My oldest son had a school project to create a business plan for a lemonade stand. As a 4th grade class, they read The Lemonade War together; it’s about two 4th graders who battle each other with their own lemonade stands. After it was finished they had to learn what it would take to start a business. They researched what supplies would be needed and price the cost of lemons, sugar, and whatever else they wanted to sell at their stand. They researched the cost differences between making lemonade from scratch versus buying a powdered mix and had to figure out what to charge. They had to compare pricing of those supplies between different stores. They researched different ways to advertise and include those costs. They had to make some examples of advertising too (flyers, business cards, social media ads, etc.).
Because this project was assigned while distance learning, his teacher made it optional for kids to actually have a lemonade stand. Quarantine restrictions were loosened a lot last month for us, so my son asked if we could actually do it. Knowing I would be doing a lot of the work, I begrudgingly agreed.
Tommy, foodie that he is, wanted to do scratch-made lemonade, and we used a recipe from Chef Freyka; the chef who taught a cooking class he attended last year at Harmon’s. He wanted to offer add-ons like iced tea to make Arnold Palmers and strawberries for strawberry lemonade.
Lastly, he REALLY wanted to make Brazilian Limeade; a drink that we all love. You can usually order it from Brazilian Steakhouses like Fogo de Chão or Rodizio Grill. This is a link to the recipe we followed. Essentially, 3 whole limes quartered, 1 cup of sugar, 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, 1 quart of water. Pulse in a blender for about 10 seconds and then immediately pour through a fine sieve. Pour over ice and enjoy. It’s very refreshing. At some point this summer I’m going to have to see how tasty it is with a shot of rum. Blendtec FTW!
From Costco we bought ten pounds each of lemons and limes, plus a 4lb package of strawberries and 20lbs of ice. From Sam’s Club we bought two 2-gallon beverage containers with a spigot (something I had wanted to buy already). We bought four cans of sweetened condensed milk and a 4lb bag of sugar from Walmart.
The last thing we needed to figure out was a juicer. We had a small, manual citrus juicer, but that was going to be exhausting to juice 20 pounds of fruit. KitchenAid makes a citrus juicer attachment that fits their mixers, but I really didn’t want to spend $30-$35 on one not knowing how often we’d use it. It’s great for when you need to juice 50 lemons, but not needed when you only need to juice a few.
Then we got lucky. While looking through small appliances at a Walmart, Tommy spotted the KitchenAid juicer on a high shelf. He scanned it and discovered it was only $5. I thought for sure it would be a mistake, but it wasn’t. Score!
We already had a 10’ canopy, a folding table, a table cloth, and chairs, and we already had a Costco-sized package of Solo cups. I graciously contributed my graphic design skills to help create a couple of signs, which we shared on social media. I forgot to get a photo, but Tommy drew on a large piece of foam board and it was staked into the ground at the end of our street.
It turned out to be a really fun day. Tommy sold out of lemonade after about three hours and we almost sold out of Brazilian limeade too. Neighbors and friends stopped by, even Tommy’s teacher was able come for a quick visit. A few friends and family who don’t live local sent money through Venmo too.
After we figured the cost of fruit, ice, the juicer, sugar, and cups, he still ended up making a profit. I included the juicer and cups because he wants to do this lemonade stand a few more times this summer and those are items he won’t have to buy again and I wouldn’t have purchased them otherwise. So the next time he does this, his expenses should be less.
Of course, we also talked about expenses that he didn’t have to pay for this time like furniture, insurance, federal and state taxes, rental fees for the space, actually paying Mom her graphic design fees and he learned a little bit about what it takes to build a business.