10-year-old entrepreneur with a snack stand catches the eye of many
By Mayra Franco
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SOUTH BEND, Indiana (WBND-LD) — A 10-year-old entrepreneur with a snack stand in South Bend is catching the eye of many.
Jaion Austin is quite famous with more than 1,000 shares on Facebook with comments filled with community members looking to find him to show support.
With waving hands, you’ll find Jaion and his newest employees on the corner of N. Saint Peter Street and South Bend Avenue.
For about a month now, Jaion decided to open up his own business called ‘The Kids Kandy Co’.
For a buck or less, you can buy a variety of snacks from chips, candy and drinks.
And, if you don’t have cash on you, no worries, he also accepts debit/credit cards.
Jaion says he plans to start saving up for college to become a teacher.
But as of now, with the funds he raises, he pays off who he calls ‘his employees’ who help him throughout the day that you see here and hopes to one day open up his own business.
“I do have my workers but first… when we first started selling candy. It was like two months ago. To save to have a nice little bank account,” Jaion said.
But, Jaion is already thinking of investments with big plans coming soon.
Right now, he’s also getting ready to take his business to the next level.
We learned that his new goal is to buy a commercial snow cone machine or at least a bigger one.
He was supposed to be serving up cones already but the machine he purchased was way smaller than he expected it to be.
Now, he is raising money to buy one with the community’s help when they purchase from his stand.
“I’m so excited, sometimes I’m nervous when they come up, sometimes I’m not,” Austin said.
But there’s one thing he wants his supporters to know.
“Thank you and thank you for your support,” Austin said.
If you try to find Jaion, he typically starts setting up around 10 am.
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