I remember the first time I went into an elementary school classroom to talk about entrepreneurship. I asked the children to describe an entrepreneur – they all named a prominent business owner in the community who was your stereotypical business owner: male, white, privileged, heterosexual and had lots of money. Next, I asked them if they could be entrepreneurs – they answered no, of course not, we're just kids!
So I asked them if they did chores at home, babysat, mowed lawns, sold lemonade, walked dogs, shovelled snow which of course, they had all done. And for money! They were amazed that they too could be entrepreneurs.
Funny thing was two days later, four young girls set up a lemonade stand in my neighbourhood. They had picked the perfect location across the street from me on a median at a stop sign at one of the busiest intersections in town.
I, of course, bought some lemonade and told them that sticking their heads in people’s cars when they stopped at the stop sign might not be the safest move, but they got it!
Lemonade Day
Lemonade Day is an annual event hosted by the Community Futures offices in northern Alberta. Each year, kids are invited to do business training and then compete for three main prizes in their community – Best Entrepreneur, Best Stand and Best Tasting Lemonade.
Community Futures West Yellowhead has offered the program to youth for five years and we are finally reaching the point where it is growing bigger than we can handle. That’s a good thing!
These kids are aspiring entrepreneurs and are creating an experience for themselves that will have an impact on the rest of their lives. We teach the children to spend some money, share some money with a local charity, and save some money.
Lemonade stands usually make about $400 to $600 for the day. After donating to a local charity and paying their expenses, each child has about $70 to $100 that is theirs to keep.
Shaping Future Entrepreneurs
It is an experience that lasts a lifetime, and it's great to contribute a small bit to the families who work hard with their children to help them understand entrepreneurship.
Join us in June for Lemonade Day. Trust me! It is an experience that makes entrepreneurship fun and feels great!
Check out our website for other youth entrepreneurship initiatives!
