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:
- 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.
- 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.
- Give back. They decided they would donate a portion of their earnings to The Humane Society and raised about $17 in one day.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
