Krawitz knew that customers might initially not take him seriously. “People were messaging me constantly I would have to put my phone in aeroplane mode so I could sleep.” “I didn’t approach anyone, they all approached me,” he says. “Everyone went crazy for it.” Ordering progressively larger batches of stock, he was soon supplying the likes of Spar, Tasko Sweets, and Takealot, and exporting to sweet shops in Mozambique and Zambia.Īttracting customers through TikTok, Instagram, and designing his own website, something he does professionally in another of his multiple businesses, Krawitz bought an additional phone specifically for Prime-related work. “Initially, I used my Barmitzvah money to order, and then I reinvested my profits,” he says. “All my friends and people everywhere were talking about it.”Īfter months of research, Krawitz found an international supplier, and received his first order of just 12 bottles in September, which he swiftly sold to his friends at R150 a pop. “When Logan Paul and KSI launched Prime in January 2022, I just knew that if it was here, it would do amazingly well,” says Krawitz, a young entrepreneur who has been investing in the stock market since he was 12. By offering limited stock and tapping into the pair’s combined reach of more than 40 million YouTube subscribers and 100 million social media followers, Prime has become a hot commodity around the world. A range of sports and energy drinks “where great taste meets function”, Prime has captured the hearts and minds of millions of children – and the wallets of their parents. Prime, launched by former boxing rivals and YouTube megastars, America’s Logan Paul and England’s KSI (Olajide Olayinka Williams “JJ” Olatunji) in early 2022, is the embodiment of this trend. Immersed in a world where stars are born on YouTube and largely fuelled by their tween and teen followers, Krawitz was determined to tap into the opportunities their frequent brand-extensions offer. Forming part of Prime’s core target market, Krawitz, then 14, used his already considerable entrepreneurial prowess to investigate ways to bring Prime into South Africa last year. Yet, long before the Checkers deal came about, one teenager recognised the brand’s money-making potential. This week, the launch of Prime Hydration for R39.99 at selected Checkers stores was a viral sensation, dominating social media feeds on 1 May, with people queuing for hours to buy a couple of bottles. The story of Prime, an international range of sports drinks initially selling for upwards of R800, began in South Africa with King David High School Linksfield pupil and successful “kidpreneur”, Daniel Krawitz, now 15.

We Are Party People by Leslie Margolis