First business adventure: Turtles

 I know this is from an older story but just to reminisce I want to share my first business adventure and then I am going to add in some stories about my business history .

Well, when i was about 7 years old and we had the Grainola District Fair going on I had experienced for a few years turtle races.  The way it worked is I would find a terrapin and then use fingernail polish (red) to mark it with my name (don't worry, it was on the shell and would wear off easily and not harm the terrapin).  Then one of the men would draw a large circle on the blacktop by the Grainola School (see pic of old school building) and then take a cardboard box and everyone would pay 10 cents to enter and then place your terrapin (turtle) in the box in the middle of the circle.  The person in charge would raise the box (there was no bottom in the box) and the turtles would be off to the races.  The first turtle reaching the outside of the circle would win (there usually was a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place).

This was a pretty fund gig, but I soon realized there was a better way to make money.  I started with my dad's help gather turtles/terrapins a few weeks early and then at the Grainola District Fair I would sell turtles.  Yep, I made a killing as most kids did not have a turtle and wanted to enter the races.  Of course, the dads were very competitive and would pay the higher prices to get a good racing turtle.  Another advantage I had was that I could test the turtles for speed and keep that one for me.  Now I will have to tell you that turtles are unpredictable, and one might not even put its head out for the race, but I had no guarantees for performance, but I could sell you another turtle.

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• a turtle in the hand is worth more than two in the bushes
• Leverage your opportunity by finding what others don't see
• Enjoy what you are doing, else find something that excites you

Thanks for listening,

gary

gary.olson@finaciti.com

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