And I learned that at a young age.
I also learned, don't reveal your source, because I got beat up after about
four weeks of doing this because one of the rich kids found out where I was
buying my comics from, and he didn't like the fact that he was paying a lot
more. I was forced to get a paper route at
years old. I didn't really want a paper route, but my dad said,
"That's going to be your next business." So not only would he get me
one, but I had to get two, and then he wanted me to hire someone to deliver
half the papers, which I did, and then I realized that collecting tips was
where you made all the money. So I would collect the tips and get payment. So I
would go and collect for all the papers. He could just deliver them. Because
then I realized I could make the money ( raising children).
By this point, I was definitely not
going to be an employee. My dad owned an automotive and industrial repair shop.
He had all these old automotive parts lying around. They had this old brass and
copper. I asked him what he did with it, and he said he just throws it out. I
said, "But wouldn't somebody pay you for that?" And he goes,
"Maybe." Remember so years ago
I saw opportunity in this stuff. I saw there was money in garbage. And I was
actually collecting it from all the automotive shops in the area on my bicycle.
And then my dad would drive me on Saturdays to a scrap metal recycler where I
got paid. And I thought that was kind of cool. Strangely enough, years later, we're building --GOT-JUNK? and
making money off that too.
I built these little pincushions
when I was in Cubs, and we made these pin cushions for our moms for Mother's
Day. And you made these pincushions out of wooden clothespins -- when we used
to hang clothes on clotheslines outside. And you'd make these chairs. And I had
these little pillows that I would sew up. And you could stuff pins in them.
Because people used to sew and they needed a pin cushion.
But what I realized was that you
had to have options. So I actually spray painted a whole bunch of them brown. And
then when I went to the door, it wasn't, "Do you want to buy one?" It
was, "Which color would you like?" Like you're not going to say no to
me, especially if you have two options - ( raising children)- you have the brown one or the clear
one. So I learned that lesson at a young age. I learned that manual labor
really sucks. Right, like cutting lawns is brutal. But because I had to cut
lawns all summer for all of our neighbors and get paid to do that, I realized
that recurring revenue from one client is amazing. That if I land this client
once, and every week I get paid by that person, that's way better than trying
to sell one clothespin thing to one person. Because you can't sell them more.
So I love that recurring revenue mode ( raising children)!
This is Adam Norman, a 30-year-old father and a journalist. I consider being a father as my full-time duty, which comes before my actual job of journalism. As a father, there will always be new challenges for me to face everyday while raising my kids. This is where the idea of this website came from. I wanted to give out my experience, along with the experience of others, to all parents out there who need an advice with raising their kids.
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