SAFETY HARBOR, FL (WFLA) — At Safety Harbor’s inaugural Market on Main on Sunday, you’ll have to look down to spot some of the vendors. Among them, will be Mackenzie and Ashley Bancroft of Two Sisters Honey Company.
Selling bottled honey, honey sticks and candy, the girls are one of three young entrepreneur-run businesses being offered a coveted spot under the gazebo on Main Street and 4th Avenue. The Oldsmar girls got their start after visiting their uncle’s bee farm in South Carolina.
“I said I want to start a business and do our own honey and get started,” says Mackenzie, 8, about how she and her 5-year-old sister Ashley were inspired.
The Bancroft sisters get their honey from a local producer in Lakeland. They brand, market and sell at community events.
Market Manager Brandon Ahlgren tells News Channel 8 the idea to offer reduced-price sales space to kids came to him while reflecting on his own ambition as a young boy always thinking of how to make money.
“America is built on small businesses and we need to give our next generation the opportunity to learn how to build a small business,” says Alghren, who explains young bakers and soap makers have also signed up for the market.
Mackenzie and Ashley’s parents, themselves small business owners, support their daughters’ interest in selling honey. The parents do most of the heavy lifting, including boxes and tables, but claim the girls started it all with their own savings.
Their mother, Kelly Bancroft says, “If they’re showing interest, do it. You always want to go with what they love and what they want to do.”
The Bancroft sisters hope to someday have their own honey-producing bee farm. For now, they’re sharpening their sales and marketing skills.
“I’m hoping to learn how to talk to customers and not be shy,” says Mackenzie.
Market on Main is located at Main Street and 4th Street in Safety Harbor and runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday. For more information about Market on Main click here
