Saturday, August 24, 2013

Lemonade for Sale!

It seems like every kid in Utah is an entrepreneur. In fact, I remember living in our little apartment in Provo and answering a knock at the door to find a group of kids going door-to-door the day after Halloween, selling back their trick-or-treat goods at a hefty margin. In our neighborhood, it's common to find baked goods and popsicles sold by young hustlers on the street corner. So, it's with no exception, that Hank, Max, and their good buddies decided to set up shop and sell lemonade and chocolate chip cookies in hopes of striking it rich. I will say, I will think twice about driving by a lemonade stand without stopping to buy a watered down cup of lemon-flavored kool-ade after watching how excited the kids would become, holding up their homemade signs and waving their arms, at every single passing car only to watch the car speed by without so much as a look in their direction. I felt like hugging those few, sweet neighbors who were kind enough to stop and buy a cookie or two--earning that quarter just made the kids' day! While the kids were very enthusiastic, I think we'll need to have a lesson on business/sales skills next time we open shop. At one point, the kids argued with their customer, who had paid for 4 cookies ($.25/each) with a dollar, that they had been underpaid since she did not give them 4 quarters. When a happy customer returned for a second visit to buy more cookies, Hank informed her that she couldn't have any more because she had already had 8! To him, it was rude of the woman to take (nevermind that she paid a fair price) so many cookies without any consideration for other future customers. When the register was tallied at the end of the evening, the team netted just over $9....split 7 ways, they felt pretty successful to walk away with a buck and a half in each of their pockets.


No comments: