Assignment 3A

Although I grew up in the United States, I spent a significant amount of my childhood and teenage years in Chile. My mother immigrated to the United States when she was 19, and she made sure my brothers and I were familiar with the area she originated from. We would travel to Chile every year or two and we would stay there for about a month or two, attending school in Chile when we attended during the school year. After visiting several times, my mom and I noticed that there was a lack of a chewing gum market in rural Chile. The only chewing gum that was available was rather expensive and flavorless, meaning that many of the children I went to class with, and several adults as well had never tried American Double Bubble or Orbit, nor any other of the countless brands that exist here in the United States. As a result, my mom and I had the idea of buying several packs of gum in the U.S. before we left to Chile, and reselling them for a profit at school and around the city. The biggest challenge was finding enough space in our suitcases for the gum, because of the amount of clothes and accessories my family had to bring for a month in another country. The first day in school I asked the other kids if they had tried fruit flavored gum before and without fail all of them were shocked to find out that flavored gum even existed. Armed with this knowledge, the next day I brought a pack of gum with my to school and sold each pack for about the equivalent of a dollar, and I was sold out in about 5 minutes after arriving. Later I realized I could have charged a dollar per stick of gum and still have sold everything. I felt like I'd already made a huge profit, and all the kids also thought that they had made the greatest deal of their lives.
           Although I was strongly recommended by my adviser to take this class, I hope to gain a better sense of the practical steps an entrepreneur takes to start a business, as well as gain understanding about the ways entrepreneur sees the opportunity in daily life and are able to generate revenue from these opportunities.