8 Things My Sons Lemonade Stand Can Teach Us About Building A Business
Have you ever seen the look on someone's face when they accomplish something big, the way they light up, their excitement and enthusiasm? Maybe it was a child learning to ride a bike on their own for the first time, maybe it was you learning to do pottery, riding a motorcycle. Whatever it is think about that feeling, how you felt, what your face probably looked like. Your energy level.
While late last week I was privileged to share that moment with my young son!
I want to share 8 things I learned from him that I think would serve every trade and service-based business well to grow the business and increase sales.
Late last week my son set up a lemonade stand and made $10 and he has 8 things to teach us…
Being willing to pivot
It started with a mini garage sale at the end of the driveway and when that was not going well my son decided to pivot into a lemonade stand.
QUESTION: If what you're doing is not working, are you willing to pivot with your market?
Going all in
He sat out in the rain (rain or shine) he was out there selling his lemonade. He was committed.
QUESTION: No matter how hard it gets or how crappy the weather or what they nay-sayers say, are you ALL IN?
Dressing the part
My son had a lemonade stand so he wore a yellow shirt and yellow pants because, in his words "I'm selling lemonade, I'm a lemon!"
QUESTION: Do you dress the part, do you need to dress on brand? Wear a shirt with your logo and look more professional than your competitors? Or do you need a collar (even if it's on a golf shirt.)
Thinking differently about revenue models
Most kids are told by their parents or maybe they decide by themselves to charge 25 cents, 50 cents or maybe even a dollar BUT knowing that adults (for the most part) find kids adorable when they do lemonade stands and so I recommended he simply put a "tip jar" on the table thinking that he would probably make more money that way. And he did. He told me later that a lady gave him $2 and she did not even want a glass of lemonade!
QUESTION: Have you looked at your market, your product, your competitors and thought about different revenue models for your business?
Capitalizing on free foot traffic (no shame!)
The reason that my son's lemonade stand had legs, was because our neighbor was having a garage sale and so my young son reasoned that if people were going to go to the garage sale they probably would want some lemonade, no advertising needed.
QUESTION: Are there things you can do, locations you can go to or businesses you can partner with that can bring you new business opportunities? New customers, that cost you nothing?
Attitude and enthusiasm
Well, people were leaving this garage sale my son would call across the road "Lemonade, get your lemonade" to get attention, and even in the rain he had a positive mental attitude and enthusiasm for his product and his business never wavered. He believed in what he was doing and would not quit.
QUESTION: When the going gets tough when things get hard and you have to work hard, work alone, work in bad weather, deal with hard situations in your business how are your attitude and your enthusiasm towards and for your business and your customers?
Hiring experts
My young son knows very little about making lemonade other than the fact that you need lemons. So, he enlisted the help of his Mom to make the lemonade, get the right cups.
QUESTION: Like my son do you recognize when you are not an expert? Do you recognize when you could use some help? Think about enlisting the help of an expert. You don't even need to hire employees you can enlist the help of consultants and independent contractors in whatever it is, you need help in.
High level of customer service
He consistently made sure that his customers were happy by asking; “it’s good, huh”
QUESTION: Do you make sure that your customers are happy or are you afraid to ask because of what may come up? Be willing to ask and it will bring up an amazing opportunity?
Closing:
In closing below is a list of a bullet list of the 8 questions that can help you increase your sales and grow your business and finally, the points below may seem simple or that they can't work. BUT they will work if you focus on them every day. If you have questions or comments we'd love to hear from you!
Questions to grow your business and your sales:
Are you willing to pivot?
Are you all in?
Are you dressing the part?
Are you able to rethink revenue models?
Are you able to leverage free traffic to increase sales?
Are you approaching every day with a positive mental attitude and enthusiasm?
Are you able and willing to hire experts?
Are you asking customers if they are happy?
