Innovation with a Lemonade Station!
Wednesday, August 2, 2017 - Joe Kiedinger
It probably is no surprise that at my house, we support entrepreneurial efforts. I think every person has experimented in this spirit when they operated their first lemonade stand on a neighborhood corner. For generations, kids have been setting up stands on busy intersections with the hopes of generating some cash for candy, useless trinkets and other major kid essentials.
Here my kids, Alina (left) and Aria (right), with their good friend, Rossemary, discovered a different, more innovative path to this generational tradition. They experienced a paradox in the traditional ‘lemonade stand’ approach. Unless people are walking by, they rarely stop. The bikers will stop more often than cars, but the folks in cars, simply smile and wave.
Inspiration struck when Alina thought, let’s go to the people. This original idea came two years ago, when they had competitors in the neighborhood. Aria is the marketer, she did the signage. The three set off replacing the permanent stand with a rolling wagon and traveled house to house. They’ve been doing this now, every summer. So far, the competition has not followed suit, they just gave up.
On this day, I gave them a goal of generating $7.00. They came back with $8.00… proud mama and papa! Can you imagine these adorable and enthusiastic entrepreneurs knocking on your door? Game over!
Sidenote: Their lemonade isn’t very good. It’s a strawberry version and very watered down. I imagine this helped to increase their profits. The cupcakes were good though, I would definitely recommend them. When they knocked on my door, I told them I’m not buying anything. They already stole my lemonade and watered it down as well as Danica’s Betty Crocker mix. We investors deserve to sample the product.
It just goes to show, with innovation, your product doesn’t have to be the best to get noticed and find success.
Thank you for allowing me to show off my kids while I continue to learn from them everyday!
Joe Kiedinger
ACTION PLAN: Kids have great ideas, encourage and support them to take action. They will amaze and delight you!
{{cta(‘0b460c8d-199d-4b70-a827-934aea874cdf’)}}