Children’s Business Fair Patrick Palmer, a Clovis East High School junior, is the driving force behind laser-engraving business Little Valley Goods. Photo via Jessica Redman Photography

While many high school juniors worry about Friday night football games, homecoming parades and what to wear to prom next year, Clovis High School junior Patrick Palmer is worried about customer satisfaction, shipping times and profit margins.

Starting with a dream many high schoolers have — owning his own car — Patrick started saving up for the new Ford Bronco in 2021 after his ag adviser at Clovis East showed him how to candy and package almonds.

Hoping to make a bit of side money at local farmers markets, he started counting the dollars — that is until he saw a video on TikTok showing a laser printing machine.

“I saw the laser and kind of forgot about the Bronco dream because I was so invested in owning a small business and how cool that would be,” Patrick said.

Having saved up around $3,000 for the printing machine, Patrick’s father, Sean, offered him the final $1,000 in the form of a loan to purchase the printer.

From there, the opportunities grew and continue to grow.

“It just kind of slowly got bigger and bigger,” Palmer said. “I never thought it would blow up to this point.”

Buying the laser printing machine opened up new opportunities for the young entrepreneur, allowing him to branch out from just selling almonds to selling a wide variety of goods, from cutting boards to home decorations to apparel.

Patrick participated in the recent Children’s Business Fair, which was introduced last year during ClovisFest by Mykel Suntrapak.

“I think he was really shocked with how much he sold during the event,” Suntrapak said. “He has just been such a wonderful example of a young entrepreneur; he’s got a lot of drive.”

At this year’s event, Patrick shared his entrepreneurial experience with younger children at the business fair, filling in after a previously scheduled presenter was unable to attend the event.

“He has shared that we have been very helpful in helping guide him, but he kind of has it all by himself,” Suntrapak said. “I hope that the experience with the Children’s Business Fair gave him that much more confidence to keep going with his idea.”

Suntrapak praises Patrick’s commitment to investing in his own business, adding that he’s already saving to buy more equipment for the business.

For Patrick though, his commitment to success was taught at a young age by his parents, Sean and Kristina, emphasizing hard work being the key to personal success — starting with a spelling lesson.

“It all started when he was in first grade,” Kristina said, reflecting on Patrick holding a silver dinner tray, to which she added keys, his dad’s wallet and more items before removing them all to teach a life lesson.

“The only way you’re going to own a car, own a house and have anything of your own is you’ll have to earn it — and it starts with these spelling words,” Kristina said.

Patrick has taken that lesson and ran with it, with Kristina emphasizing that Patrick sees the business not as a right, but as a privilege.

“You have to fill your own silver platter,” she said.

That’s not to say both Sean and Kristina are unwilling to help. In fact, quite the opposite; Patrick mentions that there’s a possibility his family may temporarily run the business while he attends college.

“My mom and dad are [my] biggest supporters,” he said. “My mom’s talked many times about running it if she needs to for a year or while I’m at college.”

Despite the rising costs of operating a business, Patrick still does his best to place his customers before everything else, offering discounts, giveaways and special promotions throughout the year.

“Every three months or so I do a giveaway and it brings customers back,” he said.

Little Valley Goods can be found on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, with products for sale on his website, littlevalleygoods.com.