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Six-year-old Jackson Parks raised $15,800 at his charitable lemonade stand. Photo courtesy of Jordan Parks.
Kid-run lemonade stands have endured for a reason: they're easy to set up, cheap to run, and the profit margins are high. Any 10-year-old can do it. But some do it with a twist, putting their own personal stamp on the venture. Here are ways some kids have tailored their endeavors to fit the occasion:
1. Give it away for free. That's what Doug Mades of Newburyport, Mass., did and it paid off in spades. An only child with an introverted bent, his parents thought setting up a lemonade stand would help him meet more people while also garnering him valuable business lessons. Doug's father, Dan Mades, tells ParentDish in a phone interview that it was about the experience, not the money: "It's the best lemonade that money can't buy."
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But that didn't stop people from giving him tips or donations. Doug first set out at age 6 with a gallon of homemade lemonade and due to his early success, continued most summer weekends for the next five years. He is now 15 years old and retired from his lemonade-stand enterprise, but the money he made over that time is sitting pretty in a certificate of deposit, accruing interest for his college years. According to his father, Doug made more than just a few hundred dollars. "What Doug was able to save in his Certificate of Deposit is more on the order of a year's college tuition."
2. Appeal to the community. Six-year-old Jackson Parks of Rock Hill, Mo., set up a lemonade stand this April to help Matt Crosby, a local police officer who was critically injured in the line of duty, pay his medical bills. That made his purpose tangible and relevant to his neighbors. People wanted to help this little boy help this officer and of course they wanted to help the officer too. Case in point: Rock Hill's mayor, Julie Morton, bought a glass for $50. It's a win-win-win all around.
3. Diversify your wares. Calista Pierce started out with lemonade but quickly realized the ubiquitous thirst-quencher might not be enough to realize her personal goal of raising $6,000 for the Crawford County Special Olympics. Her mission, like Jackson Parks, is to raise money for someone in need. That person is her brother, Austin, who navigates life in a wheelchair as a result of progressive muscular dystrophy. Calista makes and sells various crafts including leaf necklaces, angel pins, wish pennies and Christmas ornaments, with nothing costing more than $5.
Jackson Parks and his bucket of good will.
Photo courtesy of Jordan Parks.
4. Harness the power of social media. Jackson's lemonade stand collected $15,800 in three hours. That's quite a feat. "We never imagined we'd make that much," says his mom, Jordan Parks, who credits Facebook for helping to get the word out.
When he first heard that Matt, a family friend and colleague of his police officer father Bill Parks, was paralyzed from the waist down, Jackson immediately told his mom he wanted to set up a lemonade stand for him.
What started out as a card table in the driveway soon morphed into something much larger thanks to the vast response and viral activity of the Facebook page. "It got a little crazy and we thought, 'We can't have this in our driveway anymore,'" says his mom in a phone interview with ParentDish. So they moved the lemonade stand to a nearby parking lot to accommodate all the other donated goods and services including: a Sno-Cone truck, bouncy house, firetruck, police helicopter flyover, police horse and a man who brought lizards and such to create a "reptile experience" for the kids to squeal and squirm in delight.
5. Don't divulge your secret recipe. Doug didn't. But now that he's moved on to other pursuits (playing trumpet and piano are two of his favorite pastimes), he's sort of willing to share with other would-be entrepreneurs. According to his dad, the basic recipe can be found online in many places, but he and Doug modified it by using less sugar to ensure it had as much tartness and snap as people could stand. "The secret part was probably the lemon to lime juice ratio, which for Doug was magic at 6:1," says his dad.
6. Quality counts. Doug's lemonade was so good that he even got an unsolicited write-up on the renowned foodie site Chowhound. To wit, the highly impressed imbiber wrote, "We noticed him huddled under an umbrella during a downpour and just had to stop to buy some lemonade. His dad [was] there too, and they couldn't have been nicer. Brought the cup over to the car in the rain for us. But here's the thing -- it was the BEST, freshest lemonade I've had in years. Really tart, lots of fresh lemon pulp, obviously homemade and not from a mix, not too sweet. My chowhound self was really impressed." At the end of his post he gave explicit directions on how to find the stand.
7. Accept alternate forms of payment. Some of Doug's regulars were aware of his avid coin-collecting hobby and often paid with unusual coins, state quarters he didn't yet have or sometimes even foreign money. One woman used to give him books and another gave him a scholarship to a summer program called Workshop in the Woods. A member of the Coast Guard gave him a t-shirt and plastic football. Like Doug's father said, it was about the experience, not the money. And yet, ka-ching for college was a nice byproduct.
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ReaderComments (Page 3 of 3)
8-14-2010 @ 11:35PM
netsko said...He really did raise that much money. Go to Supporters of Police Officer Matt Crosby on facebook and see for yourself.
7-03-2010 @ 4:32PM
Allison said...I think you can only buy them online. Their website is www.littlegreenmoneymachine.com
Hope this helps : )
Reply
7-03-2010 @ 8:49PM
Bob said...I was going to direct this to one poster but I see that a few others would fit also....
You sound like another soccer mom -mini van -mom buddy. Maybe I'm wrong but I doubt it. Since when is sitting in the sun "work"?
Isn't that called sun bathing? So a few kids volunteered a few hours for some fund raising. How about an entire summer of doing this? What else do they do all summer? We are the only industrialized country that closes schools in the summer months and thinks our poor darlings need time off? Summers "off" was based on an Agricultural economy from over 100 years ago! Children were needed and required to help with farm chores during the summer months. As soon as you were old enough to carry something you worked on the farm, and it was from dawn until dusk until the work was done! Now 97% of our children are not living on farms and the ones that do have machines for most everything. Other industrialized countries are running 11-12 months a year and require all students to attend until age 18! I guess our kids are smarter??? No, our kids are coddled for the most part. They are too delicate for any of real work?
Here is part of my childhood. When I was about 8 -9 my sister and I started making and selling pot holders door to door. When I was 10 my dad added lawn mowing and snow shoveling to my list of chores. So I added on to that and started going around my neighborhood doing all my neighbors lawns and shoveling. My lawn mower was an old fashioned reel push mower, that I also learned how to sharpen and keep running well. My snow removal equipment was a shovel! In Minnesota we get a little snow here!
When I turned about 13 my dad made me the apartment building caretaker and every saturday I vacumed all the stairways and wet moped the Laundry room and storage area. When tenants would move out we painted apartments and repaired appliances or fixtures. I also played sports and rode my bike all over St Paul among other kid things. What did you do from age 9-18 on your time away from school?
I have lived in a middle class suburban neighborhood for over 17 years and not once have I ever seen a kid offer to cut grass or shovel snow for me or any of my neighbors! The neighbors that have kids wouldn't dare have them do chores. No, all I see is the parents busting their humps while their lazy offspring continue to guilt them into new cars or clothes or more spending money.
This is the norm in this country not the exception!
I haven't seen a Girl Scout selling cookies in over 10 years. I called the district office and I was told I could come in and purchase them.
Yes, this shows our young girls a lot doesn't it. Like some of these photo op Lemonade stands. The parents make the stand,buy and crush the lemons and limes and the kid sits there and gives or sells it for a few hours on weekends while reading Harry Potter! They brag to the papers how much money their son has made (of course not telling us how much time and money they have spent on his "enterprise") all the while giving us tips on how to set up our own stand in upper middle class suburbia, guilting neighbors into forking over $3-5.00 for a glass of Lemonade, and waiting for the money to roll in. Wow I am sooo not impressed! What we are teaching them is that if they guilt us and stay in the nest we will keep feeding them and do all the work. We are the only creature on this earth that just can't seem to prepare our off spring to leave the nest....
Reply
7-05-2010 @ 8:37AM
AngelPam48 said...I have to agree with you Bob. I just recently heard on the radio that although some schools are closed for classes for the summer, they now remain open to serve breakfast and lunch for children. I won't even list all the reasons the radio station stated for this being so wrong!
7-05-2010 @ 5:11PM
Grammie said...I believe they stopped girl scouts from going door to door to sell cookies because there are so many perverts/sex offenders everywhere and they deemed it wasn't safe anymore. Nothing is safe anymore for kids, you can't let them play in your front yard anymore unless you are right there with them. It sure isn't like it was when I was a kid.
I do think you're right that kids are codled these days and not taught to work anymore. I think alot of parents don't think its worth the fight trying to get them up off thier butts to do anything. Sure doesn't prepare them for adulthood.
7-05-2010 @ 11:16AM
Martesa said...Unfortunately, I have read several stories over the years of neighbors who are scrooges who have complained about the child's stand, having it closed. In more than one story, the child was actually confronted by the police and charged with multiple offenses, including operating a business without a license and violating zoning laws. In one, the policeman was quoted as saying he didn't want to do it, something along the lines of "Hell, I did this when I was a kid," but he had to cite the child because complaints were made. In the other stories, the outcome ranged from simply forcing to the child to close down to issuing citations and fines, to, I'm pretty sure I'm remembering this correctly (it outraged me so, that I can't imagine that I got it wrong, but I also don't want to state it as absolute fact, as my memory could be faulty) to actually arresting the poor kid. When did we all get so mean? These are great stories, whether the child was doing it to raise money for college and to meet people, or for a charity. As to the comment about kids pulling weeds, etc., yes, children should do chores. Nothing here says they didn't have their own chores do do, but sitting for hours on end in the heat of the day (or in the case of one child, in the rain, as well) is no cake walk. And if you meant that what happened to kids doing those things to make money, well, I think our litiginous society may have something to do with that. We have some kids across the street of various ages. The eldest has offered to mow our lawn and trim our bushes; he and the next oldest have offered to pull weeds. We've also had kids going down the street offering to do those, and to shovel when that time of year comes around. I very much want to pay these kids to do these chores -- good for us, and more importantly, good for them. My husband is reluctant, as he's afraid of being sued if anyone gets injured on our property. While I still feel we should give the kids the jobs (we can afford it, and they could use the $$, plus, the one boy is at the age and situation that he could go down either the right path or the wrong path, and I think we could help him by encouraging him to work honestly for his $$, and give him a sense of self worth), I can't really argue with my husband's position. We don't think our neighbors would sue, but you never know....
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7-05-2010 @ 11:58AM
Mike said...Let's take a look at the logistics: $18,000 in 3 hours means $1.80/sec. $18,000 is 3,600 $5.00 bills. If only half of the money came from lemonade sale, @$3.00/cup that's 3,000 cups, 1,000 cups/hour, 160gal of lemonade + ingredients + a lot of people. In the picture there is an empty lot with two drums and a bucket with some bills. I would like to see the lizards, the horse and the helicopter, but couldn't find them. The word "interview" reminds me of the baloon boy. Something does not sound right
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8-14-2010 @ 11:39PM
netsko said...The total was $15,800. The lemonade stand was in a strip mall parking lot, and there was a drive thru set up as well. You can check out all the pictures, as well as local headlines from television and newspapers on the police officer's group on facebook at "Supporters of Police Officer Matt Crosby."
7-05-2010 @ 1:28PM
tg said...Hope the IRS oesn't throw a monkey wrench in.
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7-05-2010 @ 2:30PM
wmgray said...Wow.. so much negative thoughts. Okay, first, to Bob McScrooge, you must be a childless person. Granted, maybe where you live children do not come around looking for summer work but in the cities I have lived in ( L.A., Dallas and Las Vegas) kides have come around looking to do yardwork, general clean up or anything else to make money and possibly help out the family. Over the last 10 or 15 years, how many stories have we all heard where kids get into trouble with the law or the perverted neighbor. That is one of the biggest reasons Girl Scouts DO NOT come door to door anymore along with the occassional stealing of their money. Just last year here in Vegas, girl scout stand in front of store was ripped off and caught on security tape to boot. Happens all over, just not in Vegas, just for your info before a snide comment about vegas is made.
You want kids outside working and not in front of the t.v.? Fine, keep one parent home like in the 50s and 60s where one income was enough to support the family. Oh wait, can't do that anymore. More than 65% of homes need the dual income to survive. No adult supervision or availability for safety, no leaving the home.
Are some of these stories streching the truth? Possible, but unless you were there and have ALL the facts, lets keep the thoughts that they are lying to yourself.
I wanted to run a lemonade stand when I was a kid, but the six year gap between me and my brother kind of killed the deal for me. By the time it was my turn, things had changed in my family that would not allow that to happen.
Getting off my soap box now. Hope everyone enjoys the rest of the holiday and the summer. Drink more lemonade from the corner stand, help the kids and remember what summer means to a kid and stop thinking like a mean, self-serving, closed-minded, no-fun adult
7-05-2010 @ 8:13PM
Anthony Delmedico said...Hello great article and what a wide variety of responses, wow! Well, I've got the solution for all of you parents out there, whether you want your child to learn the the value of earning and saving money, the importance of accomplishment, lay the foundation of entrepreneurialism and self-accomplishment, or instill a work ethic into their lives. It's the Little Green Money Machine www.LittleGreenMoneyMachine.com
As a father and self-made entrepreneur, I searched for products, games, and books to teach my daughter about money management, the importance of accomplishment, and entrepreneurship, while instilling in her a sense of accomplishment and confidence. After I couldn't find anything that was engaging and held her interest, I decided to create the Little Green Money Machine book and business stand for kids to do just that.
The book Kids in Business Around the World is fun, colorful, and engaging, and has sections on goal setting, visualization, sales and marketing, customer service, and 10 business blueprints for kids to easily follow. It also includes a section on fundraising and social entrepreneurship.
The business stand is the fun place for the child to set up and run their business or fundraiser. With 4 dry erase/ magnetic banner areas, built in locking money tray, built in storage area, adjustable height and wheels for mobility, there are a million ways to use this with your child, student, or youth group. And they love it! Sure beats the card tables we used as kids....
Good luck to all of you and if you're truly interested in laying this important foundation for your children check out www.LittleGreenMoneyMachine.com.
Anthony Delmedico
CEO/ Founder/ Author
The Little Green Money Machine
www.LittleGreenMoneyMachine.com
www.DelVisionaries.com
Reply
7-05-2010 @ 4:02PM
Karl said...We were on vacation day before yesterday and I spied a couple young-ish kiddos about 10 years old setting up a lemonade stand on the main highway through town. It was a pain in the butt to turn around and get back there but I did - for several reasons: Number one, I think it is important for kids to realize that there can be rewards for hard work and how things should not just be "given: to them. They also had sodas and I asked one little girl how much they were as they hadn't wuite put the finishing touches on their signage yet. She said "they are a dollar but, for you, seventy five cents, mister." It was all I could do not to break out laughing. She was SOOOO serious. I settled on two glasses of lemonade for fifty cents each, paid my bill (with a 200% gratuity) and we got back on the road. We got lemonade in 100+ degree heat and the kids made a few bucks. Screw the IRS and the Health Hepartment and the Zoning Commissioner - let kids ne kids and encourage the entrepeneurial spirit.
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7-05-2010 @ 4:34PM
Anthony Conaway said...It's refreshing to see how these kids can figure out how to run a small business. However, I wonder if any of them have had any of their profits/businesses confiscated by the IRS because of tax issues.
Reply
7-11-2010 @ 4:37PM
annee said...Is this Doug (Mades ?) any relation to Doug Weller ?
Doug Weller's Lemonade Recipe is on the Internet !
Reply
6-28-2011 @ 9:51PM
angelica said...These girls are experts at lemonade stands! N lots of other ideas too!
Take a look at there lemonade stand by googling everylittlesweetness!
Reply