BY GUEST BLOGGER GAYE JACKSON, LEMONADE DAY HOUSTON CITY DIRECTOR

Continuing its mission to empower today’s youth to become tomorrow’s entrepreneurs, Lemonade Day Houston has developed and launched the Lemonade Day Kids Pitch Event. We held our first pitch event in April and our second in September. It gets better with each event!

In a recent pitch event held in Houston, 10 teams of kids received coaching in advance from experienced mentors who helped them create a plan for their very own small business – a lemonade stand. Each team then had less than 5 minutes to pitch its business concept to a panel of judges who have extensive experience with starting and operating a wide range of business ventures. The top three teams earned prizes in the form of seed money to enable them to bring their business ideas to life.

The Lemonade Day Kids Pitch Event gives young people the opportunity to receive positive attention and valuable feedback from experienced adult mentors while being challenged to stretch well beyond their comfort zone. This is an amazing opportunity for kids to go through the entrepreneurial startup process in a fun ‘Shark Tank-style’ pitch competition while building self-confidence and developing their planning, team building, and communication skills. While it is extremely rewarding watching these kids in action, it is almost better to watch the reactions of the judges and mentors. Priceless!!

If you would like more information on creating a pitch event, reach out to me. I would be delighted to share my materials and ideas on working with business owners and investors as well as partnering with business incubator organizations to develop your own pitch events. You can email me at gaye@lemonadeday.org.

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For more information about Lemonade Day, please visit lemonadeday.org.