By Steven Gordon, Lemonade Day National President

“It feels like yesterday, when, in fact, it was five years ago. The most dynamic and inspirational experience I have had around entrepreneurship was my first! When I was 10 years old, I participated in the Entrepreneurship Foundation’s Lemonade Day contest. This was a contest where we had to prepare a business plan to sell lemonade, then execute on the plan and report results. I learned so much that I felt very advanced for a 10-year-old:  how to set prices, select a location, advertise to get folks there, calculate gross margins and net profit, keep track of my expenses, and describe a ‘target audience.’ My experiences were educational and inspired me to get on a path of entrepreneurship.”

       Rohit Srinivasan, Senior at Westlake High School and co-founder of Trashbots

(excerpt of an essay published in a book entitled Naturally Caffeinated: The Community Edition)

Last week in Austin, I had the pleasure of meeting an impressive and charismatic young entrepreneur by the name of Rohit Srinivasan.  Now 18 and a senior attending Westlake High School, Rohit got a head start on entrepreneurship when he participated in Lemonade Day at the age of 10 in 2009.  Rohit is the co-founder of Trashbots (www.trashbots.org), which develops low-cost science and engineering robotics kits for students. Trashbots enables kids around the world to develop problem-solving skills and enhance their creativity by building robots that are made according to a structured curriculum blended with an artistic twist: the kids make their robots from trash and other discarded materials that the students find in their own environment.   

Not only is Rohit a Lemonade Day success story, he is also a solid role model for youth entrepreneurship.  Because of the creativity and effectiveness of the Trashbots concept, Rohit has won the SXSW Edu Student Start-up Competition—which earned him and Trashbots a $1,000 prize and international recognition: he has been interviewed by Fox News, and he has presented at the United Nations Youth Assembly.  These are just a few of many accolades that Rohit has earned. 

Rohit credits lessons he learned through Lemonade Day for the success he and his company are achieving now.  He challenges those contemplating entrepreneurial ventures to be unique, be optimistic, be socially responsible, and be inspired.

To read Rohit’s story, please access this link:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rohit-srinivasan-birth-entrepreneur-kim-gorsuch/

Rohit Srinivasan is photographed here in Tarrytown, Texas (a suburb of Austin) getting a head start by launching his lemonade stand a day earlier than the publicly announced Lemonade Day, May 3, 2009.  (Photo: Community Matters)

https://communitymatters.biz/2009/05/03/today-is-lemonade-day/

(From left to right) Rohit Srinivasan, Paul Austin, and Sidharth Srinivasan, co-founders of Trashbots, pose with the “Trashbot” that won the SXSW Edu Student Start-up Competition in March 2017. (Photo: Statesman.com)

As our Lemonade Day national headquarters team and City Directors gear up for Lemonade Days in 2018, Rohit is joining us in asking caring adults, businesses of all types and sizes, and community organizations to generously share their “time, talent and treasure” so that kids can get a head start and a hand up on their lemonade journey.  Rohit—along with thousands of other Lemonade Day alumni and supporters—will appreciate your participation in Giving Tuesday on November 28th, 2017.  Funds donated to Lemonade Day via Facebook on November 28th will be matched by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 

Donations in any amount are most welcomed and appreciated.  Financial contributions will be allocated to producing and distributing instructional materials and providing adult leaders who will guide kids through the Lemonade Day process. Some kids may even need “seed funding” or a small business loan from Lemonade Day organizers to purchase lemonade stand supplies and to construct their lemonade stand.

Once kids register to participate in Lemonade Day, Lemonade Day City Directors, mentors, and other volunteers will teach them a proven process for effectively launching, promoting and operating a lemonade business in their local community.  Once they have served their customers and made a profit, lemonade business owners can enjoy their sweet success by sharing some of their profits, spending some, and saving some.

To support Lemonade Day on Giving Tuesday, November 28th, please visit the “Donate” section of our Facebook page or Website:

https://www.facebook.com/lemonadeday/

https://lemonadeday.org/donate-national                              

Thank you in advance for your support today, on Giving Tuesday, and for many days to come. We know that Lemonade Day can make a positive impact on many millions of kids—and every dollar donated and every hour volunteered help in a meaningful way!

About Lemonade Day

Founded in Houston in 2007 by Michael and Lisa Holthouse, Lemonade Day is a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching every child across North America the business and financial skills that are the key ingredients of entrepreneurship. By learning these skills early in life, children will be better prepared to be successful, financially healthy adults. Through our fun, hands-on program Kids K-5 are empowered to start their very own business—a lemonade stand—and experience the feeling of earning real money, using 100% of their profit to spend, save and share based on their own goals.

Lemonade Day is in 62 cities throughout the United States. Over the past 10 years, we have served more than 1 million kids in our kid entrepreneur programs.

Visit LemonadeDay.org to learn how to participate in Lemonade Day in your city.