Lemonade Stand with a Twist

Since most entrepreneurial journeys begin with a neighborhood lemonade stand, I figured now would be a great time for us to give it a try.  After all, we’ve just kicked off our entrepreneurial journey and it will be fun and easy for us to pull it together, right?  Not only that, but there’s sure to be some learning opportunities along the way.  Hey, fun and educational – two of our four goals – in one fell swoop.  I love it when a plan comes together!

Let’s start with the learning opportunities.  I’ve been talking through the idea of a lemonade stand with Owen and Malia and two lessons have begun to evolve.  First of all, we’re learning about the concept of a good location.  Since we live on a cul-de-sac, we’ve discussed hosting the stand at the end of our block or – as Owen suggested – near the neighborhood park.  Since the park is just a short distance from a large number of homes AND includes a playscape, Owen believes there will be many more potential customers.  That’s my boy!

The second lesson – and this one may be a little too advanced for them – is the concept of being unique.  For example, I realize the main purpose of a lemonade stand is to make  and sell a product to a paying customer, but I’ve passed a lot of lemonade stands in my time without stopping (even though that little voice in my head says, “you should stop and buy some lemonade from those young kids.”)  Why is it that I keep driving?  I think it’s  because I tell myself I’ll stop next time as there will surely be another one tomorrow or the day after that.  I guess the only thing that’s unique about the stands are the children behind them.  Yikes, now I feel really bad.  I promise I’ll stop the next time.

In an effort to be unique and provide a needed service in our neighborhood, I suggested to the kids we host a coffee stand instead.  Unfortunately, the closest coffee shop is about  twenty minutes away and I’m confident there are many coffee drinkers amongst the 900 houses in our subdivision.  And when the kids suggested we could sell chocolate milk as well, I knew we were on to something.  So that’s the plan.  We’re going to host a neighborhood coffee stand and we’ll also have milk for the kids.  Based on our level of excitement, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it happen this weekend.  Shaferrrrr…Power!

What are your thoughts on lemonade stands?

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