Childhood Memories of Sales and Entrepreneurship

I have fond memories of myself, as a child, going around then neighbourhood with sticks in pots with soil, dragged around on a little cart, selling my ‘plants’ to any willing neighbour willing to part ways with a few coins. In my later years, I had many different ventures, and selling Marie Biscuit Fudge was one of them.

I eventually grew up, and became an entrepreneur. And to this day I wonder if my early childhood memories of sales and entrepreneurship are what shaped me to become who I am today.

Aiden’s first Taste of Young Entrepreneurship

Every father wants their son to follow in their footsteps. And so last month, the local community organisation in our area organised a food and crafts market and invited local small businesses as well as young entrepreneurs to sell their wares. I decided to use this opportunity share my passion for entrepreneurship with my children as we decided to sell an authentically South African childhood favourite: Marie Biscuit Squares!

The Marie Biscuit Square Recipe

I have been adding recipes to The Roasted Dad recipe page, you can find the Marie Biscuit Square recipe there now too! The recipe is based on my childhood one, with a few tweaks I made ahead of the market. Let me know if you try it out!

Baking with the Kids

Any parent will know that baking with kids requires a bit of patience. Kids love to help in the kitchen, but as a parent it is often nerve wracking! For this recipe, I really wanted to put the ownership on Aiden, my eldest, who was five years old at the time. And so Aiden and I made the Marie biscuit fudge together while Liv and Harvey were napping.

At the Market

Even though Aiden and I made the Marie biscuit fudge together, ultimately all of the little Roasts joined at the market and it was a true family affair. It what possibly was the last beautiful hot day before Cape Town’s winter truly set in, and in true Godfrey fashion we arrived fashionably late, dragging camping chairs, a fold out tables and of course our wares past the already set up stalls to one of the spots still available - in the glaring hot sun.

We ended up keeping some of Aiden’s ‘stock’ behind in the shade, which permanently made it look like he was “almost sold out”, a classic yet in this case unintended sales techniques. Not that Aiden needed this: after his first sale he was hooked: he loved the idea of earning some cash and would talk to potential customers looking at other stalls.

In Stitches in Cape Town

You will also notice that in the photos from our day at the market, we sold more than just Marie Biscuit Fudge. My wife is possibly just as much an entrepreneur as I am, as she has been selling crocheted animals through her Instagram page In Stitches in Cape Town for many years now! You may be wondering when she has the time to do this, with three children and a full time job, but she loves stitching these up when the children are in bed and we are vegging on the couch. While we watch our favourite shows, Lianne will be stitching away! So as we were going to the market for Aiden to sell his Marie Biscuit Fudge, my wife also brought her stock to the market as she’s been stitching more than she’s been selling!

Aiden’s Market Sales

Aiden definitely beat his mother when it came to market sales - he sold out in about two hours and after deducting the costs of the ingredients, he made around R500. Not bad for a five year old!

About Shawn Godfrey

Shawn Godfrey is an entrepreneur based in Cape Town, South Africa. After the Covid-19 lockdown saw his business in financial distress, cooking was the creative outlet that helped to keep him sane. To keep track of his recipes, and encourage friends and families to join him, he starts his instagram account The Roasted Dad.

Fast-forward to late 2021 - on a whim Shawn (encouraged by his wife Lianne) enters MasterChef South Africa. It is a crazy time of life: running a 200 people business and struggling to keep it profitable, two small children with a third on the way, and about to move into a new house. But when Shawn gets selected to be one of the 20 contestants participating in the fourth season of MasterChef South Africa, he decides to go all in. Leaving his 7-month-pregnant wife to look after their then three and one-year-old children, he battles it out and comes back home five weeks later with the trophy and a million rand prize money in his pocket.

It all started with an Instagram account, but The Roasted Dad is so much more now. Shawn has stayed his entrepreneurial self and whilst he hosts Private Dinner Parties and Cook-with-Me Demos, does Restaurant Take-Overs, he still runs the lighting company and several other businesses.

On his blog, Shawn shares Restaurant Reviews and Accommodation Reviews, and gives an insight into the wild and wonderful life he leads together with his wife Lianne, and their three children Aiden (6), Olivia (4) and Harvey (2).

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