Home : Blogs : Todd Clark (Broker) (503)524-9494 (Beaverton, Oregon Real Estate Expert) : Helping Families Home - Your Oregon Real Estate Blog

Can a .25 lemonade and a $4.75 tip get you business?

I was one of those kids that was always looking to start a business. I started with a lemonade stand and that was because of a computer program for the Commodore 64 called "Lemonade Stand". I quickly learned that price, quality and location would always win out over just plain price and volume.

Later on, I started other businesses and realized that those 3 things carried over. This strategy still is with me today in my real estate career. But what if I didn't have that entrepreneurial drive within me? Could it have been put in me with a single gesture?

I believe America is built with people who have a dream of owning businesses and without them no one would have jobs. I do realize that only about 10% of the population has what it takes to be the employer while the other 90% are the types that become employees.

Since I was about 18, I decided to help build that desire within kids to become business owners and one of the things I've done was become a teacher with Junior Achievement when I was in college. That only lasted about a year because of conflicts with time. (One day I will go back and do it again, because it was a good experience.)

The second thing I did and still do today is when I see a lemonade stand like the one I had is a kid, is I always stop and always purchase that .25 lemonade. When I'm done, I tell them that was the best service and the best tasting lemonade I've ever had and I give them a $5 bill and a business card and tell them to keep the change. I then tell them, I want you to remember this $5 bill and remember it was your service and you owning this business that got you this money. I hope by doing this, it will create a desire to start other businesses when they are older.

Well, I've gotten many calls from parents asking if I really meant to give them the $5 or did I think I gave them a $1 bill. I tell them "I meant to and if they ever want to start a business again, encourage them." One day I may get business from this, but I would rather walk in to a business and see one of these kids in the owner's office behind the desk signing checks to his employees.

You got to love America where anyone can do anything. Sometimes they just need a little push!

Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739

Photo courtesy of ilco

Posted by Todd Clark (Broker) (503)524-9494 (Beaverton, Oregon Real Estate Expert) on 10/05/2008 09:12 PM

Comments (72)

Kids in the Regional (Localism) Channel

lemonade stand, business building, capitalism, future business owners, free enterprise, kids, dreams, american dream

Originally posted at: Living Beaverton - Your guide to everything Beaverton: Can a .25 lemonade and a $4.75 tip get you business?

This post has been included in Oregon Information Washington County, OR Information
Post is included in group: Active Rain Block Party
Post is included in group: Addicted to Active Rain
Post is included in group: Dedicated Bloggers
Post is included in group: Diary of a Realtor
Post is included in group: The Art Of Marketing You

72 Comments on Can a .25 lemonade and a $4.75 tip get you business?

OCT

2008

That is a really nice thing to do. I remember having alemondae stand as a kid. And I was THRILLED when I had a customer, especially since I only had like three. And if I had received a 5 dollar tip, I would have been bragging for weeks.

Aren't lemonade stands regulated by the FDA? I don't see them any more, but when I was a kid, anything was game and I tried everything.

very cute.

I do remember that game on the C64. It was a lot of fun.

Todd - this is a great way to help. A little bit of inspiration goes a long way.

Very encouraging words! And I am sure the kids will love it.

Jeannette Neerpat

Fantastic post! I couldn't agree more.

Thanks for seeing the future and paying it forward. We have to encourage our children and teach them the basics of good business. It will absolutely help them in their future career whatever it may be. Kudos to you!

Todd, what a wonderful and inspiring story and thanks for bringing back memories of the humble Commodore 64 and one of my favorite games from my youth.

Todd this is a cool blog and a great idea. By the way business is a little slow I will be out with my lemonade stand just incase you are around .... Thanks for a great post

Todd - What a great way for you to build not only the kids entrepreneurial spirit but to at the same time cultivate your future business because you can be assured that you are making an impact on these kids and kids tend to have long memories.

Todd, I do miss the days when you saw lemon-aid stands all summer long, I too, try to reward these young entrepreneurs, thanks for the post...

Todd,

My kids used to have lemonade stands, bake cookies and sell them, paint house numbers on curbs for $5, pick blackberries and sell them to restaurants and more and I was right in there with them. Being a stay-at-home mom of five, I had to get creative in ways to augment my husbands teaching salary (he worked extra jobs too). The result, a scrappy crew of young adults who aren't intimidated by much (one graduated from West Point).

Their entreprenurial spirit was created at a young age by necessity. It was a struggle at the time, but I am happy for the experiences and the life lessons we all learned.

Great post.

Todd: You have to love the spirit of those lemonade stand "owners". I haven't noticed any in my neighborhood. It's always a pleasure to support that entrepreneurial spirit.

When I was a kid, my best friend and I had a Kool-Aid stand. If the market doesn't improve I may have to look into reopening it, lol.

Todd I am sure the parents will remember you which is what you want!

Great story! I also was a lemonade stand girl and also a Junior Acheivement kid.... (high school, not college for me). I think your philosophy for helping a kid remember the message was great. I may have to borrow that from you!

hi Todd, we're cut from the same cloth, I've been making $$$ since I was 10 years old in one way or another, it was good practice for later in life. I love when I see kids trying to do the same and encouraging them with a tip is a great motivator!

Todd ... that is awesome, thanks for your perspective!

That is great!! Those kids probably are so happy because of what you do.........encouragement!

Stacey

Todd, this is a lovely post. I too always stop at lemon aide stands! They are so cute and I always look to see if a parent is watching out for them. Such a scary world today, I don't think I'd let my kids at that age sit at the curb selling lemon aide if I wasn't within screaming distance!

Heres an idea to get business, pay that kid to run a lemonade stand infront of your next open house and put your name on each cup.

That's a great spirit. I hope one day you see little Johnny, the owner of the local booming busines

:-)

Every famously wealthy person that is interviewed seems to have someone like you who gave them a bit of inspiration and motivation that got them believing they could be someone special. You will probably never know just how much difference you could be making in these kids' lives. Good going, Todd!

My daughter along with four friends had a lemonaide stand this summer. They had a ball AND made a small profit. She wants to save her money to have a salt-water aquarium someday. It will take a while, but she is determined!! It is always nice to have someone say "keep the change". I'm sure your reward will come back to you!! :)

Wow Todd I remember playing the commodore 64 game of lemonade stand too, Such a great simple game...ahh the memories! :)

Hey Todd.....I think I've read about the Lemonade stands before, but no matter how many times I see these types of Posts the message just goes deeper. I love what you did/do and you are so right about the kids will remember it. And you are also right that sometimes people just need a little helping hand, something that gives them a positive experience to make them want more.

LOVE IT!! I do the same thing...but without the business card. Never thought of that. I have always been an entrepreneur...even going back to when I was little. I think it is either in you or not...but we do need to foster that in our youth. GREAT STUFF! GBU!!

What a great idea. A little goes a very long way with encouragement & aspirations. I am sure one of those $5 bill receivers will go on to do magnificent things in life. KM

That is a wonderful way to encourage them. I have not seen a good old fashioned lemonade stand in years. I did it when I was a youngster also.

Todd... Great story.. You never know.. It could lead to your next listing or sale

Rebecca - I am hoping these kids were doing the same thing and I hope one day to give them another tip when they own something else.

Randall - I HOPE NOT! I paid two this year that I saw, but last year, I gave I'm guessing over $100 a way.

OCT

2008

Winter - Thanks, but I didn't want to be cute, I wanted to be inspiring!

Shane - I wish I could find that game again or they would make it for another game system, I would buy it for my kids!

Todd,

Good for you! I always try to stop when I see kids selling lemonade or selling a hand car wash, too! Great post!

The lemonade stand, and American institution! You don't see them in Europe! Ahh who doesn't love them and all that they symbolize!

I always give the kids of lemonade stands money for more capital! Yes, only in America! I have always owned my own businesses since I was 16. I worked for the city of San Francisco Water department for one summer when I was 15, decided I hated filing. Then for two weeks I worked at McDonalds when I was 16; that is when I decided that working for someone else was not for me. I knew I was an entrepreneur. What a free life I have lived, making my own way, choosing my own income and empowering others to do so too. Katerina

Erik - I got a little bit of inspiration when I was a kid and I want to pay it back. My parents said I could do anything I wanted and never told me I couldn't make a business not work and because of that I won't!

Jeannette - I can tell you the smiles I see in the mirror as I drive away is really enough payment, but I hope to inspire.

Todd, I love this idea. I learned so much from my lemonade stand, as I wrote in one of my posts. It helps me to this day.

Wow!!! What an eye opener. Todd, I always support kids when selling candy, books, lemonade or whatever but I never see it the way you do, your post change the way I will approach these future entrepreneur next time I run in to one of them. That is a great a way to encourage them and bring a big smile to their faces. Great post!

Todd, you gave me chills when I read this. What an awesome thing for you to do for the kids (and the parents!)

Wow, that's pretty cool---I bet you made their day.

If only more people could do the same, encourage their kids to try! If we all give our kids opportunities to succeed, and ways to grow up and develop into successful business owners, their future would be so much brighter.

I know and understand that someone needsto flip those burgers, and that the kid at Tim Horton'sCoffeeShop is needed there too, but why not provide other options as well? What good is it for grade 11 student who, for the third year in a row is "learning" how to build a website, if no one tells him, how to get it out there so it can be FOUND among millions of other websites, and perhaps make him enough money so he doesn't have to flip those burgers at the minimum wage? How come we don't teach our kids (in schools!) to set up real life businesses or to balance their check books? How about business networking? So many of those kids could be successful if only someone showed them how!

What you are doing is priceless! Those little kids with their lemonade stand will remember that $5 for ever!

Todd, I would like to believe we all have someone who inspired us as youths. Sounds like you are doing your fair share helping entrepreneurial kids understand how to earn a good return on investment.

It doesn't cost you much to stand out. I love it. It really reciprocates the wow factor. Love it.

Todd - I like your style. That is a terrific way to encourage the 10% of kids that will go on to own their own businesses. I hope it eventually brings you some business, too!

I'm sure the kids are on top of the world when they get that $5 bill...that is such an inspiration to them!

Great post - how fun, and I bet the kids love it!

Wow, that could have been me writing that post, at least from reading the first paragraph. I also was the kid who started a babysitters club and held a camp for neighborhood kids at my parent's home. Yes, I still think of anything I do from the frame of...how could I have a business out of this? Needless to say I'm in real estate, but that thought is there no matter what I'm doing.

I do think that certain people frame their perspectives from that very same viewpoint and it's important to know that so many other people frame it differently. I've learned this recently from attending Antioch New England University, studying this very topic! I've found in my cohort that some people see things from the perspective of "how can I teach this?" or "how can I build this myself?" or "how can I help this person?" etc... So it's interesting to see how each of our perspectives and values drive how and what we do!

Great article!

I had a lemonade stand as a kid too... which, with the help of my two best friends turned into a candy stand... which then turned into an "extra help" stand where we offered car washing, pet sitting, baby sitting, and random services to people in the neighborhood. Boy was that a great income as a kid! And it was all because our parents were so willing to help us out and encourage our ideas! It taught us not only discipline (making sure we were at our pet walking appts on time) but also basic business skills about accounting and how much candy to buy to make sure we had what people wanted!

Great post! :-)

~SHANNON~

Hey Todd did I tell you my kid has a lemonade stand here. Would you send me $5.00 please..... Your just that type of guy I can tell by some of your blogs. That has to be very encouraging and I know they appreciate it.

Will - I hope to hear your story of inspiration next year then!

Betina - To many people teach their children that in order to live they need to live off others, I think if you teach a man to fish...Wait I've heard that somewhere before.

Brian - I loved that computer and just to let you know, the first business I ever started earned me the money to buy that Commodore 64, no one else helped, I paid for it with my own money!

Charlie - I have heard a few other agents maybe looking at Burger King also!

OCT

2008

Judy - I hope one day to get a call from one of these kids! I know I got a call about 10 years ago from a child I was a Big Brother for and he put me in tears when he told me "Todd, you changed my life...THANK YOU!" He had been at the same job since the day our brothership ended and I moved back to Portland 9 years prior. He had been with the same girl, who was now his wife and they were expecting their first child. Talk about bringing me to tears, because at the time, I wasn't sure I had actually reached this child.

Paul - I promise that it changes these kids's life, even if it is only for the day, it still changes their life!

Fran - You raised your kids' right and you know no matter what they choose to do now, they will succeed at it! The graduating from West Point is a prime example of that and you should be proud!

Chris - I haven't skipped a year without seeing one in the past 20 years, but I have been seeing less and less as the years go on and that does scare me for our future a little bit.

Richard - It might make us more money per sale, per hour that we have the last couple months. (LOL)

Bill - 15 of those years, I had no other reason to do it than to help build kids' spirit in the free enterprise system. But, right now it would be helpful to know that they appreciate it as well.

Melissa - I started in High School also, but that was as a student, in college it was giving back to Junior Achievement and the teacher that started with me.

Marti - I started with berry picking, but boy I couldn't do that anymore, it drove me nuts working for other people.

Pippa - I hope you try it next time you see a child trying to become a capitalist.

Stacey - This is the same reason I coach baseball and softball, to give kids the confidence to do anything they want in this world.

OCT

2008

Susan - Really a different time isn't it, I would remember leaving at 8 or 9 in the morning and not coming back until 10 at night and my parents had no idea where I was. But, they weren't worried, because that is just what life was. You left on your bike or horse, and you had a fun day and then came home.

Jamie - The only problem is finding a kid that is willing to do that near one of your open houses. It is such a rare thing to find a kid that is willing to work 4 hours straight and then to have a house listed by that person would have to be a fluke.

Steve - I really do, nothing would make me happier to know my $5 went on to help 25 people have jobs because I inspired one person.

Susan - I know there were many people in my life and I want do the same for someone else.

Sonja - I started my first little business because I wanted that Commodore 64 and then it just went on from there.

Justin - I think they should put it out again, kids could learn so much from it and it would be so much more impressive today than it was 25 years ago.

Kathy - I should check out those other posts, are you saying there are others like me that do this?

Elizabeth - I think so many young entrepreneurs lose that spirit because they don't have anyone to encourage them and that really is a shame. Imagination is the key and so many friends and parents try to crush that in little kids and I just don't know why.

Kristin - I would love to be watching the news when I'm 80 and hear some millionaire say that the reason he got to where he did today was because someone gave him a tip at a lemonade stand when he was 7.

Randy - I wonder why we don't see them anymore. I wonder if it has to do with parents being worried about their kids, like someone suggested before. I sure hope that isn't the case, I can't imagine where this country is going if kids can't be kids just because of fear.

Roland - It could be, but I would rather see a successful local business because of it. Maybe that lemonade stand that is now downtown is because of me!

Michelle - Hand car wash? That is something new, I've seen the ones for churches, but never for individual kids, I would have stopped also!

Liz - I wonder why you don't see them in Europe.

Katerina - I've worked off and on for other people, but I was always in charge when I did. I was a trainer and may sure I had complete control of my time. I've owned business since about age 12 and so many times other companies approached me about training for them. Too often it was plenty of money for me to close my doors and work for them, but in the end the bug always strikes again and I'm back out the door on my own.

Christine - email me a link to that post, I would love to read it.

Venancio - These are our future and we need to encourage them or we won't have any small business left in America.

Kris - Thanks, I hope you will now do it in the future as well.

Diane - I hope I made their life!

Joanna - This is exactly why I home school! Schools teach to the dumbest kid in the class room and the people that want to learn and can become great our brought down to the level of the rest.

Mary - Out of 1800 kids in Tigard when I was in High School only 7 attended Junior Achievement and that really tells me enough about how many kids have a chance at becoming something.

Larry - I'm hoping they will pass this same thing on to someone they meet when they are older.

Jason - Those 10% are the ones that are going to make our country great in the future. I don't want anything to take from that, I love America and our spirit is what makes it so great. My job as an American is to encourage this spirit instead of crushing like some many others try to do.

Sonja - I know they are, but I really hope they have heard the message and continue with a dream of owning their own business.

Kevin or Monica - I have never met a kid at a lemonade stand that isn't having fun.

Stephanie - My drive is to give back and encourage kids like someone did for me. I was lucky to have great parents and a couple great teachers along the way.

Eddie - Thank you!

Shannon - What are your other friends that did this business with you doing now? I am betting they aren't working for someone else!

Charles - No, I have to get the lemonade! I'm glad you enjoy my posts and remember kids are going to decide our future, what we teach them today will determine our tomorrow.

Leave a response…

Name:

Email:
(optional)

Comment:

What does the graphic say?