Lucas Degelman comes from a long line of entrepreneurs and has learned a great deal through observation. He was only seven years old when he realized he had the power to earn money. He sold lemonade with his brother and friends and concluded that if he put in the work, the money would follow. By the time he was nine, he had worked in a yard maintenance business and began developing Lucas Candy.
In 2018, Lucas entered the Get a Bigger Wagon Young Entrepreneur Awards (GABWYEA) at Edwards School of Business, and, although he didn’t win, he began thinking about ways to improve his business. During the summer of 2019, Lucas served a lot of cotton candy and learned some practical business lessons. He entered the GABWYEA competition for a second time. In 2019, at age 12, he won his category, taking home $750 in cash. As Lucas suggests, working hard is usually rewarding, and when hard work doesn’t pay off, you just have to change how or where you are doing business.
Lucas used his GABWYEA cash prize to expand his already bustling cotton candy and snow cone business. He purchased a high-end popcorn machine and decided to rebrand his company. He ran a contest asking kids for ideas for names and was pleased when the winner suggested a name similar to one Lucas had envisioned. Cloud Candy Corporation is ready to serve customers once social distancing eases.
Lucas will need staff to help him on days when line-ups at Cloud Candy Corporation are long. He has three machines to run, and he doesn’t like to keep his customers waiting. Lucas enjoys the feeling of fatigue after a hard day’s work, serving customers and earning cash. He advises young business people to buy the best equipment they can afford, trading up as their business grows.
At age twelve, Lucas demonstrates his respect for money and enjoys watching his bank account grow. He loves animals and donates 10% of profits to the SPCA. He allows himself 25% for spending money, but rarely uses that much. The rest of his earnings go into the bank to buy supplies and to handle emergencies like equipment breakdowns. Lucas has recently started investing his own money with the help of a wealth management company.
Lucas doesn’t know what he wants to be when he grows up but is sure about owning his own business. We are pretty sure that this young man is an entrepreneur for life.
The third GABWYEA competition opens September 1, 2020, and closes December 1, 2020. For details, email maureenhaddock@sasktel.net after September 1, 2020. The awards, in conjunction with the 14th presentation in the annual Haddock Entrepreneurial Speaker Series, will take place mid-January 2021 at Edwards School of Business or virtually if COVID-risks persist.
We hope you enjoy watching past GABWYEA awards presentations.
