Whole Network Attitude Communications Customer Servic... Entrepreneur Global Marketpl... Health Care Marketing

 

Small Business Lessons from a Lemonade Stand

Filed in archive Operations by Deborah Brown on July 9, 2007

32273991.jpg
It's summertime and lemonade stands run by elementary school entrepreneurs have popped up all over town. When I was that age I didn't have a lemonade stand but I did find things to make, put in a sandwichlinks bag and sell door to door whenever I needed money. It is that same risk taking spirit that has inspired the Inc sponsored lemonade stand contest for kids ages 5-12.

In a recent article outlining the details of the contest, veteran business owner and Inc. magazine columnist Norm Brodsky offers kids these tips for building a great lemonade stand:

* Read "Tom Sawyer." Pay attention to the part about painting the fence. Hint: You don't have to do all the work yourself.

* Use your age advantage in creating the stand. Make a deal with the best architect in town: If he designs a great lemonade stand for you for free -- and you win the contest -- you'll make sure he gets recognition on national TV.

* Find a niche. A niche differentiates your stand from your competitors' stands. One idea: Hook up with a good cause and pledge a percentage of the profit to it.

* Be nice to your parents. You'll need capital to build your stand and buy ingredients. Unless you have savings, you'll have to find sympathetic outside investors, namely, your parents.

* Location, location, location. Set up your stand in front of your house only if you happen to live next door to the biggest mall in town. Look for a place with a lot of foot traffic. The more people who pass by you, the more sales you'll make.

* Don't skimp on quality. Buy the best ingredients -- and let your customers know about it.

* Charge a lot. You're a kid; you have the highest quality lemonade; and you need the money. If you're supporting a good cause, that's another reason people should be willing to pay more.


For the rest of the ideas check out the complete 10 tips for the coolest lemonade stand.

Just like Robert Fulghum's All I Really Need to Know I learned in Kindergarten, these business tips work for all small businesses.

Deborah Chaddock Brown
Writer, Door to door saleswoman
AllWrite Ink







Permalink: Small Business Lessons from a Lemonade Stand
Tags: lemonade  stand  INC  robert  Fulghum  business  ideas  2007  small+business 

Trackback: http://www.creative-weblogging.com/cgi-bin/mt-tb.pl/80113





RSSrss   | See all blog subscribe options
Google google   |   What is RSS?
Yahoo! yahoo
Addthis Subscribe using any feed reader!
Bloglines Bloglines
Newsletter
Grouptivity

Use the search to look for other interesting posts



 
  • Advertise with us

  • Learn more about our advertising options or email advertising - at - creative-weblogging.com or give us a call at +1 (650) 331 4900.




  • Other blogs in the same channel in the Creative Weblogging Network







 

Tagcloud: Attitude Branding Business Deals Business Models Business Podcast Carnival's Communications Contracts Customer Service Education Employees Entrepreneur Finance General Global Marketplace Goal Setting Government Health Care Human Resources Humor Innovation Insurance Intellectual Property Inventions and Intellectual Property Law Leadership Management Marketing Networking Online Commerce Operations Organization Planning Pricing Problem Solving Publishing Resources Risk Management Sales SEO Small Business Legal Sponsored Posts Strategy Teamwork Technology travel Value-add