Jake and His Magazine Interview

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Jake was recently interviewed by the Homeschooling Magazine Homeschool Horizons about his cookie business

The story starts with...


"Young Entrepreneurs – Pouch Cove Cookie Company
by SHANNON RATCLIFFE on FEBRUARY 16, 2012

Here at Homeschool Horizons, we recognize that the Entrepreneurial Spirit is alive and well in the homeschool community. With parents who encourage children to develop their passions, and budding business people who are not trapped all day in a classroom, we believe that the future of creative business is in these vibrant youngsters.

We’d like to introduce you to Jake, the future Cookie King of Newfoundland:"
For the rest of the interview...click here


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Shaking Things Up...

A while ago, I wrote about Jake's spectacular encounter and the next installment of the story.


He hasn't been challenged enough by our current reading curriculum, so we've decided to shake things up a bit. What better book for him to read, than the one written by Ron Joyce (Ron Joyce being the person who took a single-location Tim Hortons and turned it into the empire it is today).




Being an autographed, personalized copy...just added to the excitement. Notice Mr. Joyce writes to Jake "Don't compete too tough on Tim Horton" (I think he is very nervous ;) *grin* )



A two page note by Mr. Zarboni, the man who sent Jake his cookie stand, the book as well as had the book personalized for Jake (more about that in the above link "Spectacular Encounter"







Jake has come alive reading this book. He's learned new words "humanitarian", "vigor" to name only two. Both of these resulted in lengthy discussions.

It talked about Mr. Joyce's resort in Nova Scotia. That added a personal touch because that's where we met Mr. Zarboni...in a Tim Hortons in Nova Scotia. He was on his way to that very resort and it was there he told Mr. Joyce about Jake.

It talked about Tim Hortons surviving economic downturns. That, of course, sparked questions by Jake... "What is an economic downturn???" More discussions about economics and downturns and what they mean for people and the country.

He didn't want to put the book away. Hmmm...I'm thinking this reading 'program' will be much easier to get through...as well as make more sense to Jake. Not to mention, cover many other areas.

New Job!

I got a new job today...and a badge to prove it.

Jake hired me as a "Cookie Advizer" for his Cookie Company. I guess that's because I insist on supervising him in the kitchen (much to his dismay...he'd prefer me to go and leave him to it...but he hasn't had much success with that idea)

Anyway...here is my company badge.

Open for Business

Last Saturday was Opening Day of the season for Jake's cookie business. He is so independent in all aspects of his life and his cookie business is no exception. He would prefer to do everything on his own ... except mom likes to keep an eye on things. Silly mom...(we 'discuss' this point quite often lol)

Oh well....it was a good day and he sold out in just over an hour. Half way through, one of his friends showed up and they sold cookies together. Jake paid him for his help.

It worked!

Jake was finally able to test out his new cookie stand.

He's been strategizing and plotting his latest invention for some time now. He's tried chocolate chip and chocolate chocolate chip cookies....but thought he'd like to add a new flavour to his menu line. Seeing as it's blueberry season here in Newfoundland and....we have mega blueberries growing in our back area, he decided on Blueberry Chocolate Chip (and Blueberry spelled "Bluebarry" according to the sign he made).

Before he could introduce it to his customers though, he decided to should test market it first. His family were the willing participants...and it received two thumbs up from everyone.

He hand-selected the blueberries. He washed them and dried them. Still a little concerned his customers would not like the new flavour and may want their money back, he decided to go with half and half. So, the batch of cookie dough he made was half chocolate chip the other half bluebarry chocolate chip.

He baked them last night...complete with packaging them himself and cleaning up the kitchen (well most of it ;)). He wrote out some business cards and also made his lunch (after all a hard working man needs to keep his strength up).

This morning he helped Larry load the cookie stand into the van. Off we went to downtown Pouch Cove (*grin*....downtown Pouch Cove consists of the town hall/fire hall, park and general store).

Wow!

He sold out in 45 minutes! And....with the tips people gave him....he came home with almost double what he was asking!


A few pics of his day: (click pics to enlarge)


Set up, ready and waiting for the first customer:




A customer arrives by car!




Yahoo! Sold out!

Oh my goodness!!

Jake delivered the cookies and picked up the stand. Good job we had the van as the box would not have fit in the car. This man, Mr. Zarboni, went to a lot of work for Jake, sending the stand, paying the shipping costs, having the letters added and other expenses I'm sure I haven't thought of. Wow. We will all remember their generosity for sure.

Some pics....


The box unloaded from the van, before we opened it.

(click pics to enlarge)


The cookie stand....




The back of the stand...even has a sturdy wire shelf inside.





Thanks, Mr. Zarboni.

Cookie case continues...

Further to Jake's encounter (found here ) Jake received a phone call last night from the businessman's local branch office. The man on the other end advised Jake the cookie stand is in and arrangements were made for us to pick it up.

After a couple of minutes had passed, he called Jake back and said he wanted to place an order for $20.00 worth of cookies. Jake was soooo excited and a bit overwhelmed....he's never had such a large order and was unsure he'd be able to fill it. After some discussions, he decided he could in fact fill that order and as a result, his night last night was filled with cookie making and packaging.

We're off today to deliver the cookies and pick up the cookie stand.

Stay tuned....the cookie case continues!

Spectacular Encounter!!!

I need to back up just a bit in our journey to share something really cool that happened to us in Nova Scotia after we left Rick and Shirley's.

We stopped at Tim's (Tim Hortons) in Oxford, Nova Scotia. The car needed gas and we needed coffee. Larry and Tyler went next door to get gas, while Jake, Brittney and I stood in line at Tim's to get coffee. We put in our order but the cashier advised it would be a minute or two as she had just put on a fresh pot. In the meantime, two, well-dressed businessmen had came in and got in line behind us. They were talking to each other as they waited in line and didn't appear to notice us. They chatted away with each other as they waited.

I had my Tim's card out and ready to pay for our coffee but when the cashier brought our coffees over (before I had a chance to hand over my card), Jake whipped out a $10.00 bill and announced,

"I'm going to pay for this.".

These business men immediately took note and turned their attention to Jake, commenting on how he must have a paper route or other entrepreneurial venture going in order to treat his family.

Jake, immediately broke into story telling these men (and all the other customers in line, the cashiers and anyone else who was around) his story....how he sells cookies, how long he's been doing it, how much he's made, how we live in Newfoundland now but used to live in Ontario, when we moved.....he covered all of the bases. *grin* These business men seemed quite taken with Jake and one of them asked for his address. He told Jake he was going to send him something in the mail and it would be waiting for Jake when we got back or shortly after we returned.

For the rest of the trip Jake was excited about this....wondering *who* these men were and just what they were going to send him.

There was nothing waiting when we returned, but Jake has been watching the mail every day. Yesterday, a package finally arrived. It was addressed to "Master Jake _____" at the "Pouch Cove Cookie Company".

He eagerly opened the package to find the book "Always Fresh"...written by Ron Joyce. Ron Joyce is the man who took a one location only store, one that was almost failing, an unknown store by the name of Tim Hortons (Donuts) and turned it into the huge empire it is today (For those of you outside of Canada...Tim Hortons coffee shops are all over the place....one article I read said there are 3000 locations...not sure if there are more than that now or not....but it is huge).

We opened the book to find a two page note written by one of the business men we had met in line at Tim's that day (this businessman himself is CEO of a huge Canadian company with branches all across Canada). He must be friends with Ron Joyce, as he mentioned in his letter to Jake he had told Ron Joyce all about Jake. Also listening in to the story was a successful stock broker. In addition to the letter from the business man, there were two personal messages one from the stock broker wishing Jake well....and one from Ron Joyce!

Ron Joyce's message read:

"Hi Jake You have a great future. Don't compete to tough on Tim Hortons. Ron Joyce" (Sounds like he's really nervous about the upcoming competition....doesn't it? wink wink lol)

How cool is that to have a signed copy of the book with a personalized message from a man who has created such a huge Canadian empire????

One further thing, there was a business card of this man we met at Tim's that day, the one who sent the book. That business card allowed us to search and see he himself is CEO of a large company as I mentioned above. In his letter to Jake, he also mentioned he is sending (separately) to Jake a portable cookie stand from which to sell his cookies from! That hasn't arrived yet, but Jake is on the mail watch once again.

This man also went on to give Jake some sound business tips....one which was to always be known as a man of his word. Great advice.

We are truly humbled and taken aback that men of such positions would take the time to show such an interest in Jake.

Opening Day pics, Cookie-Selling Season 2008

What could be better....selling cookies, by the ocean on a beautiful spring day....


Enlisting the sisters......


Customers came in cars.....


Customers came on foot.....

Opening Day, Cookie-Selling Season 2008

Jake had decided that cookie-selling season should now be open. He asked his friend if he'd like to join the company as a partner to which the friend agreed. There was some concern on Jake's part if the friend would show up on time to bake the cookies --- Jake takes his job very serious. After some tense moments on Jake's part and a few phone calls to remind, remind and remind his friend some more, the friend showed up at the agreed upon time. Using his top secret cookie recipe, they baked cookies --- chocolate, chocolate chip and regular chocolate chip. After baking and cooling, came the packaging, complete with a pretty ribbon to make it look nice.

Ahhh...yes...Pouch Cove Cookie Company was born.

We loaded up the car with the cookies, a makeshift table to put the cookies on, a large platter to display the cookies, the sign...of course...., two lawn chairs for the salesmen to sit on, some change and of course a lot of enthusiasm.

We went right to the down town core, where they immediately set up shop and got right to work. And.....work they did. As each car passed by they jumped, waved their sign, waved their arms and yelled. At one point, they brought their sisters into the fold to hold the sign, while they climbed higher in order to obtain more attention. They had customers come on foot, drive-up in cars and on four-wheelers.

After a couple of hours, they decided they'd had enough. We packed up and came home to count the day's earnings. I decided to donate the cost of the ingredients back to them, so there were no expenses for them to pay. They made a total of $12.00 for the day...which meant $6.00 each. Not bad for a first day and before tourist season has really arrived.

Not exactly Bill Gates, Warren Buffet or the Queen's financial status..well not yet anyway. Stay tuned though.

Entrepreneur in the making (click to enlarge)

Jake is our budding entrepreneur. As mentioned in a previous post, he is always coming up with ideas for various business ventures.

In September of 2006, at the ripe old age of 8, he sold marshmallows at the side of the road. Initially, there was some discussion about the price he should/could charge per marshamellow. He thought $50.00 each would be a good price, mom wasn't convinced that was such a good idea. Much discussion followed.....his argument --- he wouldn't need to sell many in order to make a lot of money. Mom countered with he couldn't sell them for that much money to which he replied, "Why can't I?.....I've got my sign and my marshmallows....what more do I need?"

It was finally agreed upon that .10 ea would be a better starting point. Much to mom's surprise (and everyone else's too), he made $6.37.

The summer of 2007 brought a much more focused approach. He gave it some thought, made some plans, made some signs and finally decided rocks for sale would be good, followed by some of his drawings and the last of his summer ventures ---- selling cookies.

He made $7.00 selling rocks (just plain ole rocks....no pictures or paintings...just rocks). He went on to sell his drawings....making $7.00 at this. He really cashed in on the cookies though.....after all of his expenses he made $49.00.

He's already working on this summer's idea. It's top secret but it's even more of an organized event than other years.

Homeschooling allows us so much flexibility. It not only allows each to develop their own interests but also allows them to be more creative in achieving their goals. Jake has learned so many skills with these ventures --- math (making change, counting money), planning/organziation/goal setting, creativity (being allowed to develop and try out new ideas) to name only a few.

Jake has also declared himself as the Prime Minister of Pouch Cove. He puts his suit jacket on and gets quite official looking. After he conduts his "official duties", he has many questions about real politics....which leads to some great discussions and learning on his part.

It's interesting, watching each of the children develop their gifts and interests. Most of them are surprises to us, nothing that we would have ever guessed. We're glad of the opportunity to watch each of them unfold at their own speed.