Shady markets are markets nonetheless

Consider the business sense of your average local drug dealer

Shady+markets+are+markets+nonetheless

I’d like to begin with a disclaimer: In no way, shape or form am I encouraging drug dealing or drug use of any kind in this article. Read on before reporting me to administration, please.

It’s an accorded truth of high school that, no matter who you are, drugs are everywhere on campus. Even if you’ve never participated in drug trade or drug use, it’s likely that pot, pills and other drugs are being exchanged around you all the time. This is, after all, the lifestyle of a dealer.

There’s understandably a stigma against drug dealers in high school — but when you put safety and ethics aside, the black market makes for an interesting form of business dominated by teenaged CEOs.

Yes, it’s incredibly risky and obviously illegal. Yes, high school students probably have better things to do. But a business is a business regardless of how dangerous and questionable it is — and this business in particular is a platform for real life experience.

(Even if I myself would recommend a legal, part-time job instead.)

But a business is a business regardless of how dangerous and questionable it is.

And like all businesses, there are lessons to be learned and profits to be reaped. You have to stock up on your product, find and sustain a reliable clientele, provide quality customer service, outcompete your competition. That’s quite a lot of responsibility for a student — one who probably won’t obtain the same skill set in a high school economics course.

To begin, you have to stock up on what you plan to sell. High school dealers typically obtain their products by buying off of someone else — say, in Downtown LA, or in the Valley — then selling at a higher price. This is similar to what a clothing store such as Tilly’s might do when stocking up each season. They cannot over-buy, and if they under-buy, their income plummets when their supply can’t meet demand.

In buying and selling the same product, drug dealers have to assess the rise and fall of prices, as well as the demands of consumers. The latter can be ascertained through communication.

When it comes to this clientele, it’s safe to assume that both the buyer and seller want their identities hidden. This creates an element of secrecy in the business — a high priority for both parties. Safe communication is sacred, and a loose mouth could be damaging — which is why drug dealers need to pick and choose their clientele as carefully as said clientele needs to pick and choose the dealer. It’s almost like having an implicit non-disclosure agreement between the dealer and buyer.

High school dealers, in fact, could truly be revolutionary as adults if they ditched the “il” in illegal, went to business school and entered Wall Street instead.

Now, you may have already known that stocking up on product and establishing a reliable clientele was integral to drug dealing. But you’ve probably overlooked how math and communications plays into the business, too. Dealers have to account for how much they can afford to stock up on, how much their clients can afford, and — from these two numerals — whether or not they can break even, and how they can manage to stay afloat.

My point is this: When you break down the business of drug dealing, which is something most people admittedly don’t do, you get a business that sells a harmful product, but is founded upon right ideas. High school dealers, in fact, could truly be revolutionary as adults if they ditched the “il” in illegal, went to business school and entered Wall Street instead.

When I think of drug dealing, I see CEOs in the making. I see managers or vice presidents of international companies — people who have already had experience in the business world.

Just remember: This experience cannot be put on a resume.