thankful thursday - the entrepreneurs

While our sweethearts were visiting us a few weeks ago, we were telling stories about past 4th of July celebrations when our children (aka their mom and aunt) were their age. Like most kids, the older four enjoyed hearing what their mom and aunt did when they were kids. We laughed about the year our oldest daughter along with several neighbor kids worked all day decorating their bikes, trikes and a wagon (to haul our youngest daughter who was a toddler) with red, white and blue signs and streamers in preparation for the "Big 4th of July Parade." The parents and other extended family members gathered in the afternoon to watch the parade... which lasted all of a minute and a half! And we  laughed about the year all the kids in the neighborhood set up a lemonade stand in the drive-way but ended up drinking all their product since it was so hot... and there were no kids left to BUY the lemonade.

That story intrigued the kids and they kept bringing it up, asking questions. Pretty soon the inevitable, dreaded question was asked: Can we have a stand and sell something?

I told them they could do a snack stand on the 4th of July but they needed to prepare for it and do the work.

The first thing was deciding what to sell. They suggested lemonade, homemade chocolate chip cookies, popsicles, and chocolate candy. After being reminded that it would be really hot outside, they realized popsicles, chocolate chips and chocolate candy would melt too quickly. They finally decided on lemonade, Otter Pops (they don't make a mess if they melt and can be refrozen) and Red Vines.

They figured out how much to charge for their goodies. They, of course, were thinking "dollars" while we were suggesting "cents." We talked about what happens when you over-price your product... and they finally agreed cents made more sense (Oh yeah, they made that joke!).

Next was making signs. We cut up some cardboard boxes and they went to town with markers. They decided to make an arrow sign that someone would twirl and dance with to get people's attention.

We practiced making change and counting it back to the customer. We talked about making eye contact, smiling and being friendly. We talked about wearing food-service gloves when getting the Red Vines out of the container. Good customer service is priceless!

Finally, the big day arrived and the kids were sooooooo excited. We had decided 2:30 in the afternoon would be a good time to catch people coming and going as they connected with their family. At 2:30 on the dot they set up the card table in front of our driveway. They agreed beforehand on who would sell first and who would dance with the signs.

Christopher and Ben were the first salespersons. 

And Nick and Lexie were the sign dancers down on the corner.

Although they got a few cars to come down the street, they quickly realized they would have better success if their goods were on the corner where the cars passed by. We packed up the table, chairs, goodies and ice chest and walked down to the corner to set up. 

It was 108 degrees that afternoon. And these kids are not used to our extreme heat. But there was no complaining. They waved at cars and danced with their signs... and people stopped! Cars made u-turns to come back. A couple of times there was a line of cars waiting for their turn. People were talking and laughing. A few told stories of their own lemonade stand when they were a child.

After an hour, the adults decided to pack it in. When we got back to the house, the kids cleaned the table and put stuff away. Finally it was time to count their money. Christopher was the counter and Nick watched to make sure he counted correctly and didn't take any. Such brotherly love! Their mom and dad reminded them they needed to pay their supplier (me) for the goodies before they divided up the money.

Everyone - adults and kids - was surprised to learn they made $60! In an hour! They had quite a few large tips because they were "so friendly" and "so sweet" and "enthusiastic" but no one thought they made that much. After I told them I would donate the supplies and they could keep their $60, they were all very quick to calculate that was $15 each! 

I am thankful for the lessons my sweethearts learned through this entrepreneurial adventure. Things like it takes hard work to make money. To evaluate your business plan and modify it as needed. And how to work together towards a common goal. That having a good work ethic is important. And I am thankful we were only out in the heat for an hour!