How to open a Lemonade Stand

A lemonade stand is a fun, and easy way to make some quick cash! It can be a personally rewarding, and learning experience. If you follow these simple steps it has the potential to help you learn and be able to run a lemonade stand.

First things first. If you want to have the best chance for a successful lemonade stand, then you should make sure to plan ahead. This includes doing research ahead of time, and planning for the day of your event.

Always ask permission first. Find out if it's safe, or okay for you to even have a lemonade stand. Ask parents, guardians, etc. and obtain permission before beginning to plan.

Once you've gotten permission, you're all set to begin your moneymaking adventures!

1. Ask a friend, sibling, or adult for help! It's always better to have a friend, or sibling there to talk to if business is slow, and it makes the planning, implementing, and cleanup process a lot faster, and more fun. It's also safer, because if you have a couple of friends there you can adhere to the buddy system. Always ask an adult you trust for help if you need it.
2. Be fair! Discuss how you'll split the profits among you and your friends/siblings if you have help. Don't try to cheat anyone out of their fair share, because, after all, they agreed to help you in the first place, and it's only fair that you should give them what they earned and deserve accordingly.
3. Discuss when the best day is to have your lemonade stand. Weekends, preferably on a Saturday are best. More people are home on weekends, and are out mowing their lawns, or running errands. It's also better to have the Lemonade Stand on a day when people will be out doing things- having it on the day of your neighborhood's annual garage sale, or any Saturday when someone is having a garage sale is a great idea, and will help you get more traffic to your stand. (If someone you know is having a garage sale, you might ask if they would allow you to set up your stand on the edge of their lawn/driveway!)
4. Check the weather forecast for rain---you wouldn't want to setup your stand, have everything laid out, and then it starts raining, leaving you and your friends scrambling to grab everything and run inside! Pick a day that will be sunny, warm, and dry.

Do not:

1. Pick a day that will be cold! If it's cold outside, no one will be thirsty for lemonade, because they'll be inside their house, and not outside. No one will see your stand, and they won't be out walking around. Instead, pick a day that will be sunny, warm, and dry.

Find the best location for your lemonade stand! It should be in your neighborhood, or your friend's neighborhood, in a location that you know well. The best places are at playgrounds on the grass, lawns that are near a curb, or a lawn near where people walk/drive by. This will help you get more costumers and traffic to your stand. Make sure that you ask if you are allowed to have it on your own lawn, your friend's lawn, or the playground grass. It's always best to ask permission first.

Do not:

1. Pick locations on, or in the middle of a road.
2. Pick a location that's hard to get to, or dangerous in any possible way.

Preferably pick a location that's near your house, and easy to get to. If it's your own front lawn that's great! This will make bringing supplies, setup, and cleanup after the stand easy, and quick,

You can't have a lemonade stand without the stand! You'll want to decorate the stand, and have signs/flyers so that people will notice your stand, or see the flyers and want to come.

• You can make your stand from a folding table, or some wooden crates. If you have a folding table, you'll just need to set it up, and then decorate it. If you make it with wooden crates, you'll need to place them on top of each other and secure them into place so they don't slide around. You could also build a stand out of the crates with wood, and other supplies, but only with adult supervision. It's easiest to just use a table.
• Make signs to decorate the front of your stand with! You'll need a sign that says "LEMONADE" preferably in bright colors! Greens and Yellows will attract customers' eyes. You can make the signs from poster board, leftover cardboard, stiff paper, etc. You can decorate the sign with markers, crayons, paint, or colored pencils! Just make sure that the sign is big, and the words stand out. Also make sure to have a sign with the price of your lemonade on it! Customers are more likely to come to your stand if you tell them how much it is, and don't hide the price.
• You can additionally decorate your stand with balloons, streamers, decorated paper, and ribbons! If you use ribbons or balloons, make sure that you'll be able to attach them to your stand somehow so that they won't blow away. You can also cover your table with a tablecloth to keep the table clean, and for added color.

You'll need money to buy lemons, sugar, cups, and lemon juice with. AKA you'll need money to buy things with first! It's a good idea if you have money to use your own money to buy the supplies with first, but if you don't have any money, you could ask a parent to loan you approximately $12 or so to pay for your startup cost. You would then pay them back from your profits---but if you do this, and you don't make enough to pay them back, you'll end up paying them back out of your own pocket money, and you won't make a profit. It's best to use your own money to buy supplies.

• If you're splitting profits and running the stand with someone else, you should also split the startup cost! This will help assure that everyone gets a fair share.

How much to sell your lemonade for

A good price to sell your lemonade for is $1. Most people have a dollar in their wallet or purse, and this makes it easy to sell, and make a profit.

You could sell it additionally for $1-2 but don't sell it for anything higher than that, because people will be more hesitant to buy from you.

TIP: Use real lemons, and not pre-bought lemon juice! This will make you be able to say, "Fresh-squeezed, and homemade lemonade!" And customers are more likely to buy from you if your lemonade is homemade and not powdered, or canned.

• You'll need to find a recipe for the lemonade, and a good place to search for lemonade recipes is Pinterest, or recipe websites. Once you've found a recipe you can save it for the day of the lemonade stand, and you can use it that morning.

You'll need the following supplies:

1. Cups (To hold the lemonade.)
2. A Cooler (To put the lemonade pitcher in so it stays cool. You can borrow one from your parents if they allow you.)
3. A Pitcher (To hold the lemonade, duh.)
4. Lemons (You can buy them from the dollar store, or grocery store.)
5. Sugar (You most likely will not need an entire bag of sugar, so you could also ask your parents if they will let you use the amount you need, and then you could offer to pay them for how much you use. That way you don't waste money by purchasing excess.)
6. Water

Optional: Ice (Some customers want ice in their lemonade.)

On the day that you'll be running and hosting your lemonade stand, you'll want to make sure that you don't forget anything important- the following list will help you to make sure that everything runs smoothly, and effectively.

1. Wake up early and make the lemonade.It's a good idea to make the lemonade on the day of the event, because then it'll be fresh, and it will taste better.
2. Use a wagon to bring supplies to bring supplies to the place you'll set up your stand. This will be easier than carrying a table, pitcher, cooler, etc.
3. Bring chairs! Folding chairs are a good idea, because you don't want to stand in the heat all day long- you'll get tired out, and grumpy really quickly, which will ruin the fun, so bringing chairs to sit in is a good idea.
4. Make sure that you bring water for yourself, and anyone else helping out---if you get thirsty you don't want to drink your own lemonade, because you might not make a profit if you do! Hydration is important, and you'll want to make sure that everyone helping is drinking enough water.
5. You could also sell other things at your lemonade stand such as: Rice Krispie Treats/Cookies/Brownies - People love to have options, and if they don't want lemonade, then maybe a sweet treat will satisfy them instead.
6. Consider giving each customer a thank you gift- if it's a family, give the kids a sticker, or give them each a handmade thank you note!
7. Use your manners! Address customers in a respectful manner, and always say, "Thank You" "You're Welcome" "Yes, Ma'am" and "No Ma'am" "Yes, Sir" and "No, Sir" ---People are more likely to tell others about your stand, and leave happy if you are respectful and polite.
8. At the end of the day, make sure that you clean up properly. If you borrowed items, make sure that they are returned to their owners clean, and tidy. Or if you have trash lying around such as streamers, napkins, etc. make sure that you pick it up. Don't forget to pay back your parents/friends if you borrowed money from them!

Please Note:

Do not expect to make $100 from a lemonade stand- that is not a realistic expectation. A realistic expectation on a good business day, would be more around $40-$50. On a bad day, you might not even make $20-$30, and you might not make back how much you spend on supplies. This will depend on how much lemonade you sell, how much you sell the lemonade for, and if customers want to give you tips or not.

To try and ensure that you make a profit, try to cut costs on supplies, and advertise by standing near a road with a sign waving people to your stand, or by handing out flyers to people in your neighborhood.

Hopefully this helps you to have a successful lemonade stand, and provides you with some tips, and answers some questions that you may have about the whole process.