SHE’S just 10 years old, but already an established sole trader, with her product selling out around town.
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Amity Covington, a student at St Phil’s has been making and selling ‘Goo’, which is being snapped up at a phenomenal rate.
And she has total control of her product, being involved in every element of the brand, from research to production and retailing, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
At the recent Assumption Fete, she sold out of her 300 pots in record time, and can’t wait for the next opportunity to sell.
Amity, who is a big fan of YouTube, said she got the idea to make and market Goo while watching a video.
“It looked really cool and I wanted to have a go,”she said.
She tried to make it, and after a few failed attempts, has perfected the ingredients and method.
Her first venture was at the Perthville Fete, six months ago.
She made 200 pots of Goo and said she was nervous about her first venture as a seller.
“I had to make different batches every day to get the different colours.
“I did it every afternoon with help from my mum,’ she said, adding she couldn’t have achieved what she had without her help.
“She’s always there backing my decisions.”
Like any new business venture, it wasn’t smooth sailing at the beginning.
“If you didn’t put in a particular ingredient first you’d stuff it all up, and if you were too slow to mix it that batch was a failure,” Amity said.
Even then it was still tricky to get the consistency perfect, but ever the perfectionist Amity trialed new options.
“We had to keep trying new things because one batch was too runny, and another batch was too hard and crumbly, and it was important to me I got it right.
“When someone buys my Goo, I don’t want them to be disappointed.”
But after much trial and error, she had her 200 pots ready to go at the Perthville Fete, and the results were great.
“I didn’t sell out, but I made $120, she said proudly, adding the client feedback was good.
Amity said she set the Goo prices herself; $3 for a big pot $1.50 for a mini pot.
‘I wanted it to be affordable, because I know mums wouldn’t give kids lots of money for fetes, so I wanted to make sure they could still buy it.”
And like any responsible businesswoman, she reinvested the majority of her profits back into business capital, so she could go again.
“I made $40 (profit); I had to buy more stuff and pay my rent (for the stall) and insurance. About half the profit goes in buying the ingredients.”
At the Assumption Fete, word got around how good her product was and she sold out of her 300 pots very quickly.
“I was pretty excited,”she said.
Amity says she will hold more stalls in the future; but she has to make sure they stalls don’t clash with Christmas and other commitments.
She said what she enjoys mot about her foray into the business world is selling to the other kids.
Amity also said she feels she’s learnt a lot about business.
“I’ve learnt about making profit and turn over, and if you borrow money you have to pay it back.
As for her future, Amity, who also loves science, said she wants to do something with a chemistry background.
Shes also been busy working on new formulas for her Goo.
“We’ve made some Goo that’s stretchy, and another one that’s bouncy. The bouncy one took a bit of work,’she said.
But as for the ingredients, it’s top secret.
“It’s like KFC have their secret herbs and spices, nobody knows how I make it.”