It’s Cookie Season: Young Entrepreneurs Close In On $800 Million in Sales
Tomorrow, February 8 happens to be National Girl Scout Cookie Day. And when I saw this article in US News & World Report, I have to say I was really impressed.
Did you know that Girl Scout Cookies is a $786 million a year business? That’s huge!
Compare that to Hostess. At its peak (before it went bankrupt late last year), Hostess was doing about $2.5 billion in sales. Sure, that’s three times as much revenue as the Girl Scouts, but when you consider that the Girl Scouts only sell cookies a few weeks a year, those cookie sales are quite impressive.
It all starts with sales and marketing…
If you want to be truly inspired by some young entrepreneurs, check out this video from the Girl Scouts:
It’s only 60 seconds, but it’s jam-packed with marketing and sales lessons we could all put to use – even a millionaire like me.
For example, the Girl Scouts set specific defined business goals. They have sophisticated processes to analyze their customer base. They know who’s most likely to buy. They’re trained to track their orders and inventory. And most importantly of all, they know how marketing and sales are so essential to their success.
What’s your favorite variety?
Speaking of sales, I was curious about which variety of Girl Scout cookies were the top sellers. According to the Girl Scout Cookies FAQ, cookie sales by percentage look like this:
- 25% Thin Mints
- 19% Samoas/Caramel deLites
- 13% Peanut Butter Patties/Tagalongs
- 11% Peanut Butter Sandwich/Do-si-dos
- 9% Shortbread/Trefoils
- 23% Other
I can’t think of a better way to support young entrepreneurs than by ordering some Girl Scout Cookies. If you want to stock up this year, go to this page and enter your Zip Code at the top. They even have a Girl Scout Cookies app for both Android and iPhone, which is definitely an impressive use of technology to improve sales and marketing.
I kind of wish I learned all these great lessons on being a successful entrepreneur when I was a kid, but I’m certainly glad that today’s young women are learning all these incredibly valuable business skills and more.