For a while now my 8 year old daughter and 6 year old daughter have been asking to set up a stall outside our home selling old toys, lemonade, cookies. Basically anything they can make or get their hands on that will bring them some extra pocket money. I said no to every idea because it was always at a time when I had either just had a baby and was housebound or just too tired/couldn't be bothered. However I'm not one to crush anyone's entrepreneurial spirit, plus the baby's a bit older now, so I told them that I would help them set up a lemonade stand outside if they still wanted to. They were thrilled and set to work immediately. My 6 year old made the lemonade with a bit of supervision and my 8 year old made the sign and organised
tables, cups and napkins.
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I stayed a few feet away and let the kids do their thing.
They soon realised their location wasn't the busiest place to stand so we moved to a second spot. They got bored of standing around waiting for people to notice them so made up a lemonade song and waved their hands around a bit. It was cute and it worked. It also happened to be a warm sunny day and people returning from work and kids returning from school were happy to pay 20p for a cool glass of lemonade. In fact almost all the grown ups that bought a glass overpaid because they thought the kids had gone to a lot of effort and "liked their initiative". The lemonade sold out and the kids were happy!
They split the profits between themselves and were probably imagining which toys they would buy with it when I told them they should put the money back into the business. So now they've agreed that next time they will buy the ingredients themselves. I know I sound like a killjoy but I want them to think about making money rather then just spending it. They also set some of it aside to give to charity (their idea not mine).
I'd say that the kids first business venture was a success. I'm pretty sure that on the next sunny day they'll be selling more lemonade....this is Britain so who knows when the sun will come out again! I'm thinking of asking them to contribute to mortgage payments soon though!
MummyImperfect x
I'm going to share this with my daughter 😀 she has been talking about having a lemonade stand for weeks now! We've made a list of what we need but just need to do it! This will help, thank you!!
Yes do it. It will be a nice experience for her.
Love this! I'm trying to bring my children up to be entrepreneurial and we come up with plans like this all the time. Also in Britain where lemonade stands are still a bit unusual! Well done you for letting your kids do this - I know it's hard work!
Thank you. Yes it is a bit unusual here in the UK. t's a good one to make though as it's homemade and tastes good but doesn't involve too much effort like baking does. Let's see what the kids come up with next! :)
My boys had a stall at the local fete playing a game for 20p with the local kids with a chance of winning a pound. We did it in aid of the fete charity but it was good to see them come up with a way of making money. Following your blog!
:)
Great story.
Thanks for reading!
I did this as a kid! It was my first hustle. Great life lesson.
Hope it was the start of bigger and better hustles! :)
How much did they actually make? Was it as much as this post about it? :D
When mom pays for the ingredients, revenue == profit!!
I wonder if next time they'll realise that the ingredients cost more than what they made!
They made over £10, which is great when the ingredients were bought by Mummy!
The next lesson will be when they work out what profit margins are!
I made more from this post so smiles all round :)
Great idea. Learning about money from an early age is so important!
I wish I'd learnt earlier myself! Thanks for reading.
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How precious! Thanks for sharing. :)
mummyimperfect!
Your Kids are so enterprising! :D
@kam.ila
I hope so! I wonder what money making ventures they will think of next!