Girl Scout entrepreneurs begin in-person sales and continue online ventures as small business owners
On Oct. 4, local Girl Scout entrepreneurs will begin in-person sales offering gourmet nuts, candies, and magazines to Girl Scout supporters through the Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois' Fall Products Program. The 2021 lineup includes fan favorites like Mint Treasures and introduces new ones like Caramel Apples.
The 2021 in-person fall products are $5 to $10 and include: Girl Scout Uniform Tin with Mint Treasures; Bunny Holiday Tin with Deluxe Pecan Clusters; Whole Cashews with Sea Salt (can); Caramel Apples (box); Peanut Butter Trail Mix (bag); Dark Chocolate Peppermint Pretzels (bag); English Butter Toffee (box); Deluxe Pecan Clusters (box); Dark Chocolate Caramel Caps with Sea Salt (box); Mint Chocolate Penguins (box); Sweet and Salty Mix (can); Chocolate Covered Raisins (can); Peanut Butter Bears (box); Dill Pickle Peanuts (can); Fruit Slices (can).
The Fall Product program teaches Girl Scouts to skillfully navigate the virtual marketplace. These budding business owners learn how to set up a website and cultivate entrepreneurial mindsets. Each entrepreneur customizes their own site by:
• Showing their goal and what they want to earn;
• Writing a description or creating a video to explain to customers how funds earned will be used;
• Adding their preferred image;
• Providing ways customers can safely connect to products using a website, emails, text, social media, QR code, or printable business cards;
• Creating their own personalized virtual avatar.
Customers can order items through Girl Scouts' individual websites. Each customer can order, pay, and receive direct shipments of items with the Girl Scout receiving full credit for the purchase. These young entrepreneurs began offering Fall Products virtually on Sept. 14, and may choose to sell in-person with parent permission and following all Girl Scout health and safety rules from Oct. 4-23.
The following products ranging in price from $5 to $20, are also available online exclusively through each Girl Scout's virtual shop: Bunny Holiday Tin with Caramel Treasurers; Bunny Holiday Tin with Chocolate Covered Pretzels; Honey Roasted Mixed Nuts (jar); Nut and Seed Blend (jar); Ruby Medley (can); Chocolate Covered Almonds (can); Salsa Mix (can); Cranberry Nut Mix (can); Butter Toasted Peanuts (can); Dulce de Leche Owls (box); Hot Cajun Crunch (can); Honey Roasted Peanuts (can); Almond Cran-Orange Crunch (bag); Almond Butter Cups (box); Barbeque Flavored Snack Mix (can); Black Forest Trail Mix (bag); Coconut Cashews (bag); Cookies & Cream Cups (box); Gourmet Caramel Corn with Almonds and Pecans (20 oz.); Gourmet Nut Blend (15 oz.); Jumbo Cashews (15 oz.); and Mocha Cups (box).
Interested customers can reach out to a local Girl Scout for these fall products. To support a local Girl Scout's small business, customers can call Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois' Product Program Hotline at (847) 214-9295, email cookies4you@girlscoutsni.org, or visit www.girlscoutsni.org/buynutscandymags.
How is the Girl Scout Fall Product Program different from traditional school or club fundraisers?
Through the Girl Scout Leadership Experience, entrepreneurs see a direct benefit to any proceeds they earn. They decide how to use their profits to fund their own adventures. They'll work together in-person or virtually with their friends - creating their first official boardroom - to share sales ideas, have fun and collaborate on how to spend proceeds on what they want to do. Girl Scouts offers the online tools they need to succeed, along with in-person skills and training to raise up the next generation of thriving entrepreneurs and community leaders.
Funds earned through the Fall Product Program helps troops get started in the fall, long before the winter Girl Scout Cookie Program. Both programs teach important skills and help troops fund activities and service projects.
Girl Scouts learn five valuable life skills through participation in Fall Product Program. They set personal goals for themselves and a troop goal to achieve what they want to do as a group. They use decision-making skills to provide input on how to maximize sales and spend troop proceeds. They hone people skills by learning how to talk to, listen to, and interact with different types of people while gaining an understanding of the importance of customer service. By managing money, Girl Scouts get a better sense of counting change properly and ensuring a check is completed correctly. Lastly, they learn about business ethics. They gain an understanding of how important it is to be honest, meet deadlines, and properly market a product.
Girl Scouts bring their dreams to life and work together to build a better world. Through programs from coast to coast, Girl Scouts of all backgrounds and abilities can be unapologetically themselves as they discover their strengths and rise to meet new challenges whether they want to climb to the top of a tree or the top of their class, lace up their boots for a hike or advocate for climate justice, make their first best friends. Backed by trusted adult volunteers, mentors, and millions of alums, Girl Scouts lead the way as they find their voices and make changes that affect the issues most important to them.
Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois serves 16 counties including parts or all of Boone, Carroll, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Jo Daviess, Kane, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside, and Winnebago. To volunteer, reconnect, donate or join, visit www.girlscoutsni.org or call (844) 476-4463.