Jake made his first foray into running a business as part of the Lubbock Lemonade Day event on last Saturday. How did we find out about this opportunity? Well, it was hard to miss as the event was very highly marketed throughout the media.
We attended the Lubbock Arts Festival, and Jake was attracted to the Lubbock Lemonade Day booth like his mama is to a purse display. All the representatives were ready and waiting for him in their neon-yellow shirts. He gave them the first degree about everything regarding lemonade and then came running back to find me to sign him up. So, as you can see, I was not given much of a chance to consider the pros and cons involved in having a kindergartner who shows signs of being a criminal mastermind learn the finer points of running a business.
Five minutes, five dollars for a t-shirt, and a Lemonade Day backpack later, we were committed. And Jake immediately informed me he was "the boss", and I had to take orders from him. You can imagine how well that went over. Once he recovered from the mauling his mother gave him just to remind him who really was "the boss", he started working out his plan.
A whole workbook was involved. And, while the kid can read amazingly well, he still needed some help going through it. He learned about stand design, securing investors (which once what an investor is was explained to him, he looked at me and said, "so, you and daddy are my investors. What do I need next?") and tracking expenses. He learned about tracking expenses and what a profit is. He learned about the things he could do with his profits. His first idea was to buy a bunch of candy. His investor vetoed that one. Next was to buy a Nintendo DS. His investor vetoed that one. El Hubbo suggested that since he had been blessed with so much, it might be a good idea to make money to give away to someone else. El Hubbo and I came up with some suggestions and Jake picked the South Plains Food Bank to be his charity of choice.
Every day for the week prior, Jake very seriously discussed his plans for his Lemonade Stand. Jake's Rockin' Lemonade stand was conceived and we started searching for a place to host it. El Hubbo's agricultural connections got us in at Tractor Supply Company. Jake decided he needed something to hand out to his teachers and friends, so he put his mama to work making cards and flyers. He took the cards to school and distributed to his teachers and some friends.
The night before Lemonade Day, we headed to Sam's Club to stock up on supplies. Followed by a trip to Walmart for signs, duct tape and other needed essentials. Jake made his signs and we gathered everything in a pile for the next day.
Saturday, Jake hit the floor ready to go, but knowing that his attention span most likely would not match his beginning enthusiasm level, we had arranged for the stand to open at 3 and close at 5. We headed to TSC about 2:30 p.m. and discovered that another stand owner was already there. El Hubbo went in search of the manager and I thought to myself that I could potentially have some very good blog material in the making and started working on titles: "Shoot Out at the Lemonade Corral" or "Lemonade Day Knock Out" or "Crazy Hispanic Man Attacks Innocent Lemonade Day Child Participants".
Sadly, El Hubbo chose not to cooperate with giving me a good blog story and therefore any reference to a Lemonade Smack-Down would force me into the realm of fiction.
The other group was scheduled to leave at 3:00, so everything worked out. TSC had very thoughtfully provided a large Port-A-Cool and a tent to shade us from the sun. (Since it was close to 100 degrees that day, we send a special shout-out to TSC as our new favorite place in town. I'll find a reason to stop in frequently just out of gratitude!) We hurriedly set up and Jake assigned me to the lemonade-making station. El Hubbo was assigned to the fill-cups-with-ice station and Jake started stopping everyone that walked by. He got them going into the store and coming out. No one was safe. We had practiced with him, so he would know how to ask politely. "Sir? Would you like to buy some lemonade?" "Ma'am, it is $1 for an ice cold cup of fresh lemonade. The money is going to the South Plains Food Bank." I must stop here and say that he added "fresh". He also occasionally said that his mama makes the best "fresh" lemonade. If "fresh" is defined by the fact that I did not pop the seal on the CountryTime Lemonade powder container until just a few minutes before the lemonade stand opened, then, why, yes, this was exceptionally "fresh" lemonade.
Anyway, the kid may have a future in sales. Very few were able to turn him down. He did get a glare once when he told his mama to "hurry up with the cups of ice". It's hard to work with family!
All-in-all it was a very good experience. After all the donations rolled in, Jake raised $156 for the South Plains Food Bank, which the nice folks there told him would provide over 700 meals for those in need. Several friends and co-workers supported him, and we are grateful to you all. He had a lot of fun and hopefully learned a thing or two about business and charity. His "investors/employees" were exhausted, but had a good time helping him. We'll mark this little adventure down with two thumbs up.
We attended the Lubbock Arts Festival, and Jake was attracted to the Lubbock Lemonade Day booth like his mama is to a purse display. All the representatives were ready and waiting for him in their neon-yellow shirts. He gave them the first degree about everything regarding lemonade and then came running back to find me to sign him up. So, as you can see, I was not given much of a chance to consider the pros and cons involved in having a kindergartner who shows signs of being a criminal mastermind learn the finer points of running a business.
Five minutes, five dollars for a t-shirt, and a Lemonade Day backpack later, we were committed. And Jake immediately informed me he was "the boss", and I had to take orders from him. You can imagine how well that went over. Once he recovered from the mauling his mother gave him just to remind him who really was "the boss", he started working out his plan.
A whole workbook was involved. And, while the kid can read amazingly well, he still needed some help going through it. He learned about stand design, securing investors (which once what an investor is was explained to him, he looked at me and said, "so, you and daddy are my investors. What do I need next?") and tracking expenses. He learned about tracking expenses and what a profit is. He learned about the things he could do with his profits. His first idea was to buy a bunch of candy. His investor vetoed that one. Next was to buy a Nintendo DS. His investor vetoed that one. El Hubbo suggested that since he had been blessed with so much, it might be a good idea to make money to give away to someone else. El Hubbo and I came up with some suggestions and Jake picked the South Plains Food Bank to be his charity of choice.
Every day for the week prior, Jake very seriously discussed his plans for his Lemonade Stand. Jake's Rockin' Lemonade stand was conceived and we started searching for a place to host it. El Hubbo's agricultural connections got us in at Tractor Supply Company. Jake decided he needed something to hand out to his teachers and friends, so he put his mama to work making cards and flyers. He took the cards to school and distributed to his teachers and some friends.
The night before Lemonade Day, we headed to Sam's Club to stock up on supplies. Followed by a trip to Walmart for signs, duct tape and other needed essentials. Jake made his signs and we gathered everything in a pile for the next day.
Saturday, Jake hit the floor ready to go, but knowing that his attention span most likely would not match his beginning enthusiasm level, we had arranged for the stand to open at 3 and close at 5. We headed to TSC about 2:30 p.m. and discovered that another stand owner was already there. El Hubbo went in search of the manager and I thought to myself that I could potentially have some very good blog material in the making and started working on titles: "Shoot Out at the Lemonade Corral" or "Lemonade Day Knock Out" or "Crazy Hispanic Man Attacks Innocent Lemonade Day Child Participants".
Sadly, El Hubbo chose not to cooperate with giving me a good blog story and therefore any reference to a Lemonade Smack-Down would force me into the realm of fiction.
The other group was scheduled to leave at 3:00, so everything worked out. TSC had very thoughtfully provided a large Port-A-Cool and a tent to shade us from the sun. (Since it was close to 100 degrees that day, we send a special shout-out to TSC as our new favorite place in town. I'll find a reason to stop in frequently just out of gratitude!) We hurriedly set up and Jake assigned me to the lemonade-making station. El Hubbo was assigned to the fill-cups-with-ice station and Jake started stopping everyone that walked by. He got them going into the store and coming out. No one was safe. We had practiced with him, so he would know how to ask politely. "Sir? Would you like to buy some lemonade?" "Ma'am, it is $1 for an ice cold cup of fresh lemonade. The money is going to the South Plains Food Bank." I must stop here and say that he added "fresh". He also occasionally said that his mama makes the best "fresh" lemonade. If "fresh" is defined by the fact that I did not pop the seal on the CountryTime Lemonade powder container until just a few minutes before the lemonade stand opened, then, why, yes, this was exceptionally "fresh" lemonade.
Anyway, the kid may have a future in sales. Very few were able to turn him down. He did get a glare once when he told his mama to "hurry up with the cups of ice". It's hard to work with family!
All-in-all it was a very good experience. After all the donations rolled in, Jake raised $156 for the South Plains Food Bank, which the nice folks there told him would provide over 700 meals for those in need. Several friends and co-workers supported him, and we are grateful to you all. He had a lot of fun and hopefully learned a thing or two about business and charity. His "investors/employees" were exhausted, but had a good time helping him. We'll mark this little adventure down with two thumbs up.
He'll make you and your husband a lot of money one day, but I think you may have to pay your dues before then. ;)
ReplyDeleteHey, kudo's cousin's kid! Sounds like you had lots of fun at the lemonade stand! *smile* Dixie said I should drop in and say howdy, so here I am!
ReplyDelete