important lessons that have been, and still are, the cornerstone of all of my endeavors:
How to provide good service
Be on time
The value of hard work
Fast forward to today. With news and information available 24/7 at the touch of a computer button, many people only know about “paper routes” by watching old sitcoms like Leave It to Beaver or Dennis the Menace. Certainly, the young kids that could benefit by actually having a paper route, do not know what it is. In fact, jobs for teens are rare and jobs for kids 12 and under are basically non-existent. What a shame the early lessons that have guided me through my career are lost for kids and teens growing up today.
Another lost art is the power of mentorship. A powerful benefit of an early work experience is having an older, more experienced boss who provides training, leadership, inspiration, and in the process, becomes a powerful role model.
At 16, I was fortunate to land a job as bus boy at an Italian restaurant. The owner, a former waiter, had children who did not want to be involved in the business and he cheerfully passed down the knowledge and business acumen he gained over his 20-year journey from waiter to owner. He loved showing me ways to save money by purchasing properly and a million little secrets about running a business that I would have never known including his amazing understanding of human nature which serves me to this day.
As an adult, I started and sold two companies, one to Revlon and one to a private equity company. I won the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award among many others. The products I created have shipped all over the world and sold over a billion dollars at retail.
Do I owe it all to my early jobs and mentoring? I say emphatically yes. As a society, we must find ways to make jobs for kids and teens as integral a part of growing up as learning how to use a computer. I believe the following ideas are a good starting point in this critical effort:
The government can assist by giving waivers to companies and organizations that allow young people to work from the age of 12.
Companies should make paid internship opportunities available instead of what now amounts to unpaid labor for a vast majority of teens and young adults.
Instituting community-based mentoring programs that tap into local businesses can connect young kids and teens to mentors who can provide experiences and connections that are invaluable and currently unavailable to this age group.
Communities need to embrace these ideas to provide these vital experiences to young people. This change must occur and when it does, it will be a key factor sustaining a vibrant economy and a motivated work force.
Brian K. Marks is the founder and principal of Bridge Business Advisors, a business consulting firm specializing in small businesses from entrepreneurial startups to $50MM in revenue. As an NYU-certified business coach and mentor, he is one of the few professionals in the industry who has a real-world record of achievement and successful entrepreneurial experience that give him a unique perspective from which to help fellow entrepreneurs solve problems and create sustainable business models for the future.
