Hey everyone! Travis here, CEO of MyFirstSale. I just had the coolest chat with Keeton, a rock star kid business owner who loves inspiring other kids. Here’s some highlights from our convo.
Keeton, tell us about yourself.
My name is Keeton and I’m 11 years old. I’m the founder of Bookmarx the Spot. I’ve sold over 100 bookmarks and made over $300.
Tell us a little bit about how you discovered your passion and how you tied that into starting your business.
I really like reading…and it’s just fun to make bookmarks. I like sewing and ironing, so I just thought it was a good fit. My mom taught me how to sew.
What were some of the challenges you faced before you actually started selling?
Well, it took a while to sew the bookmarks. We were trying to figure out which materials to buy and what to use to make the products. So it was hard.
What’s been the most fun thing about your business?
I also like doing the business part and shipping off the bookmarks and using my ledger and stuff. I like picking out the elastic and the cotton and stuff. It’s fun.
Keeton, you are a seasoned entrepreneur, and you’ve been a voice of encouragement to our other kids at MyFirstSale. It’s so cool to see. Do you like encouraging other kids and their businesses?
Yeah. It’s fun.
When you think about all the things you’ve learned from starting and growing your business, what’s one of the most valuable lessons you’ve learned along the way?
I’ve learned to be patient because our sewing machine is really old, so sometimes it breaks, and I have to wait for my mom to fix it. And I’ve also learned hard work. It takes a long time to make a batch of bookmarks.
Starting a business is not easy, but if you can push through and keep working hard at it, it’ll lead to success. Let me talk to your mom for a second. Angie, you’ve been helping Keeton and coaching him. What’s been most inspiring to you along this journey?
It’s been great for me to see the persistence. On MyFirstSale, we’ve learned that if you have a business, you are a problem solver—and you’re going to come across problems. Like my son said, we had multiple times where the sewing machine broke during COVID, and I was looking online for a part and trying to figure out how to fix it myself. But it was nice because I could view it as just our next problem. We could figure out how to work through it instead of seeing it as a big catastrophe. We’ve run through different problems, printing problems, but we figured them out. Instead of seeing problems as an upset, we see problems as a way to work through things and learn. I really like seeing the persistence and growth that comes from that.
What are some funny moments you’ve had together along the way?
This isn’t necessarily funny, but I think it’s fun whenever Keeton puts together his bookmarks and gets them ready for shipping, and he gears up and puts on his rollerblades and all the pads and the helmet, and then he takes off down the road to go and drop them off in the mailbox. If only people could see this boy being all excited! He loves to do the shipping part, and he loves seeing someone value his product and buy it. We’ve had fun working together, and it’s been very enjoyable for us.
What would you tell another mom or dad who is looking at this for their kiddos?
This has been extremely valuable, to be learning these life skills when they’re so young and to be going through challenges together. There’s so many opportunities to learn. Of course there’s skills in learning how to make something, but it doesn’t stop there. We’ve gone to different schools and things, and so we’ve done small-scale sales. But what’s different is this: there’s so much more to learn through MyFirstSale. You’re able to reach out to a lot more people. If you’re doing a small sale, you are aiming towards one day, one event. You spend a couple of days before going crazy, pulling your hair out, trying to get your product ready, and then you sell and it’s done. But with this it’s been constant, and he’s been able to think, “Okay, how do I sell online? How do I promote on a Facebook page? How do I generate excitement?”
And he’s learning to deal with the problems that go along with shipping and other parts of the business. What happens when we have a wrong address? How do we package it? How do we weigh it? Also, he loves the ledger. If you want a kid to love math, have them do a business, and then math is meaningful to them because it’s their money. And they get to figure out, “If I spend this money for these costs of my business, that’s going to take away from my profit.” I just love the life values that MyFirstSale builds—and it’s real life. It’s not some fictional thing on paper. It’s just so much more meaningful.
That’s so well said. Keeton, real quick, last question. What do you want to say to everybody, especially those kids who are thinking about starting their first business?
Work hard and take some risks.
Wow, great lessons. Keeton, thank you. Thank you, Angie. It’s super inspiring to see you use your gifts to help other people, and we’re so proud of you. Kids, if you want to start a successful business like Keeton, you can find out how to be rich as a kid here.