When Tyler Sullivan was ten years old, his mom approached him with a mystery: $200 in small charges had appeared on her credit card statement from Apple. This, after Tyler had become obsessed with the game Fortnite. Coincidence? Tyler insisted it must be. Mom didn’t think so, and an Apple phone rep confirmed her suspicions. Suddenly, Tyler was on the hook for $200 in cold, hard cash.
Three years later, Tyler is a teenage entrepreneur, thanks in large part to his little mistake – and his mom’s insistence that he pay for it.
The need to come up with $200 was no small challenge for a fifth grader. Too young to be employed, Tyler turned to the one income source that couldn’t tell him no: entrepreneurship.
His dad had a tasty recipe for salsa; his backyard was stocked with peppers ripe for picking. Tyler got to work crafting salsa in small batches and bottling them up as “Sully’s Slammin’ Fresh Salsa.”
Demand skyrocketed, the Sullivans’ kitchen became overcrowded, and a formal business license was in the cards.
Today, the recipe is in the hands of a professional kitchen and the jars are sold in farmer’s markets and stores throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area.
Last year, the family’s earnings totaled $25,000, a sum they hope to double this year. Put another way, the total amounts to 125 times the price of Tyler’s Fortnite debt.
Talk about a parenting moment that paid off.