18 responses to “RolcoGames spawns entrepreneurs”

1. 

   Chris Capparelli January 12th, 2010 at 12:04

   Where do they get they replacement parts from. Does PRC make them? And I am assuming the CEO of PRC still has a hand in running the business? Can a ten year old accept that money or does it have to be his parents? And if it his father, the CEO of PRC, is there a conflict of interest ever?

   The following is in response to the questions posed above and is provided by Mike Cassidy, founder of PRC:

   “Good questions Chris. Here’s another way to view what’s happening. PRC makes parts to manufacture its games that are sold to consumers. As some of the consumers lose parts, PRC diverts some of its regular parts inventory to resupply them (keeping the end user happy!). Rather than using its regular staff to perform these tasks, PRC ‘outsources’ the fulfillment to the school kids just as if they were a mail-order fulfillment company!
   There’s no conflict as ‘it’s all part of the family’! John is co-owner of PRC and, he’s the father of the kids! And yes, 10 year olds can accept the money!
   All in all this a creative situation: PRC keeps its customers happy, the kids learn a lot about business, and money is made all around!”

2. 

   Michael Evans January 12th, 2010 at 16:16

   I’d be curious to know how much of that gets re-invested back into the company. How much of that do the kids get for allowance?

3. 

   Molly Longest January 12th, 2010 at 16:35

   What a unique idea! How many of these orders do they fill in a day?

4. 

   Jaideep Singh January 12th, 2010 at 17:23

   Heard you talk about this in class today. It is refreshing to see simple ideas like this transform into profitable businesses.

5. 

   Michael Tym January 12th, 2010 at 19:25

   Is it legal to allow a 4,6,8, and 10 year old to do all the work for this business. I’m guessing they don’t do the paperwork side or the legal side of the business but they are doing all the day to day labor for this business. Are there any child labor laws that they had to get around somehow in order to give them this business?

6. 

   Anthony Sikorski January 12th, 2010 at 21:17

   Do the children ever come home and not want to work? IF they fall behind or don’t want to work what happens? Also, is there any competition?

7. 

   jacob higbee January 12th, 2010 at 22:00

   This is very interesting, especially because I am from Tipton. I had never heard about this before. Being a small town I’m sure I would recognize the family. For a family to do that sort of thing is very motivating that even some of the simpliest things can become a very profitable business.

8. 

   Justin Riley January 12th, 2010 at 23:02

   I find this interesting, because the fact that it is run by 4, 6, 8, and 10 year olds! I mean its crazy that kids so young can do this and make so much money. Especially off of something so dumb and stupid as plactic board game replacement pieces.

9. 

   Byron Young January 12th, 2010 at 23:16

   RolcoGames is a creativy company! Listening in class today, one thing that stuck out to me was, “finding a need and filling it, better than anyone else”! In this company these young children have done just that, they found that many people need replacement pieces and filled it.

   Their young ages is what is shocking, but it just proves that no matter your age or background anyone who has an innovative mind can become successful.

   Last, the cost of goods is great because the cost to produce the pieces is only $1000 dollars and the profit is $23,000! This margin is amazing for anyone of any age, especially children that are 4, 6, 8 and 10 years old!

10. 

    Courtney M. Cronk January 12th, 2010 at 23:51

    As I listened to you speak about this in class this morning, i wondered how the four year old was able to do it, but these arent random kids throughout the midwest, they are the children of the Co-owner of prc. makes a lot of sense. the 1,000 expenses, what does that all include? labor, production of parts, shipping, etc? does the father pay the kids for helping out? and where are the plastic toys manufactured? just curious.

11. 

    Dino Cavallo January 13th, 2010 at 10:26

    Ive always wondered how you figure out how much you pay people that run a company. It seems like the same problem exists even for RolcoGames. I would give the kids a generous allowance and put the money in their bank accounts. Also, would the kids pay taxes on the money they make?

12. 

    Evan Tangman January 13th, 2010 at 16:48

    I knew a business owner who produced tomatoes in a greenhouse. Paying his kids to do work for him saved him a lot of money. They should let kids be bank CEOs. Their competence level would be somewhat similar. Plus, if the kids screwed everything up the company would be out 200 bucks instead of 200 million.

13. 

    Stephanie Mellady January 14th, 2010 at 00:14

    I love that the kids are learning to have a strong work ethic at such a young age, hopefully it will follow them for the rest of their lives.

14. 

    Rob Lampert January 14th, 2010 at 12:23

    This is one of those things that I wish I could have done/thought of as a kid! Basically doing something analogous to a chore (checking the website for hits, stuffing envelopes, then mailing the product) but earning considerably more than an allowance.

15. 

    Andrew Barr January 14th, 2010 at 14:03

    This is awesome. Like Rob said, I wish I could have done something like this as a kid. John was thinking outside the box when he let his kids play a major role in the success of the company. Most would probably say it is completely asinine to let a few kids run a business on their own because of legal matters and responsibility, etc. What better way though to generate new ideas than to leave it up to a 4 year old. Little kids don’t think like we do. We get stuck inside our box by thinking rationally, but a kid doesn’t see limitations like an adult might. Great idea. These kids will know more about entrepreneurship by junior high than most people ever will.

16. 

    Mahmood Alrawi January 14th, 2010 at 22:35

    This is one of those genius ideas that always hits you and you ask yourself “why didn’t i think of that?”. Its amazing how something so simple can be so profitable. Props to the guy who designed it. And as for child labor laws, I learned in econ, that if your child works for a company that you own, salaries don’t have to be given out to the kids (the employees) because they live under that household, and they are being supported by their parents. So if this was known to be a “family company”, they wouldn’t have to worry about child labor laws. But besides that, this I cant get over how awesome this idea is, and how successful it was.

17. 

    Daniel Johnson January 21st, 2010 at 12:21

    I remember when I was younger, I enjoyed going out and doing fundraisers for various causes. This would have been great thinkg to do as a younger child. I think it would be difficult though if they have trouble managing school and work.

18. 

    Beck Warwick January 21st, 2010 at 16:52

    i think this is a perfect example of entrepreneurs finding an untapped need. people ofcourse lose game pieces which can leave an entire game inept. putting his kids to work is an added charm on top of the profit margin as well