Sowing Seeds for Success: City Directors Rally Schools, Communities and Kids to Sell Lemonade and Learn Lifelong Lessons in Entrepreneurship
By Steven Gordon, Lemonade Day National President
“Selling is an essential skill every entrepreneur must master. Think about it: Starting from day one in your business, you're selling. Whether it’s pitching your idea to potential investors or showcasing your latest innovation to prospects, the success of your business depends on your ability to sell.”
The art of selling can be learned, but let’s face it, many adults are very uncomfortable putting themselves in the position of potentially being rejected. In fact, many people automatically default to thinking that if they ask for something – a deal, a raise, a promotion, or anything of value – that they are likely to hear the answer “No” so why ask in the first place?
You may have heard the expression, “A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.”
Character-development and growth come best and fastest when we stretch beyond our comfort zone. Learning to sell anything at any age is not always fun, yet attaining sales skills is extremely valuable for all aspects of life and work.
Lemonade Day serves as a perfect platform for teaching kids – as well as caring adults who mentor and support them – to reach for important goals that may appear challenging or unattainable. Lemonade Day is an effective program for engaging K-5 youth in an entrepreneurial education process that includes business planning, capital investment, marketing, promotion, sales and community service. Over the past 10 years, more than 1 million kids have become small business owners with the help of caring adults. Our National Lemonade Day team and Lemonade Day City Directors are laying the groundwork now to register hundreds of thousands of kids to participate in Lemonade Day next year throughout the United States and Canada.
Jessie Jones with the Entrepreneurs of the Year from Northeast Ohio, Oh La La Lemonade.
At the Lemonade Day National City Directors Conference held in Houston in September, Jessie Jones of Northeast Ohio shared a Partner Case Study. Jessie, along with Sarah Heimer of Northwest Arkansas, each contributed to the case study by sharing their experiences and best practices surrounding school, corporate and community partner engagement. Jessie presented their combined study at the conference, as well as introduced a program she developed that goes hand in hand with Lemonade Day, the “Selling Bee.”
Jesse noted that in 2017, about 3,800 youth registered to participate in Lemonade Day with a large majority being registered through schools. Northeast Ohio has worked with 120 plus schools over the years, engaging kids from all socioeconomic levels. Lemonade Day in Northeast Ohio is flexible about the date that teachers and kids host lemonade stands. Sarah explained that the Northwest Arkansas Lemonade Day territory has a population of around 500,000 people and covers seven school districts, some of which are in very rural communities. Most Lemonade Day registrations in NW Arkansas are generated through individuals, followed by schools. About 12 schools participated in Lemonade Day 2017, with over 800 kids registered.
As for the Selling Bee, kids in Northeast Ohio were invited to vote online for the top videos spotlighting sales pitches from kid entrepreneurs. This is a Must See! Check out www.sellingbee.buzz to see entertaining and effective sales pitches from kids of all ages.
As the National President for Lemonade Day, I am asking you to join me in rallying support for Lemonade Day and our mission of engaging youth in an entrepreneurial journey that will last a lifetime. We at Lemonade Day headquarters have big goals. And with your help, we will achieve them!
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.
