Monday, July 30, 2007

Entrepreneurs

For several weeks the boys have been planning a lemonade stand. This is a complicated business endeavour since we live on a state highway which means stopping is illegal. Our driveway is very short so folks can't pull into it.

But why should logistics hinder a dream of owning a business? Especially when the investor doesn't ask for his money back.

Then there is the time of day they insisted on setting up their stand. 9:00 on a Sunday morning is actually a quiet time on our street/highway. And who wants to drink lemonade at 9:00am?

Apparently one of our town leaders. The chair of the town Democratic party pulled up in his big car before I got the lemonade in the fancy glass pitcher and asked for a cup. He handed the boys $6 and told them to keep the change.

Then there was the guy who jumped out of his car, asked for 2 cups and gave the boys a $10. AND TOLD THEM TO KEEP THE CHANGE! Of course, the boys don't really know how much they just scored. One starts to decorate a tip jar. I told him to stop since they had just received a $9 tip!

So in the end they sold about 10 cups of lemonade in 2 hours. They earned over $20 because nearly everyone handed them more than 50 cents and told them to keep the change.

Thanks to everyone who made two little boys successful business men.

15 comments:

Jami said...

So, have they been infected with Trump-itis? Are they going to invest the money back into growing the business or is it going into savings? Or could it possibly be destined to be spent on frivolities - like candy? I vote for candy!

soccer mom in denial said...

Sigh Jami, they begged to be taken to Toys R Us which led to nearly an hour of indecision. We finally forced them to buy two new cartridges for their Gameboys.

I would've been more impressed if they had pooled the money to buy something big. But no - they split the baby instead.

CableGirl said...

Wow, a booming business inside of a single day! Mini-Trumps indeed (hopefully with less attitude and more hair).

Jami asked a good question. What is their intended goal? Are they trying to save up for something or was it just a "let's sell lemonade" adventure?

CableGirl said...

ooops. cross posting. lol. Guess I got my answer. :)

soccer mom in denial said...

They started out doing this for the sake of selling lemonade. At one point though, particularly when joggers and bikers would say they didn't have any money on them, the boys started yelling it was free for people who didn't have money.

The boys were worried that people were sad they couldn't have anything to drink. So my little capitalists still have some heart.

Flower Child said...

Brilliant! What would have been sweeter is if they had pooled their money and bought something for their little sister as well. Perhaps she will start her own business next week.

Unknown said...

That is absurdly adorable. I bet they were thrilled.

And I am cracking up at the indecision at Toys R Us - it's like that episode of the Brady Bunch with the green stamps.

Adventures In Waitressing said...

That is too cute. Way to go! Those boys show real integrity by caring so much and giving the lemonade away. Awesome!

Jenn in Holland said...

Fantastic spirit, boys! And though I don't normally drink lemonade on a Sunday at 9:00 am, I could make an exception and drink at the most popular lemonade stand in town.
Of course, I can only pay in euros...

Anonymous said...

How awesome that the boys did so well! Even though it was for a trip to Toys R US they earned it!

Goofball said...

how cool! Will they have a lemonade stand up and running in the beginning of september as well somewhere along the freedom trail :p? In that case some thirsty Belgians might walk by.

As a kid I caught grasshoppers, shake them very well (the poor things probably were half dead from brain injury) and then tried to seel "tamed" grasshoppers to the neighbours.
... I wasn't a very succesful enterpreneur though. I think I overrated the demand for tamed grasshoppers a bit :D.

Brillig said...

Wow! What a success! Good for them!

Alex Elliot said...

I love the part about free lemonade for people without money! There was a boy across the street when I grew up who always had lemonade stands, but he only had one cup. Everyone had to reuse it.

Jen said...

Well, it's nice to see that some things don't change. What a rite of summer, highway or not! And the boys must have been little charmers, to do so well ;-).

And they're brothers, so I'm not sure pooling is possible, lol. Because if they pooled, then they couldn't compare who got the better game, right?

ZoeyBella said...

Hot damn! Lemonade stand! I'm so there. I would drink lemonade at 9am... or any time.