The most sophisticated people I know – inside they are all children. – Jim Henson
If you ever saw the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, then you know how much people love chocolate. And it can be a goldmine business or chocolate mine depending on how you look at it. 😉 People were losing their minds to get that golden ticket.
Chocolate Mania had swept the nation! 😂
It was pure marketing genius. They even commented on that in the film. Wonka was making a mint selling those chocolate bars. It’s all about marketing folks!
It’s sort of like Patron. They don’t have the best tequila; they just have the best marketing. Get that money.
Just look at all the money the candy business makes! Billions!
Here are some of the top chocolate companies in the world.
1. Mars Inc., McLean, VA., USA.
2. Mondeléz International Inc., Deerfield, Ill.
3. Nestlé SA, Vevey, Switzerland.
4. Ferrero Group, Alba, Italy.
5. Hershey Foods Corp., Hershey, Pa., USA.
6. Meiji Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan.
7. Chocoladenfabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG, Kilchberg, Switzerland.
The confectionery business is big money. These companies are raking in billions of dollars.
Did you know Snickers earns more than $2 billion by itself annually?
The Маrѕ fаmіlіеѕ аrе thе оwnеrs оf thіѕ соmраnу thаt ореrаtеѕ wоrldwіdе. Тhеу hаvе wіdе vаrіеtіеѕ оf brаndѕ іnсludіng Gаlаху, Воuntу, М&М, Тwіх, Міlkу Wау, аnd Ѕnісkеrѕ. Globally they are making bank!
They may have even helped spread the let’s have candy at every event or holiday cheer. If not, I am sure they somehow found a way to cultivate and capitalize on Halloween and even Christmas.
Who says you need a box of chocolate on Valentines?!!! Most people don’t even eat most of it. That box of chocolates is still bought and paid for!
If you ever saw the film Legally Blond, you actually saw her do what most do with a box of variously filled chocolates. That’s right. She took a bite and put it BACK in the box!
Mondelez International Inc. even tried to cash in on this love of chocolate. However, they have officially abandoned its pursuit of Hershey Co., which would have created the biggest confectionery conglomerate in the world.
Now that you have some background on the business of chocolate, let’s get down to money affairs.
Back in 1990, the movie, The Witches, based on the 1983 children’s novel of the same title by Roald Dahl, was released in theaters. The movie premiered on 25 May 1990, in London and was scheduled to open the same day in the United States, but was delayed until August.
Sadly, it would be Muppet and Fraggle Rock creator, Jim Henson’s last film.
As in the original novel, the story features evil witches who masquerade as ordinary women and hurt children. However, a boy and his grandmother need to find a way to foil and destroy them.
The witches decide they will open up, get this, chocolate shops to lure poor unsuspecting children.
This is where the story begins.
GUARDIANS OF THE MILKY WAY GALAXY
While on vacation in Norway, eight-year-old American boy Luke Eveshim is warned about the witches, female demons with a boundless hatred for children and various methods of destroying or transforming them.
Helga, Luke’s Grandmother, becomes his legal guardian after the passing of his parents. They move to England. His grandmother is advised to take a vacation for a summer by the sea for fresh air after discovering she has diabetes.
Also staying at the hotel are a convention of witches, masquerading as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, with the Grand High Witch, the all-powerful leader of the world’s witches, attending their annual meeting under the name Eva Ernst (played by Academy Award Winner Angelica Houston).
Really? They have some nerve naming their coven the Prevention of Cruelty to children. Hiding in plain sight like that, but open to interpretation. Yes, indeed.
Let us examine the fact that Luke had a grandmother that not only decided to raise him, but has the financial means to take a vacation by the sea.
I have it on good authority that if you try to rent a house on Virginia Beach for a week it can set you back $5,000!
I wouldn’t mind paying that if I had investments like interest earned from stocks or royalties to pay for it.
If you have $25,000, you could earn over 2 percent in a high yield savings account. That’s the ish I’m talking about right there. Making money for breathing. That is the equivalent of doing a part-time gig and earning $500 a year.
I find the idea of earning money just for having a pulse so sexy. I find that It’s like Beyoncé says in her song Rocket. Shhh. Just listen. To the words. Hell yeah, you the sh*t That’s why you’re my equivalent So sexy! Haha
See my posts
How Beyonce and Jay-Z became a $1 billion couple
Earn Money with High Yield Savings Accounts
FOR THE LOVE OF CHOCOLATE
The witches are going to open up chocolate shops!
Inside a ballroom where the witches hold their meeting, Luke spies upon them as the Grand High Witch unveils her latest creation: a magic potion to turn children into mice, which they will use on confectionery products in sweet shops and candy stores to be opened using money provided by her.
They know how to make their vision a reality.
You have to chart a course and follow that path to where you want to go. What path? You just point to the top and go! That’s what I learned from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson 😉
I have also learned that when you own something to hold onto it.
It doesn’t matter of it is a taco stand, food truck, or blog. If you own 100%, then it’s yours to do with as you wish. Hold on to as much equity and ownership in your company as possible. I learned that from Shark Tank’s Daymond John. Like McDonald’s does to its hamburgers, keep grinding.
And try to be cash heavy. Meaning stay away from debt. I learned that from Warren Buffet. 😉 They say his company Berkshire Hathaway aims to keep $1 billion or more in cash to snap up businesses and be able to make quick decisions when buying stocks.
In addition, they say Apple does the same. The world’s first EVER $1 trillion-dollar company keeps billions in cash.
Therefore, you should do the same and follow in their example. ALWAYS have cash reserves. NO EXCUSES!!!
Like Mr. Money Mustache once said, “Salads and barbells every day, no goddamned excuses!!!”
WE ALL WANT TO BE ROYALS
And I don’t mean Prince William and Kate Middleton.
I mean getting royalty checks in the mail.
I saw an article in which Don McLean owns only 2 stocks: Google and Amazon.
I also recently read that Don McLean continues to receive royalties off his music he wrote almost 50 years ago. Yes, this artist still makes $300,000 per year from something he created in 1971.
In the article by Sovereign Man, it retells McLean’s story.
Early spring in 1971 when an obscure American folk singer wrote a song that would change his life forever.
Sitting at a café in Saratoga Springs, New York, Don McLean scribbled the lyrics to a long ballad about an experience he had as a 13-year-old boy.
It began with a radio bulletin that said that Buddy Holly had died in a plane crash. In 1959, when this happened they called it the day the music died. The boy was crushed. But the man used this emotion to write a song that would take the world by storm.
Of course, that song was “American Pie.”
It stayed atop the Billboard music charts for more than a year. And it turned this once obscure folk singer into a global sensation.
Ah yes, the power of the pen.
More than that – McLean was immediately set for life: he still makes more than $300,000 a year from that song.
Imagine getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for something you did in 1971!
That is what stocks can do for you! That is why we must invest. Unless you can write the next hit song for Beyoncé, you must invest in the stock market to make money on your money. You already earned it and now your money works for you and this is your equivalent to getting royalties.
This story holds the key to one of the greatest business models ever invented: the idea that you can create something once and get paid on it for life.
“The idea is not to live forever, it is to create something that will.” – Andy Warhol
For more information on the price of genius and Andy Warhol, see my post The Man Behind the Mohawk: An Interview with Budgets are Sexy.
It’s the royalty business. That’s right. I did the work like 20 years ago. Now cut the check!
In case you’re not familiar with the term, a royalty is a cash payment that you receive over and over again from an asset that you created, developed, or own.
For example, songwriters collect a royalty every time a song they write is played, purchased, downloaded or streamed. Some more than others.
That is why Taylor Swift was mad at Apple iTunes for giving away artists music, such as herself, for free for three months!
That’s why McLean still makes money from American Pie. You have to pay to play. Music that is. In this case anyway.
Royalties are also common in natural resources. Royalty companies often provide financing to oil and mining companies… and those borrowers pay a royalty on every ounce of gold or gallon of oil that the land produces.
Authors earn a royalty every time somebody buys their book. Inventors receive royalties from their patents. Why do you think Beyoncé trademarked Blue Ivy, Taylor Swift trademarked Swiftmas, and Cardi B is trying to trademark OKrrrrrrr?!!!
Patents equals paychecks.
And people who own royalties don’t have to do anything else to make money… except cash the checks.
The powerful cashflow of this model can be incredibly appealing to investors, and there are even some companies that specialize in acquiring assets that produce royalty income.
Therefore, if you are good at something, don’t give it away for free.
Even though I am a HUGE Marvel comics fan, I actually got the last comment mentioned above from DC Comics The Joker. 😉
It’s still true though. You have to admit.
If I could, I would tap dance on Twitter, if they paid me.
Me and my lipstick confessions charge a premium for the really good stuff.
I would hand draw or smack lipstick stickers 💋on Kylie Jenner’s lip kits if she paid me $400.
Joan Rivers wrote jokes for days. She once said jokingly, that she would, “write for Hitler for $500.”
See my post on Money gems from Joan Rivers
Whatever you do that is great, DON’T DO IT FOR FREE.
That’s just my 2 cents. And I take cash, check, or charge.
I’m like the girl scouts. Out there selling those cookies. You don’t see them giving it away for FREE.
I’m just saying. Have a plan for your life and your money, then make it happen.
Don’t let anyone tell you what you can’t accomplish or do. No matter how small you are. Even if you are just a kid.
The Witches always remind of that.
“I’m just so excited. They come in, I help them, they give us money in exchange for goods, you give me money for working for you. I have a place in the world now. I’m part of the system. I’m a workin’ gal.” – Anya (Season Five).
