by J.A. Dunnigans
Entrepreneur Magazine article
on Charles Prosper March 1988
Success
Story
by J.A. Dunnigans
Nine years ago, when Charles
Prosper bought Entrepreneur's "Balloon
Vending" business guide (X1003), he never dreamed that single decision
would lead him to found one of the country's most successful balloon art companies.
Prosper had been working in a government-sponsored, community-based alcohol
counseling program, but when the program lost its funding, he was forced to
look for other opportunities. During the counseling center's last week, one
Prosper's co-workers said it looked as though they'd all be standing in the
unemployment line soon. Prosper responded, "Even if I have to stand on
a street corner with a coin purse and sell balloons, I'll do it." Little
did he know at that time just how prophetic his words would be.
When he woke up the
next morning, the idea didn't seen nearly as silly as it had the day before.
"I remembered having seen information in Entrepreneur about start-up business guides, and wondered if I could
purchase one on balloon vendng." Sure enough, the business guide existed
, and Prosper bought one immediately. "I knew absolutely nothing about
balloons," Prosper says, "and the business guide quite simply told
me everything I needed to know to get into the business."
Prosper encountered unexpected
objections from his family, who felt that selling balloons in the street wasn't
the reason Charles had struggled so long and studied so hard to attain a college
degree, but he wouldn't be deterred. "I liked the idea of being an entrepreneur,"
he insists, "even though I had my degree and this wasn't what the folks
at home thought I should be doing. I so enjoyed the sense of freedom my own
own business gave me - being away from the imprisonment of an office. Even though
I was doing something that was very simple, it was a lot of fun."
But things weren't all honey
and roses for Prosper during his start-up phase. He was often chased off street
corners by the police because of a Los Angeles ordinance that restricts street
vending in certain areas. "But I was very tenacious," he recalls,
"and tried to catch every parade, carnival, or special event that I could."
And at first, he had problems selling enough balloons: "I had more (financial)
responsibilities than my balloon vending business could keep up with."
Prosper had to take a part-time
job as a waiter to meet his living expenses and provide the operating capital
to keep his struggling business alive. He worked a double shift every day, from
4 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. to midnight. "I was sleeping about three hours
a night," he says, "and I'd decided to do this for two years, to build
up capital for my balloon business. I wanted to set up a permanent location,
like a booth in a recreational park or at the beach, and promote it heavily."
But after nine months of
burning the candle at both ends, the job inevitably became more than he could
handle. Prosper reached the turning point at which he thought, "There has
to be a better way of doing this," while sitting in a local ice cream parlor,
where he saw an ad in a neighborhood newspaper offering home delivery of balloon
bouquets. Recognizing what a novel approach that was, he immediately called
to order a bouquet of balloons delivered to his home. "When the
lady showed up to deliver my bouquet, I started asking
her all kinds of questions about where she advertised, how long she'd been in
business, and so on." Prosper discovered she had been advertising in Los
Angeles Magazine. He purchased a copy, saw several ads for balloon delivery
services, and began to think that this would be a good way to expand his business.
He ordered Entrepreneur's "Balloon Delivery Service" business
guide (X1242), and conducted a market survey of every balloon business in the
area.
By investigating all his
competiors, Prosper obtained an in-depth education in all methods of creating
balloon art and displays. "I went home and began to experiment with various
techniques, and through lots and lots of trial and error, I came up with a balloon-arch
concept that was my own creation," Prosper says.
Prosper perfected several
of his own designs, then contracted with a friend who was a cartoonist to produce
four-color illustrations of them. Once the drawings were completed, Prosper
promoted his business by visiting every hall or auditorium that people could
rent for wedding receptions or parties in the area. He showed his designs, and
arranged to pay each hall manager a 10-percent commission on any customers who
ordered balloon decorations for their social functions. Armed with the names
and phone numbers of the groups, individuals, corporations, and wedding parties
that had reserved space in the halls, Charles contacted each directly to offer
his services as a decorator.
"The first sale I made
was a six-arch tunnel over a dance floor for $200," he says. In his first
year in business (while still working as a waiter in addition to inflating balloons),
Charles estimates that he made just $500 a month. But that figure doubled the
next year, and the next, and the next. By 1987, his ninth year in business,
Prosper's company, Balloons by Prosper, was grossing $200,000.
Prosper has provided decorations
for companies like Pepsi Cola, the Hyatt Hotels, Holiday Inn, Bekins, California
Federal Savings, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Balloons by Prosper also does an
average of four or five major wedding decorations every Saturday, and handles
at least ten $30-to-$40 balloon arrangements daily, on the slowest of days.
Prosper has expanded to offer instructional
seminars on getting into balloon retailing. To perfect his seminar technique,
Prosper purchased Entrepreneur's "Seminar Promoting" business
guide (X1071), but didn't stop there. "I have many, many of the Entrepreneur
business guides," he says. "The information in the
business guides was so valuable, it would have been worth it at twice the price.
I recommend the business guides to anyone, and use them when I train people.
Since most people aren't born entrepreneurs and don't have formal business educations,
I suggest they use Entrepreneur business guides
to give them the tools they need to succeed."
As to the future, Prosper
is unabashedly optimistic. "I have every reason to believe that if I just
keep going at the present rate, I'll soon be doing $1 million a year in business."
(Entrepreneur Magazine, March 1988)
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