NATCHEZ — Sometimes, the hot late summer days inspire the doldrums, but when the Dart found 10-year-olds Rudy Nugent and Fredrick Sanguinetti on Margaret Avenue, the hot day had inspired their entrepreneurial spirit.

On the mailbox at Rudy’s house, the two had posted a sign for a car wash, and the two were busy soaping and rinsing Rudy’s mother’s car.

The idea struck them earlier in the day when Rudy’s older sister offered the boys money to wash her car.

“Really, we’re just doing it because we feel like it,” Rudy said, shrugging before opening the hose full blast on the back of the car.

Their pricing scheme was simple, but competitive with other carwashes in the area — $6 for washing and 50 cents for wheel shining.

Drying? The boys decided they would toss that in for free.

The split for the two partners would be down the middle, 50-50.

After coming up with their business plan, the two had to advertise.

“We just decided to put a sign in the street and go with that,” Fredrick said.

The carwash opened at 10 a.m., and they were still outside at 3 p.m.

But like so many young entrepreneurs before them, they were learning one of the hardest lessons of capitalism 101, a lack of demand in the chain of supply and demand.

In fact, their only two customers had been Rudy’s sister and mother.

But that wasn’t necessarily going to deter them.

“It’s been really slow,” Rudy said. “We’ll probably try another weekend.”