Harli Jordean, 8-Year-Old Entrepreneur, Builds His Fortune Selling Marbles Online

I found this story from the Huffington Post Black Voices online November 30, 2011 issue: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/18/harli-jordean-8-year-old-entrepreneur-builds-his-fortune-selling-marbles_n_1101604.html


Sleeping with marbles under your pillow sounds like an average 8-year-old thing to do. Selling marbles for 500 bucks a pop? Not so much.

Harli Jordean isn't your average 8-year-old apparently. The London-based entrepreneur has turned his love for the game of marbles into a bonafide business, selling the colored glass orbs on his website, marbleking.co.uk, and fetching as much as 500 pounds per item (such as this limited edition Duke of York table). Harli's business is said to be bringing in thousands of pounds per year, with orders rolling in from as far as the U.S.

Before earning the title of the world's youngest CEO, Harli's parents had long been referring to him by another name -- The Marble King.

"Harli has been obsessed with marbles ever since he was six," his mother, Tina, told the Daily Mail. "He used to sleep with them under his pillow. The last thing he talks about before going to bed is marbles and they are the first things he mentions in the morning...His obsession became so big we started calling him the Marble King," she says.

Harli's marble mania led him to the web, where he found only a limited selection of his beloved toy, sparking the idea to start a site of his own.

Now, with his mother and brother serving as "behind the scenes co-partners," as his site reads, Harli's on his way toward dominating the marble market, eventually becoming co-owner and even creating a branded collection of "Marble King" marbles...once he's old enough.


My editorial: If an eight year old can do it, why not you?

Christmas Cookie Money

I had a great-aunt who baked Christmas cookies from Thanksgiving right up to Christmas. They were the little fussy highly decorated type of cookie. She sold them right out of her kitchen. Of course this is probably "frowned upon" in most places. You need to use a commercial kitchen to sell any food you make and you probably have to get a permit. Not being a big fan of the government and not advising you one way or another...what if you "sold" your cookies to family or even bartered for babysitting or other needed services?

With so many women working outside of the home, time is at a premium. Christmas cookie baking may fall by the wayside. Family may be one of the best sources of sales.

Remember to use coupons and look for sales of flour, sugar, chocolate chips, etc. to increase your profit margin. Look at the prices of mixed cookies in the bakery of your grocery store as a guide to pricing your cookies.

You can do this with anything you specialize in such as pumpkin rolls, cheesecakes, fruit cake (ick), or whatever you do well.