Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Help Kids Squeeze More Than Money Out Of A Lemonade Stand

Squeezing lemonade.

I know it’s Spring because the lemonade stand deposits are trickling into kids’ accounts at FamZoo.com. A typical entry for an 8 year old reads:

4/24/2017 Cash deposit from lemonade stand $7.00

The deposits from last lemonade stand season — typically late March through September — yielded these fun facts:

  • The average lemonadepreneur was 11 years old.
  • Earnings deposits peaked in June and September.
  • Deposit sizes for transactions containing the keywords “lemonade” and “stand” fell within these ranges:
    Min: $0.50
    Max: $56.10
    Average: $11.47
    Median: $7.00

But lemonade stands aren’t just about lining your kid’s pockets with extra spending money. Don’t let your kid miss out on these additional golden opportunities:

  • Understand the equation: profit = sales - expenses. Don’t gloss over the expenses part. If you let your kids just bank the total sales, you’ll be robbing them of a valuable business lesson on profitability. Show them how to estimate expenses and create an initial budget. Let them know you’ll be fronting the seed capital, but they’ll be reimbursing you for expenses afterwards.
  • Learn sales and marketing techniques. For classic examples, see what Chris taught his 6 year old daughter about getting outside her comfort zone and attracting customers in his thoughtful post: Grown Up Lessons From A Lemonade Stand. At minimum, your kid will meet some new people. That alone is a good thing.
  • Develop some grit. Kids get bored and frustrated when initial strategies fail or sales hit a lull. Chris’ daughter did. But he helped her refine her approach and stick with it. End result: “the lemonade stand was her favorite part of the day.” Good lesson.

So this year, help your kid squeeze more than money out of that lemonade stand.


Want to turn these tips into action? Check out FamZoo.com.

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