Johnny Cupcakes

From NPR’s Weekend Edition:

At just 24 years old, Johnny Cupcakes is still as much of a prankster as he is an entrepreneur.

He made his first buck selling whoopee cushions in junior high. So it’s not surprising that, when it came time to open his own store, on Boston’s Newbury Street, Johnny set it up like a well-laid trap: He planted a giant dough machine in the window, and made sure the glass bakery cases and stainless-steel cooling racks were visible from the street. All day, hungry passers-by come in asking for cupcakes.

And, all day, Johnny tries to contain his amusement as he explains he has no cupcakes for sale.

Instead, his baker’s racks hold brightly colored T-shirts, each with the image of a cupcake where you’d least expect it: the Statue of Liberty holding a cupcake; Marilyn Monroe with a tiny cupcake-shaped mole; and the cupcake-and-crossbones motif that has become the store’s signature design. At $40 to $70 a piece, the tees are selling like, well, hotcakes. And the guy who’s most surprised is Johnny himself.

…

[Johnny] Earle [aka Johnny Cupcakes] may have pulled it off especially well, [Babson College business professor Glenn] Kaplus says. “But isn’t almost everything that way?” He observes, “Until you’ve done it, you’re really faking it until you make it.”

Very interesting story. Part-business lesson, part-hipster tale.

The NPR write-up also includes a lists of do’s and don’ts for starting your own business. From the list: