Newsletter: June, 2011

The Vault June 2011: Lemonade Stand Step by StepIt’s summer and people are thirsty! Ready to take your lemonade stand to the next level? Get started with our step-by-step guide—and most of all, have fun! Pass The Vault along Want to start your lemonade stand with a friend? Pass along the vault with the handy buttons on the upper right. Video of the Month

Need a little help figuring out the best price for your product? Check out this video clip from the Biz Kid$ TV show: https://bizkids.com/show.aspx?clip=/resources/flv/season_2/211F_VincentPrice.flv

Show off your lemonade stand! Have an awesome stand? Find a sweet spot to set up? Shoot some pictures and send them to us and we’ll post them on our Facebook. Or email them to J9@bizkids.com, and we’ll put them on our blog!

Step 1: Find a location Where are you going to set up? Lots of kids set up right in front of their house. That gives you easy access to supplies like water and ice. You could also look for a location where there are lots of thirsty people, like a popular jogging route or a park. Just make sure you know whether you are allowed to sell things there. Step 2: Product & price Are you going to use a mix or make it from scratch? A mix is cheap and easy, but you can charge more for fresh-squeezed and it might give you an edge over the competition. Think about who your customers will be—kids are probably happy with Country Time, but grownups might like something fancier. So how much should you charge?  First you need to figure out your total expenses. Example: 1 carton of lemonade mix: $5.00 3 bags ice: $3.00 100 cups: $3.00 Total cost = $11.00 Makes 100 cups Cost per cup = $11.00 / 100 = 11 cents In this case, as long as you’re charging more than 11 cents a cup, you’ll make a profit. Remember to add any money you need for marketing and decorating your stand.

Step 3: Get startup capital You’ll need money to buy supplies and also to make change. If you don’t have enough change, you’ll have to turn people away who don’t have the right bills. And the last thing you want to do is turn away paying customers! If you’re a true Biz Kid, you probably already have some money socked away in a savings account. Or, you can ask your folks for a loan—if you’re lucky, they won’t even charge you interest! Step 4: Create your stand Your stand can be a simple card table or a colorful flight of fancy. Add visual interest like banners or signs to draw people in from further away. Make sure to include a trash can for people to toss their empty cups.

Step 5: Get the word out In other words, do some marketing! Make some cool flyers and post them on telephone poles, or make an A-frame sign out of some scrap plywood and a couple of hinges. Anything you can do to tell people where you are located will boost profits. Step 6: Improve it! How can you make your stand better? Is your location ideal, or is there somewhere nearby that might draw more customers? Do people come back for more lemonade? Could you add products like homemade cookies? How about a special—buy two cups, get one free? Growing a business is all about paying attention to your customers and learning from experience. Fit your business to your values Do you care about the environment? Consider using recyclable cups. Want to support a cause? Give some or all of your profits to charity like Lemons to Aid:  http://lemonstoaid.org. Your business can make a difference and make a profit! Try a virtual stand Get some practice by setting up a virtual stand with our lemonade stand game. Visit https://bizkids.comand click on Cool Biz Stuff.