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Locker Board

THE KIDPRENEUR FILES

Meet some amazing kids who started their own businesses!

Courtesy of Locker Board (All Images)

NAME: Carson Kropfl
AGE: 16
BUSINESS: Locker Board, based in San Clemente, California

Starting A Business

COOLEST MOMENT: In 2017, Carson secured a $65,000 investment from Richard Branson on Shark Tank. After that, he stopped making the boards by hand. “I knew I wasn’t going to be able to keep up with all those orders!” he says. He was right: His company grew 300% after the investment.

When Carson Kropfl started middle school, his skateboarding hobby hit a speed bump. None of his skateboards would fit in his new locker! To solve his skateboard problem, Carson created a mini board that he could easily fit in his locker or backpack.

After a few prototypes, Carson settled on a rectangular board about half the size of a traditional oblong deck. He named it the Locker Board. “It fits perfectly in your locker, and you can still skate on it,” Carson says. “It’s super fun to ride.”

Carson made his first pint-sized boards at his house and sold them to friends during lunch. After Carson posted a video of himself riding a Locker Board on Instagram, people started asking him where they could buy one. That inspired Carson to turn his idea into a much bigger business. He even went on the TV show Shark Tank, where he convinced investor Richard Branson to give him a $65,000 investment.

Carson Kropfl is an avid skateboarder. But his hobby hit a speed bump when he started middle school. None of his skateboards would fit in his new locker! To solve his problem, Carson created a mini board that he could fit in his locker or backpack.

It took Carson several tries to design a mini skateboard. He settled on a rectangular board about half the size of a traditional rounded one. He named it the Locker Board. “It fits perfectly in your locker, and you can still skate on it,” Carson says. “It’s super fun to ride.”

Carson made his first Locker Boards at his house. He sold them to friends during lunch. Then Carson posted a video of himself riding a Locker Board on Instagram. People started asking him where they could buy one. That inspired Carson to turn his idea into a bigger business. He even went on the TV show Shark Tank, where investor Richard Branson gave him $65,000. 

The Locker Board
Watch a video about skateboards that can fit in lockers.

On The Job

Today, Carson works with the toy company Wham-O to produce Locker Boards. By working with a manufacturing company, he can make his boards affordable and keep up with the growing demand. “I drove all through Southern California looking for people to supply me my hardware,” Carson says. “It was really cool to build those relationships.”

During the day, Carson still goes to school, skates, suRrfs, and hangs out with his friends—all things that helped him first come up with Locker Board. But he also checks social media for kids skating on a Locker Board and responds to emails about his product!

Today, Carson works with a toy company to produce Locker Boards. The company, called Wham-O, can make many boards quickly and at an affordable price. But Carson still had to help figure out how to manufacture the boards. “I drove all through Southern California looking for people to supply me my hardware,” he says. “It was really cool to build those relationships.”

Carson still goes to school, skates, surfs, and hangs out with his friends. In the evening, he checks social media for posts about Locker Board. He also responds to emails about his product.

Carson makes a prototype out of an old skateboard deck.

What We've Learned

Carson is always looking for new opportunities to grow his business. “I’ve learned three things: to seize the moment, never give up, and to believe in yourself,” he says. The young entrepreneur has other ideas for new products and wants to work on developing them along with the Locker Board. “I’m always going to be running some type of company,” he says. “It’s what I love.”

Carson is always looking for ways to expand his business. “I’ve learned three things: to seize the moment, never give up, and to believe in yourself,” he says. Carson has ideas for new products and wants to work on developing them. “I’m always going to be running some type of company,” he says. “It’s what I love.”

MATH BEHIND THE BUSINESS

Key Math Idea: Finding A Sale Price
Most companies—Locker Boards included—discount the prices of their goods with sales. Sales often advertise percent reductions, which subtract a percent off the regular retail price to make a new, lower sale price.

Key Math Idea: Finding A Sale Price
Most companies—Locker Boards included—discount the prices of their goods with sales. Sales often advertise percent reductions, which subtract a percent off the regular retail price to make a new, lower sale price.

Here's how they do it. Record your work and answers on our answer sheet.

Here's how they do it. Record your work and answers on our answer sheet.

The Cruz series of Locker Board is on sale for 17% off its regular retail price $59.99. What is the discounted sale price?

The Cruz series of Locker Board is on sale for 17% off its regular retail price $59.99. What is the discounted sale price?

The Grind series of Locker Board is on sale for 20% off its regular retail price of $49.99. What is the discounted sale price?

The Grind series of Locker Board is on sale for 20% off its regular retail price of $49.99. What is the discounted sale price?

The Grom’s full retail price is $39.99. If Locker Boards offered an additional 15% discount off a Grom series board that was already on sale for 25% off, what is the final sale price after both discounts?

The Grom’s full retail price is $39.99. If Locker Boards offered an additional 15% discount off a Grom series board that was already on sale for 25% off, what is the final sale price after both discounts?

Continue Your Learning

 
  • Sales tax is a percent of an item’s sales price paid to the state that is added on to the original or discounted item amount. It results in a price that is greater than the original price. Determine the final price of a $59.99 Locker Board using the sales tax rates for the following states: California (7.25%), Colorado (2.9%), Georgia (4%), and Maine (5.5%).
  • Poll your class on how they get to school. Create a data display of this information—it can be a graph, an infographic, a chart, etc. Then compare your display with your classmates’ to see how many different ways the same data can be presented.
  • Play the game Buggy Percents to practice finding percents of a number.

Continue Your Learning

 
  • Sales tax is a percent of an item’s sales price paid to the state that is added on to the original or discounted item amount. It results in a price that is greater than the original price. Determine the final price of a $59.99 Locker Board using the sales tax rates for the following states: California (7.25%), Colorado (2.9%), Georgia (4%), and Maine (5.5%).
  • Poll your class on how they get to school. Create a data display of this information—it can be a graph, an infographic, a chart, etc. Then compare your display with your classmates’ to see how many different ways the same data can be presented.
  • Play the game Buggy Percents to practice finding percents of a number.
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