The Bearce Brothers Lemonade Stand
The big day had finally arrived. My two boys were about to experience their first day owning a small business, the Bearce Brothers Lemonade Stand. Leading up to the grand opening, we talked to them about needing a business plan, how they would have costs of goods sold which needed to be recouped, and how they needed a marketing plan. We explained differentiation and the need to set themselves apart from the rest. They decided real fresh squeezed lemonade would be a great selling feature. We suggested they dress up and wear ties because after all they were business men and besides who could resist buying lemonade from boys in ties?
Apparently a lot of people .... car after car drove by, some slowed to look, others just rolled on by. Our hearts began to sink, could it be that we are so caught up in the hamster wheel of running errands and getting groceries we can't spare a minute to patronize a lemonade stand and make a kids day? As another car slowed and waved without stopping, we decided that waving to a kid running a lemonade stand is like bouncing a tennis ball in front of a Labrador and then not throwing it.
Finally our faith in humanity began to be restored. It started with a neighbor, then two, then three, a few social media blasts from Mom and Dad brought some friends by, and then finally real customers, actual strangers, a couple riding bikes, a woman with a 17-year-old daughter who said it felt like just yesterday that she was helping her daughter sell lemonade, an older couple who bought four glasses for no apparent
reason other than to boost the sale. A women stopped and told my boys that she had seen many lemonade stands but never one run by better dressed proprietors and that was her reason to stop, which made us beam.
So here is the opinion part, this summer none of us has an excuse to not stop at a lemonade stand run by children. It takes under a minute, will make their day and it will restore some faith in mankind for their parents.
Stephen Bearce
Alexandria