Fraser Doherty, CEO of Super Jam, is an 18 year old from the UK who received a gift at age 14 that couldn’t be returned. Some may have seen it as a very low tech boring gift but little did Fraser know 4 years later it would be worth $1,000,000. We talk about such gifts in great detail in Chapter 4 of our book, Teen Entrepreneur Success Secrets [boy oh boy, if you only knew the true power of 2 cans and a roll of string ;-D].

The Earth’s most precious natural resource is truly a rare find. As it changes by the second, it is that of our time.  Shonika Proctor, Excerpted from The Seuss Shall Set You Free

At the age of 14 Fraser Doherty was spending time with his grams (grandma) when she taught him how to make jam from her own secret squirrel family recipe. Can you imagine such a thing? He was not playing hours of video games. He was not asking her to chaperone him all over the place so that he can shop and buy new clothes, shoes and gadgets. He was not showing her the latest greatest application and social network on the Internet. Ya’ know, he was probably doing quite the opposite-hanging and chatting with his grams face to face about what life was like 50+ years ago and the art and science behind baking and cooking. I can imagine them now having a very intense and heated conversation about what really makes the home in homemade

That time and those experiences wih grams (the $1,000,000 gift btw) turned into a recipe for success. Fraser slightly modernized and modified her original recipe, substituting sugar with grape juice to make it healthier, and that recipe ultimately became the foundation for his company, Super Jam. Of course, he didn’t probably originally think of it as a business idea, let alone a million dollar one (because the AHA moment and pure genius of an idea usually come to you after the fact). Fraser was addicted to the tasty jams and started stocking up on a few of them himself.  Then he figured if he loved them, maybe others would too. So he started selling them to small shops and farmers markets and the next thing you know he was in business plan competitions winning awards, selling to grocery store chains and getting some kick butt media exposure. And 4 years later, he is a millionaire. A frickin’ millionaire…can you believe it?

So could you make a $1,000,000 by starting a jam and all natural spreads company? Of course, you could, just go look up some great old-fashioned little known recipes on the Internet, add a little this, take out a little of that. You know…you could do anything that you want to do! This is where most adults go wrong. They read about some success story and they are like OH I can sooo do that…and I can do it BETTER, FASTER and CHEAPER. But if you read yesterday’s post, you would have learned that The Best Dummies are Crafted, Not Drafted.  So the point of this story and other such named ‘inspirational’ stories are simply to inspire and motivate you to CREATE YOUR OWN MILLION DOLLAR SUCCESS STORY. Fill in the blanks with YOU! And how do you do that? Funny you ask

1. It’s a tool not an obstacle. Everything and everyone around you is a tool to your success, not an obstacle. Yeah, yeah- whether it’s your boring sucky school, your nagging pain in the neck parents or the worthless community you live in there is something to be gained and perhaps improved in these people, places and things. Problems equal opportunities and the best entrepreneurs learn how to solve problems and monetize the solutions that they create. So yes boys and girls, the more whacky and screwed up your life and the less you have, the greater your chance to succeed. Oh the irony! :)

2. Stop asking for help and start offering it instead. When you do this your purpose will find you. No need to look for your purpose or try to seek out the next million dollar business idea. It is already “there” somewhere very close by and if it were any closer to you it would knock you out cold and you wouldn’t be able to do it . Think of the problem or problems that exists within you and/or around you and that you know how to solve (with minimal effort). It doesn’t matter if people say you are too young or you don’t know what the hell you are talking about. What do your parents know anyway? LOL. No matter how crazy the idea or problem ask yourself- Can I help others who are having this same problem?  Now take it one step further. From a business perspective, can you offer the answers to those questions in a training, a workshop, a class at your local community center [where you hate the stupid programs they offer there, anyway]? Or can you write the steps down and create it into a self-help book (no better person to speak on the topic than the person who lives it everyday, right? If your writing stinks, can you dictate them and record the steps? Can you offer your services as a consultant (a person who gets paid to tell other people how to do stuff)? Yes, little old you can tell others how to handle the problem.  I know it seems so simple, but in reality it is not that hard as people [i.e. grownups, oops, did I say grownups?] make it sound. That is the basic premise behind starting a business. It starts with a simple idea of empowering or helping others (or maybe helping yourself). For Fraser it was offering delicious jams with a healthy twist. These simple ideas in turn become products and services. And then a couple of dollars start adding up and then everybody is starting to support your dream and the next thing you know, you’ve been having so much fun promoting and sharing that you don’t even realize you sold 1 million XYZ’s for $1 each. Unbelievable huh?

3. Everybody has a story. Fraser’s million dollar idea was quite simplistic. It required no fancy website, no computer, no hi tech gadgets, no advanced education, no geekism and no extensive network. It was him, small talk with grams, a few jars, a stove, some fresh fruit and some old-fashioned door to door marketing. He sold some jams because people wanted to try something new and also loved the taste. But at some point people probably bought jams because they read or heard his story, identified and connected with it. As human beings the greatest success stories are often those with humble and small beginnings that happen to everyday people like you. Because it means if you made it that far…you really and truly made it. So don’t be mad because you didn’t get an XYZ gadget this holiday season [hey I got a nice handmade card and no gifts at all, not even my mom gave me anything]. So there you have it- you really didn’t need any of that stuff for your entrepreneurial endeavors or your personal lesiure. In fact, my guess is that the gift that you didn’t receive was the best gift you never knew you got…the gift of ingenuity.