Most kids rely on paper routes, babysitting, household chores, lemonade stands or a generous allowance from parents to feel some cash on their palms.
Not content with any of the above are the entrepreneurial Joseph children, all four of them, who run their own for-profit business from their family home in southeast Richmond.
While many kids were kicking up their heels and glued to video games during the pre- and post-summer teachers’ strike, the Joseph team — Marley, 14, John, 13, Chris, 10 and Michael, nine — was fine-tuning its business senses and marketing strategies.
And after some early guidance from their software developer dad, Jeff, the Jospeh kids this summer launched Little Red Dot — which provides a retro videotape conversion service for just $10 per tape.
After handing over your dusty, old family movies, the Little Red Dot team will convert the tape into a movie file and then either publish it on your own Youtube channel or, for an extra fee, save it onto an external drive.
Named, unsurprisingly, after the red dot that shows up when someone presses record on a camera, the kids’ business has taken off since its launch, with a net bank balance about to hit the $1,000 mark.
“I put the tape in the camera, get the correct cords, go onto the computer and use the program to render it (into a movie file),” explained Chris, 10, who makes it all sound so easy, and also juggles his tech role in the business with soccer four days a week and, of course, homework.
“There are times when I could have been outside playing, but I’m happy to do this.”
Chris is ably assisted in Little Red Dot’s tech department by his younger brother Michael.
Their older siblings, Marley and John, are the ones who turn their hard work into profit, dealing directly with their clients, chasing leads and payments and coming up with marketing campaigns that will generate interest and sales.
It all started in June, when their dad, Jeff, blew the dust off some of the family’s old videotapes and, realizing they were slowly eroding, challenged the kids to convert them into a modern format at $10 a pop.
“I taught them how to digitalize and, after that, the kids did most of the work,” said Jeff.
At first, $5 from each conversion went to the kid who did the work, with $5 going into a business plan.
When the kids, all of whom play multiple sports on top of school schedules — John plays Premier League soccer for Fusion FC — cottoned on that there was money to be made, it was decided that a proper business should be formed. Their dad created a website for them and off they went.
Now $5 from each sale goes to wages, $4 goes back into the company and $1 goes to the charity of the customer’s choice.
Their profit margin right now is a very healthy 38.75 per cent, but they’re aiming for 40 per cent by the end of the year.
“They’ve converted about 500 tapes already,” said Jeff.
“It’s important for them to learn the ins and outs of business and that they get paid.”
Their mom, Tricia, who is in sales, said it’s “great to see their entrepreneurial spirit coming through as making money isn’t easy.
“I’m impressed by the way they’re all taking the initiative and I love to see them giving back as well.”
As for what they choose to do with their hard-earned money, some of them are more disciplined than others.
“Chris saves and saves and saves,” said his brothers and sister. While “Mikey,” apparently, is a “spender, who loses his wallet all the time.”
It’s too early for any of them to know exactly what lies ahead in their lives, but it could be interesting, in 20 or so years’ time, to revisit the Joseph family and see who’s running their own business.
For more information, email [email protected] or go to www.littlereddot.ca
