My First Business

13 Comments

Justin Lukasavige

Business card from 2001.

My first business was probably a lemonade stand. Spurred on by my older sister, we hit the corner of our street to sell lemonade which my parents paid for. We never paid them back.

My second business was just as short lived: sort of a swap meet between my sisters and brother. We cleaned out our toy boxes and sold them to each other. I never ended up on the profitable side of those sales, but always walked away happy.

My third business was an outdoor guiding company. Started in the months before September 11, 2001, we had everything in place, including our first trip. Then the country was in complete chaos. (I’ve since revived that brand for another project.)

I’ve never heard of a single person become ultra successful with their first business. It just doesn’t happen. There’s always the lemonade stand, landscaping or car washing business. Even delivering newspapers like Warren Buffet’s first job.

Donald Trump recycled empty cans and bottles with his father. Sam Walton bottled milk on his family farm and hand-delivered it to his customers.

We all start somewhere. Wether successful or failed, each experience teaches us something about ourselves. It’d be a waste not to pay attention and use it when the next opportunity comes around.

What was your first business or job? Did it prepare you for anything?

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Posted on August 25, 2012

  • http://scottkantner.com Scott Kantner

    My first business was “Kantner Computing.”  I still have the sign I hung outside the door back in 1985.  I did custom application programming for small businesses, anything from lawyers, to car dealers, to cookie makers who subcontracted to Keebler (the elves!).

    Here’s what I experienced: 1) I loved writing the software (we didn’t call them “apps” then) and watching it help people, 2) I hated supporting it, and 3) I absolutely hated the sales and marketing aspects.

    Here’s what I learned:  I am a builder, not an operator.  In any business I do going forward, I will need to fills those roles (sales, marketing, and support) with other people.

    //Scott

  • http://coachradio.tv/ Justin Lukasavige

    Great lessons to learn, Scott. Keep focused on those.

  • http://www.linkedin.com/in/keithjameskemp Keith Kemp

    I remember picking up aluminum cans with my dad.  We picked them up on the side of the road and turned them in for cash.

  • http://www.JeffDrummer.com/ Jeff Jones

    My first business was http://www.mybiggestfan.net. It no longer exist, but it was a product that I manufactured that combined a blower fan, monitor speaker cabinet for use on stage with a foot switch. My hope is to take this to China and have it manufactured one day, but right now it’s not worth the risk..

  • http://bradkindercoaching.com Brad Kinder

    I like the mountain background with a Carmel Indiana address.  Made me smile.

  • http://coachradio.tv/ Justin Lukasavige

    I remember you showing that to me, Jeff. I still think it’s a great idea.

  • http://coachradio.tv/ Justin Lukasavige

    No kidding, Brad. We actually had trips around the world on the calendar. All from Indiana.

  • http://coachradio.tv/ Justin Lukasavige

    Oh, and I took that picture in Colorado. That’s my brother, near the top of a 14,000′ peak.

  • http://www.selfemployedmoneymanagement.com/ Ryan Eidson

    My first business: I had a newspaper in the fourth & fifth grades, “The Eidson Express.” I printed it on our dot matrix printer and used a DOS word processing program (Professional Write). I started giving it away for free, then after I grew my audience I charged a quarter for each issue of one or two pages. I even had a few classmates write articles for it, and no, I did not pay them to write. It was guest posting before RSS came along. Then other classmates started creating their own papers; mine had the longest run, though.

    Then I had my first problem with copyright: my fifth grade teacher told me after I put in my favorite  commercial comic strip (Garfield) that I had two options: take out the comic strip and keep charging, or distribute it for free. Good thing I learned that lesson early!

  • http://coachradio.tv/ Justin Lukasavige

    Great lesson, Ryan. And holy cow, that’s a huge idea for so young.

  • http://www.selfemployedmoneymanagement.com/ Ryan Eidson

    When I started it I didn’t intend for it to be a business. I just had the passion to write. I don’t remember now the reason I started charging for it — maybe someone said they would be willing to pay for the newspaper. I do remember that I preferred to write than to work outside on the farm.

  • http://marcsviewonstuff.wordpress.com/ Marc Pekny

    Ahh..my first job was a day-camp counselor for the town where I lived.  It was not really my cup of tea but I did it anyway, especially with the insistence of my parents.  That job did, however, lead me to better ones as I was able to get enough trust in my bosses at the time to come and work with them in the parks and recreation office for several summers after that…all the way through college.

    A useless bit of trivia…I learned spreadsheet skills at that job with Lotus 1-2-3. That was before mice were used very abundantly. I learned the keyboard shortcuts and still use many of them today with Excel (i.e. using the slash / key to drop the menus down).It prepared me to be a desk jockey as I still am one now :)  

  • http://coachradio.tv/ Justin Lukasavige

    Sounds like it set you up well, Marc. :)