Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

We were driving along a sort of side road, not all that much traffic, and we passed a local lemonade stand. Going fairly slowly, we noticed two young entrepreneurs coming running over to quickly sit at their table, waving to us, and hollering "Lemonade for sale!"

The one was probably 5, and her sister looked to be about 7 years old. We drove by. We figured they likely would get stimulus money, so they wouldn`t need us.

But then we stopped and did a U-ie. "Why not?" we asked. After all, these young entrepreneurs are the future of the nation. Their our heritage. And who knows, maybe they`re not getting stimulus money.

We drove back, pulled over, turned off the car and stepped out. There was a fine-looking pitcher of pink lemonade, and I asked if it was home-made. Smiling one of those gap-tooth smiles of either the very old or very young, the one girl nodded.

I looked at the sign for pricing and menu options. It said, "Toys! 50¢ some. 75¢ some." My interpretation was that some are less and some are more. I hadn`t seen the sign that said the lemonade was 25¢.

Well, my first question was whether or not they still had lemonade in stock. Both girls nodded adamantly, letting us know we were in luck. By that time, their brother, who probably was about 12 came pedaling over on his bike.

I asked if he was the CEO, and he told us he was indeed. Then I asked who handled the money. Apparently, the brother also was the Chief Financial Officer as well. As we got our lemonade, I asked if the girls had stock in the company, and they both nodded adamantly.

All in all, it was a well-run operation. I could see they had many opportunities to expand, as there was some seemingly empty real estate across the street on the other corners. I was about to suggest perhaps a Green Tea & Lemonade product line, to diversify, capture customers coming from a different direction, and tap into the large Asian market, when Kathy smacked me upside the head.

I also noticed there were opportunities for operational efficiencies, seeing that they weren`t running any kind of network. Nor did they have laptops, and they didn`t seem to be computing in the "cloud." I thought I`d take aside their CEO and suggest perhaps bringing in some consultants to help them build up their technological systems.

Then, rubbing the back of my head again, I thought, maybe not.

As we spoke with the Board of Directors, and I sipped my excellent lemonade (noting it probably was influenced by Country Time), I discovered that I`d paid 50¢ for the 25¢ lemonade. I hadn`t properly read their marketing materials, confusing Some Toys with the drink.

But, rather than make a claim on some of the toys, I decided to let it ride.

All in all, they seemed to be doing reasonably well, given the economic downturn we`re all facing. I asked if they had health insurance, and the CEO said yes, and the girls nodded adamantly. I asked if they were in favor of health care reform, and the CEO said yes, and the girls nodded adamantly.

Seeing that everything was under control, we left to continue on with our journeys. The girls said many thank-yous, waved, and suggested we should come back when we were thirsty. Definitely strong on the customer service!

My only regret is I didn`t take enough time to look over the toys for sale. But that mostly was because their counters just about reached the middle of my shins, and I couldn`t bend down that far. Even so, it looked like they had some pretty nifty dolls and whatnot.

That`s okay. We can always go back another day, right?

I was thinking that too, about FDA regulations, local health ordinances, and the new congressional act designating this as a food production unit. I`m thinking the best thing for the company would be to merge with a Chinese company that sells styrofoam cups.

That`s just sad. Here in CA people are selling stuff right and left without permits, hot dogs at yardsales, street corner vendors selling a little of everything. The city only picks on the small businesses that are doing everything by the book.

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kkrafts
"Treat every day as a new adventure"

I forgot to mention, Craig that was a wonderful story.

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kkrafts
"Treat every day as a new adventure"

Thaks kkrafts :-) We had a lot of fun with the kids, and they were SO excited to actually sell something!

Nowadays, so few kids get to do the classic lemonade stand, and I think it really does have a negative impact on their adult lives. There`s nothing to spark the entrepreneurial spirit than to make something like a pitcher of lemonade, then sit out at the "booth" and then SELL a cup!

There weren`t any permits necessary... I added that stuff for the sake of the story. As the news media and all of Washington knows, "never let any facts get in the way of the story." :-D

We live in a small town in the Midwest, so the cops don`t ordinarily harass 5-7 yearolds. I realize that`s not true elsewhere, but that`s at least one nice thing about living in the hinterlands.