At the ripe age of 19, Josh Heinzl is a successful entrepreneur with three toy stores under his name and plans to open more. Heinzl is owner, president and CEO of Josh's Toys & Games, which launched in 2008 in the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua when Heinzl was 15 years old. He has since opened stores at the Mall at Rockingham Park in Salem and Emerald Square in North Attleboro, Mass.
Between 2010 and 2011, Heinzl says his stores saw sales grow by 25 percent, which he says was one of my weaker years, but total company revenue and profits are up. Josh's Toys & Games has 15 employees, though that number rose to 25 this past holiday season.
Heinzl, who grew up in Windham and was homeschooled since the ninth grade, first caught the entrepreneurial bug when he was 12 and was captain of his Lego robotics league. When we needed more supplies for the team, I realized I could buy and sell kits online. Through buying sets, I could get what I needed and then sell the rest. I started buying stuff just for the purpose of retail and started to make a profit on it. I got to the point of excess inventory, but still turning a profit, he recalls.
Two years later, he decided he wanted to open his own store and took a year to research brick-and-mortar retail and buying and selling strategies before meeting with leasing representatives, who were at first hesitant to deal with a 15 year old. I had done my research. I knew what I was talking about, Heinzl says. My money was as green as anybody else's. They were willing to give me a standard lease.
After the store opened, it knocked down any other barriers his age may have posed, Heinzl says.
Heinzl expects to open two to four more locations this year around New England.
Once I reach a plateau with stable expansion and have a good team in place, I plan to go to college. You never know where things are going to take you. I have tons of ideas. I want to run Josh's Toys and Games to the top and see how big I can get, he says.
Heinzl recently appeared on an episode of Biz Kid$, public television's financial literacy series for children that includes profiles of young entrepreneurs and social philanthropists. Kids should listen to their dreams. They do have to be realistic about their dreams, but don't let someone say you can't do it, that you're too old, too young, too anything, he says. If you put work and dedication into it, you can do anything.
Current Issue - May 2024