Today was just like any other Sunday of my life. I was curious to go around and recount all the products that I use every day and the kind of businesses that made them. I also wanted to see if these businesses were publicly-traded or privately-owned. So what’s the difference? We’ll find out.
So starting out this weekend morning, I woke up and went downstairs to do the first thing I was supposed to do. And that is to brush my teeth. I use Crest toothpaste. Who makes that? Proctor and Gamble (P&G). You can buy shares in that and become an owner of that company. I am one, a teensy-tiny owner but still an owner. I then ate breakfast that my mom made. And no company out there can make the kind of breakfast like my mom does so too bad. I then drink water out of my Hydroflask. That’s made by Helen of Troy. And guess what, that one is also publicly-traded and I own shares in that one too. I also play with lots of Lego. Because I love playing with them, I thought maybe I should also buy a stake in that business. But unfortunately, I can’t because the company that makes Lego is privately-owned.
A privately-owned business does not trade on the stock exchange whereas a public-traded one does. So you can buy shares in a publicly-traded business and become a part-owner of that business but you can’t with a private company. Or let me just say that it is not easy to buy a share in a private company but if you really, really want, you could. But not easy.
Anyway, let’s get back to my Sunday. I read a lot. Mostly paper books but sometimes on my Kindle. The Kindle is an Amazon product. Amazon is a publicly-traded business so I also own a very, very, very small piece of Amazon. The paper that was used to make the paper books I read likely came from the International Paper Company. It is the largest paper producer in the world and guess what? It is publicly-traded as well and I own stock in that too. You can use the words shares and stocks interchangeably but they mean the same thing.
And there are companies that make the ink and the metal that make up the printing machines that are used to make those paper books. There are also companies that ship those books around the world. Most of them, if they are publicly-traded, I likely own.
A few hours later, I ate my lunch. The ingredients were from Trader Joe’s which is a private company so I can’t own shares in that company. After lunch, I would often spend some time drawing and I use Microsoft Surface Book for that. And of course I own shares in Microsoft.
I do some math worksheets after that and as a reward, I get to play outside later in the evening. I wear my Adidas hand-me down jacket that my sister used to wear before me. I don’t like that part as much but then again, it is almost like new. Plus it saves money and of course, don’t forget the environment. I put on my Nike shoes and then go outside to play with my neighbors. And I own shares in both.
I come back and wash my hands with a soap brand called Soft Soap. That’s made by Colgate-Palmolive which also makes toothpaste that most of us probably have used at one point or the other. I own shares in that too.
But that was not the end of my day yet. I eat homemade food for dinner. Then I take my shower and I use Dove shampoo and soap. Dove is made by Unilever. I use a conditioner brand called Pantene that comes from P&G. And…you know what I was about to write, don’t you?
Then it’s bedtime.
I also wrote this on Google docs which is part of Google. I own shares in that too.
So that was my day. And now you know about all the products I used that day. And you also know about the businesses that make these products and the fact that I own shares in most of them.
So can you.
And if you think it takes a lot of money to become a shareholder in these wonderful businesses, it doesn’t.
Thank you for reading.
Cover image credit – Oleg Magni, Pexels