Lessons from a Lemonade Stand

By: Jean Reidy

Children inherit a variety of traits from their parents. I didn’t know that business savvy was one of them.

I came upon this chromosomal breakthrough one Saturday in May. I was home with my daughters. It was only 10 am, boredom had set in and whining was close behind. “How ‘bout selling lemonade?” I suggested. Did I hear myself correctly or was I having a heat-exhaustion-induced “Carol Brady” moment?

Molly and Catherine, eyes wide in disbelief, questioned, “Can we really, Mom?” “Sure,” I replied, “but you’re on your own, because Mommy is planting today.” Scores of two-week-old annuals cried to me, choking, root-bound in their 6-packs.

It was ninety degrees already, unseasonable for May. The neighborhood pool was closed. The market was ripe for the picking.

In a different life, I was a businesswoman. I was tempted to provide the girls with in-services and on-site training in marketing, inventory and finance. But I exercised restraint and watched their free-form venture take shape. Their business sense seemed intuitive - almost genetic. And while effortlessly demonstrating each of the key business principles below, they established a few of their own.

Planning is the First Step Unless You Decide to Skip It.

Molly and Catherine laid out the tasks ahead, without Franklin, Day-Timers or inter-office memos. I left my gardening momentarily to offer a bit of key advice, “It will take a while for the frozen concentrate to thaw...”

“We know, Mom,” Catherine interrupted. “We got them out of the freezer already. Two are on the counter for now and two are in the fridge for later.” An eight-year-old with foresight?

Cooperation Facilitates Work and Minimizes Hairpulling.

The same sisters who fight over TV channels, car seating arrangements, and who gets the top bunk, worked together like Procter & Gamble Co. Two heads huddled over their “Lemonade For Sale” masterpiece for a full thirty minutes.

“I’ll print ‘Lemonade,’” said Catherine.

“O.K. I’ll write the flavors in this corner,” added Molly.

Their teamwork continued. “You mix the lemonade. I’ll get the cups ready,” assured Molly.

Have team-building seminars infiltrated the elementary school curriculum?

Where You Lack Expertise Consult An Expert or an Older Brother.

Pricing was not their forte, so Catherine and Molly conferred with Tim Reidy, resident economist with eight years of experience in the lemonade business. His pricing strategy: “Five cents a cup is a clean round number, but you’ll run out before noon. Fifty cents may be an entire week’s allowance for some little kid and he’ll shop around,” said Tim. “Worse yet, he might open up his own stand across the street. At ten to twenty-five cents, you’re pretty safe and you usually won’t have to make change.” The girls compromised; they offered their product in two sizes --small for ten cents and large for twenty-five.

Keep an Eye on the Competition and the Ice Cream Man.

About thirty minutes into their grand opening, a familiar jingling lured prospective customers from the lemonade line to a formidable opponent, the ice cream man. I wanted to throw myself in front of his truck begging, “Please, not this block.”

Luckily, Mr. “Fakey” Freeze only attracted those kids with over a dollar in their pocket or an adult with them. As the ice cream truck drew closer, the girls hurriedly counted their cash on hand and decided to give him a little business. He returned the favor by purchasing a large lemonade. Three dollars out, twenty-five cents in - this was not survival of the fittest, but peaceful coexistence.

Sales Minus Cost of Goods Sold Equals Net Income, Maybe.

When Catherine dumped the cash can on the counter at the end of the day, she counted $4.25 to divide between the two of them. Down the $3 from their ice cream purchase, they seemed content with their profits. In my mind I added back the lemonade they drank themselves and the lemonade spilled. With satisfaction, I noted additional revenues of friends made, fresh air consumed, and mom’s planting successfully completed.

Philanthropy Fits the Corporate Philosophy and Feels Good Too.

“You know what, Mom? Mrs. Santos gave us $2 because we were working so hard. And she didn’t even want any lemonade. Isn’t that so nice?” shouted Molly, recounting their sales experiences. I thought back to Catherine’s accounting efforts of the last few minutes. Their debits and credits now didn’t balance. Their cash reserves seemed low given this new income information.

“Yeah, that was right after we poured about ten cups of lemonade for some little kids who were all so hot, Mom,” sympathized Catherine, “and they didn’t have any money with them.” Ah, now their bottom line seemed balanced and perfect.

Then, as if enticed by early retirement, the businesswomen disappeared and my little girls returned. “Let’s go lie in the grass by the garden, Mom,” said Molly. A sticky hand from each girl grabbed mine and they led me out the door to the petunias.

I wonder what Donald Trump’s kids are up to.

Jean Reidy is an award-winning freelance writer and children's author. Please watch for the release of TOO PURPLEY! (Bloomsbury, Winter 2010) the first of her four upcoming picture books. You can visit Jean at www.jeanreidy.com.