The Lemonade Stand- Lessons I Learned from Running a Business with A Kid
My 9 year old son, Isaiah, had a lemonade stand this weekend. In addition to lemonade, Isaiah sold cookies and his "Snail Talk" greeting cards. Isaiah worked very hard to prepare for this event and it was a great success. We sold out of cookies, sold a lot of lemonade and several cards. Once again, hanging out with Isaiah was also a learning experience for me.
1. The Kid will partake of the Inventory. "Mommy, may I have just one package of chocolate chip cookies?" Five minutes later, "Mommy, may I have just one more package of cookies?" (I must mentioned that my husband casually walked by the table and when he left, another package of cookies was missing.)
2. Follow-up to above. The kid will use subterfuge to partake of the inventory. "Mommy, would you go in the house and get me another jacket." When I questioned him about this, he quickly confessed: "I was trying to get you to go in the house so I could eat another cookie."
3. The kid will eventually become distracted. At various times while I was sitting at the table, Isaiah whizzed by on his scooter, threw a football over the table and bounced a basketball in front of the table. Perhaps I should have kept the garage door closed to keep distractions out of sight.
4. The Kid's customer service will deteriorate. As the day wore on, Isaiah became impatient with filling the cups to the top with the lemonade. When I reminded him to fill up each cup, he responded, "Mommy, this is enough!"
5. The kid will turn the equipment into toys. Cups ended up on the ground in various patterns. "Mommy, we have plenty of cups!" Utensils became drumsticks. Hand sanitizer became body lotion.
6. The kid will be forever grateful about the experience. After the first sale of a 50 cents cup of lemonade, Isaiah smiled and smiled. He did the same after the 2nd cup and the 3rd cup. After the sale of the first greeting card, he looked at me with wide eyes and smiled again. "Somebody bought my card!" At the end of day, Isaiah hugged me and let me know how much fun he had. And he continued to smile.
1. The Kid will partake of the Inventory. "Mommy, may I have just one package of chocolate chip cookies?" Five minutes later, "Mommy, may I have just one more package of cookies?" (I must mentioned that my husband casually walked by the table and when he left, another package of cookies was missing.)
2. Follow-up to above. The kid will use subterfuge to partake of the inventory. "Mommy, would you go in the house and get me another jacket." When I questioned him about this, he quickly confessed: "I was trying to get you to go in the house so I could eat another cookie."
3. The kid will eventually become distracted. At various times while I was sitting at the table, Isaiah whizzed by on his scooter, threw a football over the table and bounced a basketball in front of the table. Perhaps I should have kept the garage door closed to keep distractions out of sight.
4. The Kid's customer service will deteriorate. As the day wore on, Isaiah became impatient with filling the cups to the top with the lemonade. When I reminded him to fill up each cup, he responded, "Mommy, this is enough!"
5. The kid will turn the equipment into toys. Cups ended up on the ground in various patterns. "Mommy, we have plenty of cups!" Utensils became drumsticks. Hand sanitizer became body lotion.
6. The kid will be forever grateful about the experience. After the first sale of a 50 cents cup of lemonade, Isaiah smiled and smiled. He did the same after the 2nd cup and the 3rd cup. After the sale of the first greeting card, he looked at me with wide eyes and smiled again. "Somebody bought my card!" At the end of day, Isaiah hugged me and let me know how much fun he had. And he continued to smile.
Labels: greeting cards, lemonade stand, note cards
posted by StaceyMDesign at Sunday, May 17, 2009
4 Comments:
I'm so glad that Isaiah enjoyed this experience. It sounds like it was fun for you too!- Betty :^)
Hi Betty:
It was fun! Thanks for stopping by. And thank you so much for always reading my blog. :-)
What a wonderful experience for you and Isaiah. Having people purchase his products particularly his cards will give him confidence to continue to develop his talents.
--PB
Too, too funny! I love your blog and I am still laughing! (You should write a book about all the funny experiences you have had!) I can see any child this age (and some adults) doing the same thing! Tell Isaiah I have two sets of his snail cards and will be using them soon. I love them! He's artistic like his mom! I will keep reading your blog! Thanks for including me!
Michelle Martin
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