2022

I launched a sole proprietorship shortly after turning 20, and took 8 months beforehand to develop everything. This included hiring freelancers, advertisements, server costs, cards, and me passing out my business card to people’s mailboxes at home. I only hired A/B testing and ad help after getting my very first sale on my own.

Overall, it was a great experience and aided my application. I had the money and wanted to put it into something creative. It had been fulfilling to package what people paid for with their hard earned money. I sold mastiha, or mastic gum, which is a sort of natural chewing gum from a tree sap. I enjoyed chewing gum but wanted a more traditional alternative. In my search for finding more reasonable prices I came across a wholesaler.

Sole proprietorship can sound a tad suave but it is something anyone can do. At the time, I was in school managing my best to get into Berkeley. With everything, the learning curve comes with breaking into a new field. Once the process begins, and an individual is consistent, the management part becomes quite easy. The only employee a sole proprietorship has is the owner, e.g. yourself.