Lemonade stands

[going2ER]

My son and one of his friends have been doing a lemonade stand for the past couple of weekends. The weather has been nice and we live in a residential area off a busy road (the road is on a steep hill). They set up on an empty lot on the busy road which is next to our house. Lots of people walk this hill as well as drive. The first weekend they made $75 in 2 afternoons, the second weekend they made $80 in one afternoon, it rained on Sunday. I think they are now addicted to running their stand, unfortunately it is cooling down now so I don't know how much longer they will have the demand. However, they are great little business men. They look at their expenses and where they can save, buying at grocery store instead of corner store, etc. Musticians in the making.

[TheBreeze]

Are they maxing their 401ks????

[johnny847]

I wonder if they could actually legitimately claim this as self employment income and file income taxes on it so they could deposit it into a Roth IRA....probably not but it'd be cool if that was allowed!

But congrats on your kid's business sense!

[marty998]

If they did that here, this is what would happen:

- A council ranger would ask to see their permit for running a commercial operation
- The Australian Workers Union would be onto them for not paying their staff penalty rates
- The Greens would be hassling them for not buying local produce
- Health inspector would demand they prove their food does not cause food poisoning
- Workcover would ask they take Occupational Health and Safety training
- The state government would require them to be registered and pay for payroll tax
- the federal government would require them to have an ABN, TFN, and be registered for GST
- they would need to hire lawyers, because anyone who tripped on an empty cup would sue them for negligence
- and finally Coles and Woolies would undercut them with anticompetitive behaviour and drive them out of business

But ignore my rant for the day. Well done to your son and his friends. Perhaps they can add ice cream to their repertoire?

[deborah]

If they did that here, this is what would happen:

- A council ranger would ask to see their permit for running a commercial operation
- The Australian Workers Union would be onto them for not paying their staff penalty rates
- The Greens would be hassling them for not buying local produce
- Health inspector would demand they prove their food does not cause food poisoning
- Workcover would ask they take Occupational Health and Safety training
- The state government would require them to be registered and pay for payroll tax
- the federal government would require them to have an ABN, TFN, and be registered for GST
- they would need to hire lawyers, because anyone who tripped on an empty cup would sue them for negligence
- and finally Coles and Woolies would undercut them with anticompetitive behaviour and drive them out of business

You forgot the most likely problem - they would be asked to show their "safe food preparation" certification. This has stopped a number of sausage sizzles run by charities.

[Elderwood17]

If they did that here, this is what would happen:

- A council ranger would ask to see their permit for running a commercial operation
- The Australian Workers Union would be onto them for not paying their staff penalty rates
- The Greens would be hassling them for not buying local produce
- Health inspector would demand they prove their food does not cause food poisoning
- Workcover would ask they take Occupational Health and Safety training
- The state government would require them to be registered and pay for payroll tax
- the federal government would require them to have an ABN, TFN, and be registered for GST
- they would need to hire lawyers, because anyone who tripped on an empty cup would sue them for negligence
- and finally Coles and Woolies would undercut them with anticompetitive behaviour and drive them out of business

But ignore my rant for the day. Well done to your son and his friends. Perhaps they can add ice cream to their repertoire?

Unfortunately that is too close to the truth in many communities around here !

[farmstache]

My son and one of his friends have been doing a lemonade stand for the past couple of weekends. The weather has been nice and we live in a residential area off a busy road (the road is on a steep hill). They set up on an empty lot on the busy road which is next to our house. Lots of people walk this hill as well as drive. The first weekend they made $75 in 2 afternoons, the second weekend they made $80 in one afternoon, it rained on Sunday. I think they are now addicted to running their stand, unfortunately it is cooling down now so I don't know how much longer they will have the demand. However, they are great little business men. They look at their expenses and where they can save, buying at grocery store instead of corner store, etc. Musticians in the making.

As the weather cools, why not turn it into a coffee stand or a coffee-tea-cookies stand?

[HairyUpperLip]

whenever I see kids with a lemonade stand I stop and buy some. it's usually only 25-50 cents for a small cup but I'll usually leave each kid a $1 tip.

I just think it's so cool and impressive when kids actually do these types of things.

[swick]

Awesome! Having a lemonade stand when I was young gave me the "business" bug and basically shaped most of my life. It's a great activity that can teach so many valuable lessons, and sets your kids up for success, because if they can learn the basics now they will always be able to take the principals and turn them into a job or career, or one to fall back on.

Ours progressed like this:

 - Stand outside of our house on a somewhat busy rode, had the advantage of being right across from the Elementary school. Quickly realized kids didn't actually have money and ended up giving away as much as sold. Still made a bit of profit. Noted kids who DID have money got it directly from their parents.

 - Looked for a better place for a stand. Noticed that every adult in our community had to go to the post office downtown. Set up just outside. Kept running out of lemonade (learned about supply and demand) realized if I had to go make more lemonade, I had to close the stand. Hired sister. Still realized we could not keep up. Hired local kids for staff - negotiated wages. Discovered kids were happy to work for jellybeans instead of cash. (my mom owned a toy and candy store) Made more money. Learned how to cost out ingredients and supplies and buy in bulk to be able to keep more of the profits.

 - Got shut down by our local bylaw officer for not having a business license. Said we were not allowed to "Sell" anything. Went to my mom in tears. She handed me a sharpie and told me "don't have a price then". We crossed out our 25 cents a glass and wrote in "By Donation" and increased our sales 1000% (even a bit more when our story got out about the bylaw officer trying to shut us down)

[farmstache]

Awesome! Having a lemonade stand when I was young gave me the "business" bug and basically shaped most of my life. It's a great activity that can teach so many valuable lessons, and sets your kids up for success, because if they can learn the basics now they will always be able to take the principals and turn them into a job or career, or one to fall back on.

Ours progressed like this:

 - Stand outside of our house on a somewhat busy rode, had the advantage of being right across from the Elementary school. Quickly realized kids didn't actually have money and ended up giving away as much as sold. Still made a bit of profit. Noted kids who DID have money got it directly from their parents.

 - Looked for a better place for a stand. Noticed that every adult in our community had to go to the post office downtown. Set up just outside. Kept running out of lemonade (learned about supply and demand) realized if I had to go make more lemonade, I had to close the stand. Hired sister. Still realized we could not keep up. Hired local kids for staff - negotiated wages. Discovered kids were happy to work for jellybeans instead of cash. (my mom owned a toy and candy store) Made more money. Learned how to cost out ingredients and supplies and buy in bulk to be able to keep more of the profits.

 - Got shut down by our local bylaw officer for not having a business license. Said we were not allowed to "Sell" anything. Went to my mom in tears. She handed me a sharpie and told me "don't have a price then". We crossed out our 25 cents a glass and wrote in "By Donation" and increased our sales 1000% (even a bit more when our story got out about the bylaw officer trying to shut us down)

Love this. :)

We used to sell drawings, hanging on my grandma's fence. Not nearly as much business-like as your story. :) I wish someone in the family had suggested a beverage...