小小老板煉成記

做自己的老板，給自己打工，即便只是當個“賣甜玉米的小女孩”，這種感覺會是怎樣的呢？且聽下文中的這位小老板為你一一道來。

Growing up in a subdivision1）， I classified myself as a "city girl". I had very little knowledge about farming and rural areas， but all of that changed six years ago when we moved to a farm. Surrounded by cows and cornfields， I felt out of my element2）. I was not accustomed to hundreds of acres of farmland separating me from my closest neighbor； however， I did enjoy the beauty and peace of the countryside.

I had lived on the farm for about three years， and had helped with odd jobs like feeding cows. When I was old enough to get a real summer job， my father said I could choose between two options—getting a job at our local Dairy Queen3） or selling produce that I grew on our farm. While I came up with a short list of pros4） for working at the fast food restaurant， I found more advantages to selling produce. Shorter work weeks， more free time， flexible hours and the potential to make more money appealed to me. Yet I realized the numerous disadvantages to selling produce： responsibility for the success or failure of the operation， manual labor， early mornings and long days. Anyway， ultimately， I decided to start my own farming business.

My father and I began planning in March. Together we chose three varieties of seeds， prepared the land and planted the first batch of sweet corn at the end of April. Throughout the spring， my father continued to plant sweet corn every two weeks as I rode in the tractor with him.

Great care was taken over my growing cornstalks5）. As the corn began to tassel6）， we applied nitrogen7） fertilizer and sprayed pesticide to prevent worms. I watched the stalks grow taller， and as time passed， I dreamed about the money I would soon make. We planned to harvest and sell the corn at our local farmer's market with paid help from my friends. It sounded easy and looked good on paper8）， but it worked out a little differently.

Nonstop rain stunted9） the first batch of corn and delayed the harvest by a week or so. When my sweet corn was finally ready to pick， I found that a pack of raccoons10） had raided11） the field at night， ruining about half of it. How could this happen？ Raccoons were supposed to be cute. We picked what was still good and prepared for market.

This was it—my first day at market！ I was excited to see my hard work finally pay off. I loaded my materials into the pickup truck12） and arrived early at the farmer's market to find a good spot for my tent and set up before the market opened. There were many customers and several other vendors. Probably because I was young and new， potential customers would look at me and smile， then head straight to my competition， Mrs. Cates， who had sold corn and other produce for years and had an established following13）. At the end of the first day， about half of my corn was left， so I donated it to a local homeless shelter and went home disappointed.

Soon I noticed that Mrs. Cates and her crew did not arrive at the farmer's market until about 11 a.m. So I decided to show up an hour earlier. This meant that we had to start picking corn at 6 a.m.， no easy task with teenage workers. But the effort paid off； I was selling half of my corn before Mrs. Cates arrived and most of it by the end of the day. Things were looking better. Not great， but better.

Although the farmer's market was only open three days a week， the corn needed to be picked and sold daily because it would not keep. On days the farmer's market was not open， I developed a marketing plan that included personalized e-mails to family and friends. I also went to local businesses to sell corn and distribute business cards. Customers began calling， and I took orders over the phone. Before I knew it， I had a loyal following. I stayed busy by making weekly and sometimes daily deliveries to these businesses while maintaining my produce stand at the farmer's market. Then something wonderful happened.

Mrs. Cates announced that she would be out of sweet corn for the next two weeks. For me， this was like finding the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow . I knew that this was my opportunity to shine at the farmer's market， and I took advantage of it. I sold the majority of my sweet corn during this time， making more money than I ever had—as much as $400 a day. By the time my competition returned to the market with corn， the season was nearly over.

I was satisfied with my success and have continued to sell produce grown on our farm for the past two summers. Each summer， I have been more successful than the year before. I am proud to be known around town as "the young girl selling sweet corn". I feel a sense of accomplishment when I see people bypass my competition and buy produce from me.

Although many days I would rather have slept in or hung out with friends， I would not trade this experience for anything. My farming operation taught me how to work with people and gave me determination to never give up. I know these are lessons that will help me throughout life.

在住宅小區里長大的我一度將自己歸為“城市女孩”之列，對農活和鄉村地區知之甚少，但這一切都在六年前我們搬去一個農場之后發生了改變。我置身一頭頭奶牛和一片片玉米田之中，感到與這里格格不入。我與最近的鄰居之間也隔著數百英畝（編注：1英畝約合4047平方米）的農田，對此我很不適應。不過，我倒是的確很享受鄉村的美麗與安寧。

我在這個農場里生活了三年左右的時光，也幫忙干了一些諸如喂奶牛這樣的雜活兒。等到我長大了，可以找份真正的暑期工作時，爸爸說我有兩個選擇：要么在我們當地的冰雪皇后店里打工，要么去賣我在自家農場種出的農產品。雖然我列出了一張在快餐店工作有什么好處的簡短清單，我還是發現賣農產品的好處更多：每周工作時長更短、有更多的空閑、工作時間有彈性，還有可能賺到更多的錢。這些都吸引著我。不過，我也意識到賣農產品有諸多不好的地方：對經營成敗要承擔責任、要從事體力勞動、早上要早起、白天要干很長時間的活兒。不過最終，我還是決定要開啟我自己的農場生意。

爸爸和我從3月就開始計劃。我們一起選擇了三類種子，準備好田地，然后在4月末種下了第一批甜玉米。整個春天，爸爸每隔兩周就會再種一批甜玉米，我則會坐在他駕駛的拖拉機里。

我那些逐漸長大的玉米得到了悉心的照料。到玉米開始抽穗的時候，我們給它施氮肥，為防蠕蟲還噴撒了農藥。我眼瞅著玉米稈越長越高，隨著時間的流逝，我夢想著自己很快就能賺到的錢。我們打算進行收割，并在我朋友們的有償幫助下去當地的農貿集市賣玉米。這聽上去挺簡單，單從字面上看也不錯，但真正落實起來卻有點不一樣了。

接連不斷的雨水阻礙了第一批甜玉米的生長，使收割的時間推遲了一周左右。等到我的甜玉米終于可以采摘時，我卻發現一伙浣熊在夜里洗劫了玉米地，幾乎把一半的玉米都給糟蹋了。怎么會發生這種事呢？浣熊本該是很可愛的啊。我們只好摘下還完好的玉米，準備拿到集市上去賣。

就這樣到了我去集市賣玉米的第一天！看到自己的辛勤勞作終于要取得成果，我激動無比。我把所需的東西全都裝進小卡車里，早早來到農貿集市好給我的帳篷找個好位置，并趕在集市開張前把它給支好了。那里有許多顧客，還有其他幾個攤販。大概是因為我年紀比較小，又是新來的，那些潛在的顧客都會看著我笑一笑，然后徑直走向我的競爭者凱茨夫人那里。她已經在這兒賣了好多年的玉米和其他農產品了，擁有一批老顧客。第一天結束時我還剩下大約一半的玉米，便將它們捐贈給當地無家可歸者的收容所，滿心失望地回家了。

我很快就發現，凱茨夫人和她的伙計們要到上午11點左右才會到達農貿集市，于是我便決定提早一小時來。而這就意味著我們必須早上6點就開始摘玉米——這對十幾歲的“童工”們來說可不是什么輕松的活兒啊。不過，我們的努力得到了回報：在凱茨夫人到達之前，我已經賣掉了一半的玉米，而到這天結束時，我的大部分玉米都賣掉了。情況看起來在變好，雖然不是特別好，不過卻有好轉。

雖然農貿集市一周只開三天，可玉米卻沒法保存，需要每天去采摘、去售賣。在農貿集市不開放的日子里，我制訂了一個銷售計劃，其中包括給家人和朋友發私人郵件。我還去當地的一些企業銷售玉米、發名片。顧客開始打來電話，我通過電話接起了訂單。還沒等我意識到這一點，我就已經有了一批忠實的顧客。我一直忙著每周——有時是每天——給這些企業送貨，同時還繼續在農貿集市上賣我的農產品。然后，一件特別棒的事兒發生了。

凱茨夫人說在接下來的兩周里她沒有甜玉米可賣了。對我來說，這簡直就像是在彩虹的盡頭發現了那罐金子。我知道這是我在農貿集市大放光彩的機會，我充分利用了這個機會。在這段時間里我賣掉了絕大多數的甜玉米，賺到了比以往任何一次都要多的錢——每天都有400美元之多。等到我的競爭者帶著玉米重返集市時，玉米幾乎都快過季了。

我對自己取得的成就很滿意，在剛剛過去的兩個暑假里，我繼續賣著我們農場種植的農產品。每年夏天，我都比上一年做得更好。我非常驕傲自己成為小鎮上出了名的“賣甜玉米的小女孩”。當看到人們繞過我的競爭者來買我的農產品時，我充滿了成就感。

雖然有很多天我都寧愿睡大覺或是和朋友四處閑逛，但我不會拿任何東西來交換這段經歷。我的農場生意教會了我如何與他人合作，并讓我擁有了永不放棄的決心。我知道這些將會是令我終身受益的經驗。

1. subdivision [?s?bd??v??n] n. <美> （在劃分出的小塊土地上建造的）住宅小區

2. out of one's element： 處于不相宜的環境；不得其所

3. Dairy Queen： 冰雪皇后，全球冰淇淋及快餐連鎖企業，1940年誕生于美國。

4. pro [pr??] n. 贊成的觀點

5. cornstalk [?k??nst??k] n. 玉米稈；麥稈

6. tassel [?t?sl] vi. <美> （玉蜀黍等）抽穗

7. nitrogen [?na?tr?d??n] n. 【化】氮

8. on paper： 僅照字面看；理論上

9. stunt [st?nt] vt. 阻礙……的正常發育（或生長）

10. raccoon [r??ku?n] n. 浣熊

11. raid [re?d] vt. （突然）襲擊

12. pickup truck： 小卡車，輕型貨車，皮卡

13. following [?f?l????] n. 一批追隨者（或擁護者）