Soon after turning five years old my entrepreneurial acumen blossomed. I knew that I had to rely more heavily on my entrepreneurial skills after discovering the pittance I was receiving for my weekly chores was not sufficient to quickly fill my massive piggybank. To address my funding shortfall, I presented my parents with a series of ideas to start my own business, ensuring them that I could begin having some serious coin rolling in. The Pet Rock idea surprisingly was already taken, and apparently there is not a mass market for macaroni necklaces. I continued to conduct market research and found my calling when attending a little league baseball game where a girl about my age was serving lemonade at her lemonade stand for $0.50 a glass. I thought to myself, “I can do that, but better.” Later that evening I presented my best idea to my parents. I was going to create my own lemonade stand. My parents were not blown away with my recycled idea but as I explained the idea further my parents genuinely thought my plan had potential. I understood that there were other kids with lemonade stands in the neighborhood so I needed a clear differentiator. With a limited budget I had to use creative marketing to hook the customers: Free Lemonade. The total concept seems counterintuitive until you hear how the money is made: Free Lemonade with the purchase of a cup. The caveat, with the purchase of a cup, is more of the fine print of the marketing campaign. I told my parents that I would set up a stand with posters labeled free lemonade in big bold letters to draw the crowds. My father insisted I clearly label the posters with the caveat so I was not deceiving anyone, but it did not necessarily need to be the same font size.
My parents aided me in developing the marketing material and securing the supplies for my lemonade stand. I followed my mother’s advice and launched my business empire at a baseball tournament that did not have an established concession stand. We arrived early in the morning to secure a prime location near the crowds and placed several of my marketing signs around the baseball complex. The initial morning sales were weak, but I was not discouraged. I received mostly favorable feedback from my customers that my creative marketing “gimmick” was clever enough to get them to my lemonade stand and ultimately purchase a cup. As the day progressed it became much hotter and the number of people attending the games increased greatly. My sales began to skyrocket to the point I could hardly keep up with demand. However, my success did not come without criticism. I was called an evil genius for creating a misleading marketing pitch. Others directed their comments directly to my parents with choice words. My parents’ support for my business did not waiver even when they were chastised by customers who insinuated that they were breeding corruption. I even had to deal with an overzealous customer who tried to stretch the rules by drinking as much lemonade as they could stomach. Thankfully I had health profit margins and the customer’s glutinous consumption did not have a detrimental impact on my business operations.
It was a profitable but exhausting day. My father lauded me for my success but cautioned me that the long-term business model may not be sustainable because once a customer has a cup they won’t have to make another purchase. His comment resonated with me but I thought we could just set up at a different location next week to accumulate new customers. He acknowledged my ambitious business plan but continued to offer alternatives citing that we didn’t want to burn out the idea and that we needed to be strategic by only offering the free lemonade on a limited basis, picking a few big events a year. What I was hearing from my father was that he was not a committed business partner and he was seeking to slow my momentum (story of my life).
After a comprehensive conversation with my parents, I had to capitulate. They did not buy-in to the idea that we needed to strike while the iron was hot, as there were no barriers to entry and my idea could be quickly replicated. We ended our conversation by making a pact that I would be able to operate my business four Saturdays a year; they would offer full support during the days of operations and I got to call all the shots. While I appreciate their support, their lack of enthusiasm and full-time commitment to bringing free lemonade to the masses could severely jeopardize my business empire. I fear my lemonade business trajectory is in question, but I had my first taste of capitalist success, and I loved it, so I will continue being a hard charger to ensure my business empire is built on solid ground.