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<p>I'm a junior in high school and was wondering if i could still get into UPenn (Wharton) with a 3.3 (but will be a 3.6 by first sem. senior year) if I start a successful (product in trader joes around LA County) business by myself? I have a pretty good idea in mind, but not sure where to start. Will my chances be good if I do start a business successfully?</p>

<p>P.S.
I know I have no chance of getting into UPenn w/o the business, but should I wait till after college when I'm ready or start the business now when I have no experience, but will get me into the dream school?</p>

<p>P.S.S
Any suggestions on how to start a business selling a food product to trader joes?</p>

<p>How do you plan on selling Trader Joe’s on a product and manufacturing enough for all of their stores in 1 year? That would be a feat for an established company. Do you have capital to get a business started? Do you have an attorney to protect your idea before you begin negotiating with Trader Joe’s?</p>

<p>I suppose if you had this impressive business up and running and a very high SAT score to show Wharton you have what it takes to handle the program, they might overlook some weakness in a GPA. But in my 30 year relationship with Wharton, I’ve only seen one students do this.</p>

<p>Well, I know an entrepreneur who could help me with this. Is that wise to do? Will it hurt my chances of getting into Wharton if someone helps me i mean.</p>

<p>Also, I don’t want to sell to all the trader joes (that would be crazy to do in just a year).
What I wanted to do though was to just distribute to the trader joes in my area (around Los Angeles). Is that reasonable?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>Well I think Trader Joes is like a franchise type company so it’s not like private owned and you can sell items exclusively to stores in your area. You may want to try something with local private businesses somehow…</p>

<p>It is privately owned. I’m pretty sure its possible to just sell to a small section of trader joes in order to see if that product is going to sell or not.</p>

<p>Any suggestions of how to get started?</p>

<p>Maybe, I know they carry local wine. But before they wasted their time they will want proof you have the ability to mass produce the product at favorable prices. An idea for a food product is just the start. Determining how you can cost effectively make it, while maintaining quality, is the challenge.</p>

<p>TJs is well know for being extremely discerning buyers. Their people travel the world to find the best products that can be sold at low prices. This would be a pretty big job for a high school kid to pull off with an ‘entrepreneur.’ </p>

<p>Who has the capital?</p>

<p>I have a 3.0 GPA, but would like to get into harvard because I found a cure for cancer.
PS, Anyone know of a good cure for cancer?</p>

<p>OP- thanks for the best laugh I have had all day.</p>

<p>Well, I have $1,500 saved up, but what i plan to do is to start of selling only at 2-3 stores then keep expanding from there.</p>

<p>About how much capital do I need to do that?</p>