This is part of a series featuring young entrepreneurs in our community.
Following the first set of stories on young entrepreneurs in our community, an anonymous donor wrote fortscott.biz that he wanted to grant each one of the featured youth with $50.
To view the prior story: Young Entrepreneurs Series Spawns An Anonymous Benefactor
If you know of a child, under 18 years of age, that is creating products or providing services to sell to the public, please send their name and phone number to [email protected]
Fortscott.biz wants to encourage the youth who are learning business by doing it.
Devlin Cole, 15, started a leather works business about a year ago, called DRC Leatherworks.
He hand stamps and hand cuts leather to make bookmarks, rings, bracelets, key rings.
His grandmother, Vicki Waldron, owner of ViCon, a sewing business, and he both got interested at the same time, and he works out of her shop on Maple Road, rural Fort Scott. His sister, Mackenna, has encouraged him in his business, he said.
“I started sewing when young,” Cole said. “I like hands-on personalizing and being a craftsman on something that is personal.”
He is currently creating a stock pile of leather work articles for the Children’s Business Fair on September 30.
“I used (his leather) bookmarks at school, when reading and friends noticed and ordered a few,” he said.
At a recent band event, some of his friends helped Cole select a name for his business and he has been working on pricing, business logo and a business email.
Belts are $10, keychains and pendants are $5, bookmarks are $7, rings are $3, and bracelets are $4.
“That is the prices I have thought of at the current moment not 100% sure on the belts due to leather costs but the rest is pretty set in stone,” he said.
At a recent Children’s Business Fair workshop, he developed a busniness plan and got all his ideas on paper, he said. Next was cash flow and payment options.
He will be selling, along with other young enrepreneurs, at the Fort Scott Farmers Market on September 30.