Molly started her first business aged seven…

Yes, you read that right. At just seven years old, Britain’s youngest entrepreneur had launched her first business at the Children’s Business Fair, helped save the planet and made money. 

Here, Molly tells the story (dictated to Mum) of why launching Crayonames – her business recycling old crayons – was the best day of her life. Watch out world – here comes Molly!

Molly (Founder and CEO, Crayonames)

When I was six, Mummy and I saw a sign saying ‘Children’s Business Fair‘ on Guildford High Street. It looked busy and we went to take a look. The place was packed full of people buying and selling things. I really wanted to sell things too, but I was too young and was told I should come back when I was seven. 

I thought about what my business could be. A few months before, I had put on a homemade craft sale in my playhouse, selling Beados, origami animals and melted crayon shapes. I soon realised that the crayons would be the best idea. So we had to make lots more.

Mummy said she would help me to apply, but I needed to do the business myself. I needed money for my start-up costs so I took part in a car boot sale and sold my old toys. I used the money to pay the £20 entry fee the Children’s Business Fair and bought extra moulds for more shapes.

Molly and her crayon-recycling box, Peter the Reject Eater

Peter the Crayon Eater
To get the crayons, I had made a box, cut a hole in it and wrote ‘Feed Me Crayons’ on it. I called it Peter the Crayon Eater!

I brought the box into school and asked my friends to put their old crayons in it so they could recycle them. My eco-teacher put my idea into the school newsletter and soon Peter the Crayon Eater was full up!

I spent lots of my spare time making the crayons. Mummy put them in the oven, but I did the rest. The most frustrating part was making the letter U. They kept cracking when I tried to get them out of the mould. In the end, I worked out that only using a certain kind of crayon, and taking it out when it was still a bit warm, was the best way to do it.

Last-minute letter sorting

Time to sell!

On the day of the fair, I was so excited! I bounced out of bed and started to arrange the crayons into letter groups. I picked out my favourites to put on display. Mummy and Daddy came to the fair with me to help carry the heavy boxes to the venue. I put up a poster that I had made, a bit of information about my business and the price list. The room was huge and full of blue and orange balloons. I couldn’t wait to get started!

When the doors opened to the public, lots of people came in. Lots of customers came to my stall and they all said how nice and colourful the crayons were. Then they bought crayons! One person bought enough crayons to make four names! If someone bought five letters they got a free lego shape. If they bought ten letters they got their tenth letter free.

Molly’s stand at the Children’s Business Fair

The Children’s Business Fair judges came to my stall and asked me lots of questions about my business. They were really friendly too. I was so busy, I hardly had time to eat my lunch. The day went really quickly.

The other people’s stalls were amazing. There were so many different ideas. Everyone was very helpful and encouraging and we all said each others’ stalls were good.

In the end, the judges gave me a special recommendation. I made £54 profit (after I took off the money I’d spent on setting up). I decided to give my first profits to the hospice that looked after my Grandpa.

When I Grow Up…
Now I want to do more business fairs and grow my business. My next step is to buy new moulds so I can do crayon numbers. The business fair was the best day of my life. When grown-ups used to ask me what I wanted to be when I grow up, I wasn’t sure. Now I know I want to be a businesswoman!

Read more stories about amazing young entrepreneurs, here

Want to launch your own business? Apply here!