I recently observed my two daughters and their friends running a lemonade stand with several of their friends in the neighborhood.  It was interesting to watch how much we know about running a successful business at a young age and for some reason we seem to forget some of the basics.  Here’s what I learned as I watched them:

  1. Keep start-up costs down.  They started their business with almost no cash.  They made a few signs with markers, paper and some old cardboard boxes and were up and running in no time.
  2. Location, location, location.  There were two households involved in the operation and they were smart enough to select the house on the corner as their location.
  3. Give back.  They decided they would donate a portion of their earnings to The Humane Society and raised about $17 in one day.
  4. Have no fear – just do it.  The girls didn’t second guess what they were doing.  They simply made the lemonade, put the signs up and hoped for the best.
  5. Have Fun!  Even if they didn’t sell a single glass of lemonade that day it wouldn’t have mattered to them.  They had smiles on their faces and enjoyed every minute of it. 
  6. Don’t worry about things you can’t control.  They picked one of the coldest, wettest Spring days to sell lemonade but they went after it anyway.
  7.  Don’t listen to naysayers.  I must say mom and dad weren’t 100% supportive of their plans to run a lemonade stand in the cold, but they did it anyway and were very successful.
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