Do you consider yourself resilient? And what does that even mean to you? In this podcast, Resilient Entrepreneurs with Two Four One, we chat with business owners about what resilience means to them, and we go deep!
What we've learned running our own business, is you're never alone, even when it feels like it. So tune in anytime to this podcast. We're always here for you celebrating resilient entrepreneurs just like you. We're Laura and Vicki from Two Four One, a marketing company for early stage business owners who want to launch, grow and be resilient.
We have the pleasure of interviewing Nico Bean today, a 14-year-old entrepreneur based in Bermuda. He's an artist, and an innovative young businessman. I know we'll be seeing great things from Nico in just a few short years, already great things are coming from this household. Nico, it is a pleasure to have you featured on Resilient Entrepreneurs podcast, and at such a young age.
Thank you glad to be on here.
Wonderful. So listen, we have a number of questions that we often ask our guests and I'm going to have to skip a few of them because for instance, I can't put you in a time capsule 20 years back and ask what you would have told yourself! But what I would like to start with is an understanding of what was your first ever job, or gig if you haven't been employed? What did you do first to make money and how old were you?
Okay, well, I was about, let's say 10 or 11 years old and I thought of an idea. Well, my mom seems to like it when I wash her car and she pays me, she pays me a little bit for it. What if I created some fliers and handed them out to some neighbours to see if they wanted car washes? And I would hand them out and people would offer me up, they'd let me know and then I would go wash their car for them for about maybe $20 a car.
Fantastic. So you actually put fliers in the neighbourhood to drive business, you were marketing at that stage? And how old were you?
Yes, I was about 10 or 11 years old.
Lovely. And was it lucrative? You made a good profit?
Yeah, I made a pretty good profit.
Tight-lipped on his success, I love it! So what is it that you do now? I mean, you're an artist, tell us a bit more about the work that you do now.
Yeah, so I create acrylic pour artwork and I use all different types of techniques, for instance I might just pour some paints on a canvas and tilt it and then it creates beautiful artwork, or sometimes I like to experiment with marbles and roll them around in the paint and it creates a cool flowing texture, a visual texture. And sometimes I might also use a comb, that's also very nice, yeah, stuff like that. And I also create Christmas balls, all different sizes, small, medium large, Small is approximately 2.5 inches, medium is four inches and large is about five inches.
And so tell us a bit about these Christmas ornaments, it's August. What are you doing making Christmas ornaments?
Yeah, so my summer has consisted a lot of making Christmas ornaments because I realised once I get back into school I'm not going to have much time to make a lot of ornaments for Christmas and a lot of upcoming Christmas sales that I'll be in. So I knew I had to get a head start on it so since July I've been painting Christmas ornaments, and we have a Christmas tree up in our house.
Yes, that's fantastic. I bet it's quite beautiful. It is. Tell us about your plans? I mean, you said you're going to have some Christmas sales, you're already planning for that, tell us about it.
Yeah, I'm already planning, I'm looking to be in the BUEI Christmas sale also Huckleberry and maybe a few other Christmas sales with churches. I went in two last year and they did pretty well and I'm looking to go in more this year.
Wow you're really making quite a name for yourself? Yes. So what would you say is your greatest achievement in business to date?
Oh, okay. That's a tough question but I would probably say being in the newspaper and in the Royal Gazette. I was interviewed by Miss Jessie Moniz Hardy all because of a promotional video I created. Oh, tell us more. Yeah, so I created this video for English class and it got a lot of attention. I got an interview in the newspaper, I got a couple of commissions and lots more followers and people getting to know me.
So what was the video all about?
Well, it was talking about myself and my art, and it talked about why you should buy my art, while I'm young and it's at a very reasonable price, and you're gonna want it before my prices go up!
What prompted you to do that video?
I did want to create a video just advertising myself and the class assignment really just put that into vision, I knew, Okay, well, I should do this.
And have you studied marketing? I mean, you have quite an insight into how to market your business. You're not just creating things because you like to create beautiful things you're really proactively selling.
Yeah, I've done a little. I've done a lot of research into marketing and I've also gotten help from some people that have taught me a lot. Yeah.
Some people like who?
I wonder, I wonder, well, maybe my mother Miss Laura Bell. She's taught me a lot about marketing.
Well, it's good you're paying attention. Yeah, that video you did was quite an amazing video and it did get a lot of attention from from a lot of people because you created it like a pitch, and that's something we talk about a lot in marketing is the importance of having a strong pitch. And that's exactly what the class was teaching you, as I recall. So it was pretty cool timing and it was nice that you had your own business to promote. What did the class, the teachers, how was their response?
Oh, it was amazing. Yeah, they all my classmates loved it. I even handed out business cards to them after the presentation. And yeah, I got very good marks on that and my teacher was very pleased.
That is fantastic. Laura, you must be so proud of your son.
Well, I'll be honest, I may have taught him a few things but this kid is starting to teach me something. And I'm telling people they need to start paying attention because he's just had an Instagram reel, he's been working on reels over the summer really getting good at them, and he had one go viral. So tell all of our listeners a little bit about this video of yours.
Yeah, so it went slightly viral 13k plays
13,000. Nico Bean! How many followers do you have on your account?
Just over 200?
Oh, my gracious how did that happen? Tell us your secret.
Okay, so it was something a bit out of the ordinary, it was an ornament process video and I knew people would like that, you know, who else has painting Christmas ornaments in August, right? It's something out of the ordinary that people would like. And then I also thought, Well, I'm gonna need audio that's doing well or trending audio, so I used just that, matched it up perfectly, edited it, so it fit well and I used good hashtags that fit it, so I used hashtags like Christmas in July, and Christmas ornaments, and acrylic pour, stuff like that. So people can search up those hashtags and it will bring them to posts like that.
Fantastic. I'd really like to take a minute to drill down into this because I'm certain a lot of listeners would be very keen to have their reels go viral, too. So tell us what you did when you were researching hashtags, for instance, for people who may not have done that before, or are not really sure how to do it effectively.
Yeah, I didn't really research hashtags I just looked at the video, and thought of hashtags that went with it. For instance, if you're doing a painting process video, you're not going to want to put a random hashtag like, I don't know, motorcycles or something, you're not going to want to put a random hashtag or like that you're going to want to put hashtag painting, or hashtag, maybe even reel Artists on Instagram, those are good hashtags, stuff like that.
And you thought of Christmas in July, which was fantastic, it's about being creative. And then talk to us a little bit about the trending audio.
Okay, so you'll find a trending audio if you just scroll on your reels or maybe you're on tiktok, and you just keep scrolling and you hear an audio over and over then what you want to do Okay, you're gonna be like, Okay, well, this audio is doing pretty well, I see a lot of people using it, then you can look when it was posted and if it was posted within a week, you know it's a trending audio and you know it's an audio that you would want to use.
Okay, so it doesn't need to be in audio that relates necessarily to what your reel is.
It should but if you're doing a painting process video you can use an audio that relates to maybe painting, or you can use a nice song, maybe if you're doing a acrylic pour painting, a nice calm lo-fi song, those are nice.
Great advice. Thanks. So Nico, tell us what's in your view, the best thing about being an entrepreneur? What do you love about it?
Well, I love being able to control what I do when I have to work, you know? Yeah, just being in control really.
Yeah, you mentioned that you have a lot of hours at school so how do you balance all the things that you want to do in business, with your obligations at school,
It's pretty tough and I'm still figuring some of this out but one thing I'm going to do better is create a lot of content and paintings on my breaks, like maybe summer break, and then I post them over time, just as something, you know, something to have, something to post and also I have a list of things I need to do, and I have a certain time on them. So maybe I come home from school, I have some homework I have to do, maybe from four o'clock to six o'clock and then I might have some dinner, or paint and you know, I just have a certain time I'm going to do that, so I know, okay, I have to do this from a certain time and then next, I have to do this. And sometimes the whole night is just schoolwork but other times it's schoolwork and painting, maybe create a reel, something like that.
You sound like a very organised person.
I would say this kid's superpower is organisation. He's pretty incredible at it. You've always got a list of things that you need, things you're gonna do, and then you plan out your time very, very wisely and very well. That's definitely a superpower to have, kiddo.
Time management is key. You need to have good time management, especially when you have a lot on your plate.
Yeah, but if you're just not that person naturally, any tips?
Well I'm not too sure cuz you know, I'm very well time managed. But if you're not a good time management person, at least right out the stuff that you need to do and it helps to write a time next to it so you know when you need to do it. But at least write it down so you can see it, put it somewhere where you can see it so you don't forget and then you're like, okay, yes, I have to do this. Okay, I'll do that right now and then I'll do this later.
Fantastic. Nico, it sounds like everything you do is, it's out on a limb, it's different to what a lot of 14-year-olds would be doing with their time. Do you feel like you're being brave when you do this? Do you feel like it takes courage?
Oh, definitely, because I could have just went out and applied for a job, you know I wouldn't have to risk a lot of money, I wouldn't have to be purchasing a lot of paint supplies and you know, maybe that painting doesn't sell or a couple of paintings don't sell and then I wouldn't have to risk going broke, you know? Yeah and I could just not have to worry so much. Like when you own a business, when you're an entrepreneur, you're constantly thinking 24/7 I could have just went, maybe packed groceries, done that for an hour or two, come back home and then just relaxed. But no, I'm always thinking of new painting ideas, new colours, you know, new things I can do.
And so it sounds like you're using your profits to reinvest into your business and buy more materials. Is that what you do? You don't dip into your mom's pocketbook for that?
No, no, no. Yes, I do reinvest. I have a spot where I save money for the future and I have a spot to reinvest and I have a spot where I put some money into something where every once in a while I can treat myself, but usually most of my money goes to reinvesting and then some saved and some in the pocket.
Can I spot you up for a loan if I need it? Yes, yes. Okay, luckily Two Four One's doing okay, so I might not need to, you're safe in that one. So I can't wait to hear what big ideas do you have for the future?
Yeah, so I have a few big ideas. I did, all my Bermudians would know what Harbour Nights is but if you're not Bermudian out there, Harbour Nights is every Wednesday night, people go on Front Street in Bermuda and they sell all kinds of things. You can find food, jewellery, and my plan was to sell my paintings and Christmas ornaments there. Unfortunately, I couldn't do it this summer because I wasn't prepared but I am planning on doing that next summer.
I have more. I have more plans if you'd like to hear. Yes, please. So in about two years time, maybe, I have a big project for school called a personal project and I want to focus that on my business. And in that time, I want to create a Shopify website. I'm already creating a website on Wix that will launch soon but I would like to create a Shopify website to sell to all my international people out there. And I would also like to join Sargasso Sea, it hasn't been confirmed or anything, it was just the thought of mine. My Bermudians would know that Sargasso Sea is a delivery app, and they deliver all kinds of things, mainly food but you can also get birthday supplies if you need, they deliver all kinds of things and I would like to get on there one day.
That's a fantastic vision. And all of that is very related to marketing in you're building your channels, you're building your distribution network, it's phenomenal and I think it's really a great takeaway for people who are in the service industry, or especially if you're in the arts, or you're a creative, I think your default is typically to create what you love, because you love it. And then the hardest part is selling it or making money and it sounds like you have such a good balance. Nico, how do you, it will be one of our last questions, but how do you price your artwork? How do you know what to price and how to price?
So usually it's based off of inches of like, maybe the canvas is a certain size, and I price it off of that size but if I do a painting that uses a lot of paints, or maybe it's a different style or something that makes it like, I don't know, I don't I'm not sure how to say this. But yeah, something like...
It's just one of those things that I think artists struggle with is knowing what to price because you know how much your materials cost, but that's what the art is worth, the art is worth more.
Yeah, maybe I do a really nice piece, a quality piece, or I do a really bad piece that maybe I don't like and maybe other people don't like, I would usually price that a lot less than the other nice piece. I've created.
Yeah. Cool that you still want to sell it.
It's hard, well he paints over the canvas as he doesn't love
you never know like,
like Picasso had hidden you know, hidden art underneath ones because he painted over it isn't that true?
I say it's always a joke, right whenever you see the big news on CNN that they've found a hidden painting underneath the Van Gogh's painting, and I'm like, Oh, God, he's turning in his grave right now. He hid that painting for a reason. No artist wants their hidden painting revealed!
But art is so subjective anyway and I tell times that you know, sometimes you might not like it, and somebody else will come along, and it'll be exact colour palette. They love it. They love it. And you're kind of like really? OK.
It's good lessons to learn and you're learning them at a very young age, you know, so you're learning really big lessons at a young age and yeah, he does not come out of mom's pocketbook. He reinvests and he buys all the supplies and right now it's all going into ornaments so stay tuned. There's some spectacular ones coming out this Christmas season, I can tell you because they're right next to me, next to my desk right now, in the living room!
I'm so excited for you guys, I'm so excited for you Nico and I can't wait to see some of your other goals and big dreams come to fruition and no doubt we'll be talking to you again then. So let's share with people how they can follow you, find your art and buy from you.
Okay, so you can go over on Instagram, @flowbynico just all one word, all lowercase, NICO, and yeah, you can see all my paintings and ornaments there. You can even find some process videos. I'm also expanding to Facebook, you can same username Flow by Nico. I'm also on TikTok and yeah, website will be coming out soon and I will advertise that. So yeah, that's where you can find me.
And I'm impressed that you're, at your age of 14 going on to Facebook on to the old granny site!
Well, I told him that's where his customers are. It might not be where his friends are, but that's where a lot of his customers are so that convinced him to sign up for Facebook.
Follow the money. No, that's good advice, Mom, you know, to our listeners, we hope you've really enjoyed hearing from Nico. He's a 14 year old entrepreneur, exceptional entrepreneur at this age and really switched on young businessman and is it any surprise to know that he is our very own Laura Bell's son? You must be a very proud mum.
You have no idea. Absolutely, we make a good team. Yeah thanks Nico, really appreciate you being on the podcast with us today and you know I'm your number one fan and we're just gonna keep on cheering you on and, and I hope our listeners will as well. Please follow him and see there's going to be some big things ahead for this kiddo I promise.
Thank you. Thank you. All right. Thanks, guys.
Thanks for joining us on Resilient Entrepreneurs, we're Laura and Vicki from Two Four One. We love supporting entrepreneurs, especially with mindset marketing and motivation, which is why we've built an incredible community of business founders who meet weekly in The Level-Up League. If you'd like to know more about it, look us up at www.twofouronebranding.com.
