At age 11, this Ontario boy is spinning a sweet cotton candy business

While most kids spend their summers lollygagging or playing with friends, a young Ontario entrepreneur will be out spinning sugar into candy — and cold hard cash — by selling his sweet wares in a popular beachside town. 

Fin Pearson-Ross, 11, started Fin’s Spins last summer in Grand Bend, Ont., and plans to continue the venture this summer, ramping up when school lets out. 

The business began after the boy’s teacher assigned a ‘genius hour’ project, the Grade 6 student said. 

“Basically genius hour is where you take something that no one else knows about and you become a genius on it,” he said. “I chose cotton candy and that’s how it all kind of happened,” said Fin.

He’s already been out this year testing the cotton candy market. Fin set up his cotton candy machine this past Saturday for a couple of hours and spun about a hundred dollars worth of the pink sugary treat.

“It went great,” said Fin. “But I noticed that 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. aren’t the best hours for cotton candy. Not all people are going to buy cotton candy before supper.”

He probably has more in his bank account than I do. He is really, really working to make a profit.– Kendra Pearson, Fin’s mom

Last summer after his school project, Fin’s two moms agreed to purchase a top-of-the-line $1,000 candy maker — on one condition:

“We told him that the first thing he had to do with his profits was to pay off the business loan that he had procured from his moms,” said mom Kendra Pearson.

“In two weeks of sales last summer, he paid us back in full.”

Watch Finn spin cotton candy:

For the second summer, Fin Pearson-Ross, 11, will be selling cotton candy just steps from the beach in Grand Bend. He’ll officially start once school wraps. Due to inflation, prices are up from $3 a spin to $4.

Fin spins his cotton candy in a perfectly-suited Halloween costume — a white pressed shirt and pants with a red pin striped vest — just outside the restaurant his family owns. Fin’s other mom, Tanya Ross, has been running the long-standing Dairy Dip and Pizza Place with her brother, Nathan, since the pair took it over from their parents in 2017.

Prices up with inflation

Fin’s entrepreneurial drive was inspired, in part, by his twin sister who makes money busking with her violin, said Pearson. But, Fin’s interest in money is all his.

“He probably has more in his bank account than I do,” laughed Pearson. “He is really, really working to make a profit.”

Fin has raised his prices this year, thanks to inflation. A single spin will now cost $4, up from $3 last year.

After paying off his moms and purchasing ingredients, Fin made about $1,000 last summer.

“I hope to make a little bit more this summer because I’m going to be out more,” he said.

Fin said he hopes to be on site five days a week this summer and will determine the hours based on how busy it is.