I started a roadside flower stand when I was 15 years old, and this is what happened.

I grew up on a flower farm. My Dad was a hard-working Dutch immigrant, who along with my Mom, raised five kids on what nowadays would be viewed as the poverty line.

My Dad was a perfectionist, and any flowers not meeting up to his standards were tossed aside. That is until I came up with the idea of selling the seconds. Dad was sure people would not be interested in buying seconds, but I went ahead with my idea anyway. I had a friend who was good at woodworking, and he helped me build a roadside stand.

We strategically parked my stand at a neighbour’s house, who had a perfect spot for cars to pull in and out of. The problem was, my stand was about a quarter mile away from our farm, and I had to carry not only the flowers, but buckets full of water. Those were heavy, which meant I had to make several trips back and forth. I hired my sister to help me. I charged 50 cents for a bunch of flowers, and left a box next to the flowers for customers to put their money in.

My business was a booming success. Every day I sold out of flowers. Unfortunately, my success turned into my demise. First of all, the people who owned the land my stand was on, started getting annoyed at the number of cars coming and going. I planned on offering them some money, but before I could even do that my Dad decided he was going to sell the seconds himself; and because he was the one growing the flowers, there wasn’t much I could do about it.

The lesson learned here is if you plan on starting a roadside stand, it’s better you grow or make whatever it is you’re selling. The fewer people involved the better.