In case you haven’t seen it, slime was a fad with pre-teens. You can do a YouTube search to find a myriad of instructional videos. Our grandsons sent us out on the hunt for tubs of white glue for the next batch to create. There’s a delicate balance of borax, water, lotion and glue to get the right consistency. Too much and you have a tough non-pliable slab. Too little borax and you’ve got a sticky mess. One of their friends created a thriving business of making it at home and selling it to classmates and online. Packaging leaves something to be desired as she delivered it in a Ziploc bag but I have to applaud her for her initiative.
There’s a teachable moment here on cost of goods and driving around town to look for glue. How much time is involved and what is that time worth? Is Mom footing the bill on ingredients or is it a loan to be paid back out of your revenue? Quality control and product appearance are also key learnings.
Lemonade Day is in May in Houston. I saw a promo on the local news a few years back and didn’t take it seriously until I looked at their website: www.lemonadeday.org I congratulate and encourage co-founders Lisa and Michael Holthous and their board chairman Bo Bothe for bringing this to reality. The board is comprised of 20 influential entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and business executives in the Houston area.
This free, experiential learning program teaches youth how to start, own, and operate their own business—a lemonade stand. The foremost objective per the website is to “empower youth to take ownership of their lives and become productive members of society.”
I love their vocabulary page:
Entrepreneur: A person who starts a business for the purpose of making a profit.
Business: The selling of goods or services to make a profit.
Profit: The money earned from sales after expenses are paid.
It’s not often that we see these words presented in such a positive light.
On a regulatory note, I noticed that they had obtained health department and business license waivers for the one special event day. It’s good for the participants to understand what’s behind the scenes to make a business compliant and successful. Do you recall the days of lighter regulation when life was simpler? It was much easier to set up a child sponsored business. Did you have one when you were a child? What did you learn from your experience?
I saw one of these stands set up inside my local Kroger. My initial reaction was that having a business sponsor the stand and its location felt like the “helicopter” parents with too much oversight. On the other hand, kudos to the kids who saw that a high traffic location such as the local grocery store would be beneficial to their overall sales. It’s a shame that a stand in your front yard or your neighborhood park may not be a safe place to practice your sales skills.
If you visit their website: www.lemonadeday.org, check out the Success is Sweet story. It certainly sends a positive message to children about entrepreneurship.
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