For Lucas Salzman’s birthday this year, he got a present he didn’t expect: A job.
“Because I turned 14 this year, my mom told me I needed to get a job,” said the Freehold Township teen. “Since it can be hard to find a job at such a young age, I figured it would be easier to start my own business.
“My mom used to own a cafe where she sold many things, but my favorites were the drinks. Thus, I created a line of beverages.”
That seems like quite an endeavor for a ninth grader – not only forming his own business, but securing products, and maintaining life as a Freehold Township High School student.
Salzman has enjoyed a Sprite occasionally out to dinner or at a party; however, feeling soda is typically full of unnecessary ingredients, he was on the hunt for a company that could make him something with more integrity: natural cane sugar, no caffeine, and high-quality natural flavors, all mixed in small batches by hand. After doing a lot of research and tasting many sodas, he finally found a factory that checked off all of these boxes. Thus, Lue’s Brew was born.
“My favorite flavor of Lue’s Brew is root beer,” he said. “I typically choose the flavors by thinking about which ones are most popular or would bring out a childhood memory just by the taste.”
Other flavors of his craft sodas include lemonade, red/white/blue soda, strawberry soda, orange cream soda, diet root beer, raspberry lime rickey, ginger beer, vanilla cream soda and black cherry soda. This past summer, Lue even added a locally roasted nitro cold brew coffee in custom-designed cans.
The very first product on the Lue’s Brew line was hand-roasted coffee beans, available as whole beans in 12-ounce bags; flavors include espresso, coconut, Swiss chocolate almond, Brazil Cerrado, Costa Rica, and Columbian decaf.
Lue’s Brews are available in about 40 stores across New Jersey, as well as through luesbrew.com.
“The easiest part of this whole process has been making deliveries to stores and connecting with the local business owners,” he said. “I truly enjoy conversations about their experiences and the advice they offer. With just a quick drive I can deliver to several different stores, and I still have plenty of time left for schoolwork and extracurricular activities.
“The hardest part is finding new stores to partner with. People can be difficult to reach and communicate with sometimes, so I have been trying not to feel discouraged when they seem uninterested, or don’t respond. With persistence and encouragement from my family and friends, I get back out there and keep trying.”
Salzman is already learning the value of community service, as he donated $480 to Swing For the Stars to benefit The Family Autism Network in April; $280 to Liv Like a Unicorn; $536 to Dance For the Kids and The Embrace Kids Foundation; $1,000 to Slice Out Hunger; $750 to support his high school marching band and football team; $3,350 towards medical bills to help a UFC fighter and family member; and many smaller fundraisers throughout the year.
In the next year, the young entrepreneur said he hopes to get his line into more stores, including expanding into surrounding states. “We are also looking to integrate a line of nitro cold brew teas,” he said.
Salzman feels that this “birthday present” venture has been a great learning experience, and has taught him a few things about how to run a business, but has also helped him to develop communication and social skills. He said he has been networking a lot along the way.
“If this takes off, I’d love to continue doing it, but even if it ends up being a short-term project during my high school years then it will at least be a positive learning experience,” he said. “If I don’t wind up making this my career, then I’m not really sure what I’d do yet. I have several other interests.”
When Salzman feels like being a kid instead of a business owner, he plays in the school’s band and practices martial arts.
“My advice for young entrepreneurs is to make sure to work hard, but still make time for things like studying and homework because in order to be successful, you need to focus on reaching these accomplishments first,” he said. — 07728
