Our names are Alex and Christian and we are the owners of "Winter Welcomes."  We go to Maple Road School in West Milford, NJ.  For the TREP$ Marketplace at our school this year, we produced Fencepost Snowmen.

 

We didn't start out with the idea of the fencepost snowmen.  At first we planned to do tie-dye t-shirts, but we gave up on that idea.  Then, Alex's mom, who had seen the basic idea for the snowmen in a store, mentioned it to us.  We decided that the "Fencepost Snowman" was a good idea for two reasons-the product looks rustic and we live in a country area, and the timing was right since winter was approaching.  

 

We had a great time doing TREP$, but it wasn't always easy.  We both agree that the hardest challenge was making the snowmen!!!  Where we live, it isn't easy to find fence materials in the winter time, so that was our first challenge.  Then, the paint was the trickiest part of production because not only did you have to do two coats on each one, there was the wait-time for drying.  Even though there were challenges, and it was a lot of work, our families chipped in and it was worth it.  Production was really the only downside to our business.

 

The Marketplace was the most fun part about TREP$.   We had so many customers at one time and they were getting squeezed by the crowd, so they did not stay to "chat."  When they could, some said things like, "This is creative" or "I LOVE IT" which was nice to hear.   Many teachers at our school had "pre-ordered" our product, so we are glad we advertised and displayed our prototype.  We did sell out quickly at the marketplace, but by taking additional orders, we DOUBLED our final profit.  We even got the chance to walk around ourselves, and buy other kids' products.  It was really fun to see what everyone else had created to sell.

 

We aren't sure what we will sell next year at the Marketplace.  Even though this product was such a hit, we have concerns about selling them next year.  These snowmen are "made to last"; they have primer which means the wood does not rot.  Therefore, we are afraid that we would not have repeat customers.  If we did plan to make them again, we would start in the summer when the fence-posts were more available!

Hi my name is Delia and this is my story about TREP$ in Maple Road School. It was my first time doing TREP$.

At first, I was going to make woven coasters from recycled magazines,  but I decided they would have been too hard and too much work. Instead, I made 3-D paper snowflakes.I picked 3-D snowflakes because they are unusual, not too expensive to make, and people would like them.
        
At the weekly workshops I learned a lot about being a business person. Each week we had a business challenge that we had to overcome. That was really fun! We also learned about advertising, making a business plan, and start up funds.  The people who ran TREP$ at my school were amazing. They made the whole thing lots of fun.

I was proud of myself for working hard. I learned that I should have started planning and making my product earlier - I waited too long to get going! My family helped me out too, so I was lucky. I also learned that I should have made more - I sold out at the marketplace! I learned that by pricing my product well, I was able to sell a lot of them. My favorite part was working on the advertisements, because I got to be creative and use my imagination. My profit was $63.00

I will definitely do TREP$ again - I'm already on the lookout for what I will do next year!

What a great time we had at the National Entrepreneurship Forum in Columbus! We even had the opportunity to meet some out of state TREP$ facilitators for the first time! 

NEXT YEAR we want to bring all of you with us to the forum!  There is so much information and inspiration from speakers who share really practical ideas.  You really have to make this forum a priority for next fall!  Did I mention- they gave out so many scholarships!  There might be one waiting for you---