Overview

Be fruitful and multiply.

Genesis 1:28

If you want to make a lot of money, sell Tupperware. You know, those plastic storage containers that seal in freshness and fill your fridge with scads of hopelessly unlabeled pastel bowls. The next time you wish you had another six feet of kitchen cabinets, consider how the universal appeal of these containers has made them a household fixture. Everyone has at least one Tupperware container tucked away somewhere.

Individual dealers sell Tupperware products via the "party plan:" They stage informal gatherings at the homes of people who sponsor them in return for a nominal share of the proceeds. Sponsors stay busy at these parties, giving product demonstrations, offering hints and tips, taking orders. It's hard work. A few of them even make a little money at it.

My aunt sold almost a million dollars' worth of Tupperware products one year.

When I heard this, my first thought was, "That's a lot of bowls!" After getting used to the idea that we would soon have a new millionaire in the family, I started wondering how she had done it. She was just a regular person. You know, one of the family. Hardly the type you would expect to be well on her way to riches.

I knew she had worked very hard, continually soaring to new heights with her seemingly limitless energy. Everywhere she went, she would talk up a storm about how good Tupperware products were. Sometimes she would visit our house...