Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 3: Setting up the stand
• Part 2 of 3: Running your lemonade stand
• Part 3 of 3: Making the lemonade
• Tips
• Warnings
• Necessities

A lemonade stand is more than just a summer classic. It is also a great opportunity for young people to learn the basics of business and to learn how to handle money. By opening a lemonade stand you learn to be responsible for your own business and keep track of how much you spend and earn, but it is also just fun to do.

To step

Part 1 of 3: Setting up the stand

1. Pick a spot. If you set up your stand in front of your house, only a few neighbors will see your stand. Instead, choose a spot with a lot of pedestrians passing so that more people see your stall. A local park or beach is a good place, especially when the weather is nice.
   • You can also ask your church or a local supermarket for permission to set up your stall at the entrance. Don't forget to ask for permission before setting up your stand on private property.
   • List local events. If there is a street festival or a sporting event taking place, set up your stand near it.
   • Think about where people will be the warmest and thirsty most. People who have been lying on the beach or who have just played 18 holes of golf in the sun are more likely to buy your lemonade.
   • Pay close attention to the weather. If the sun is shining very strongly on the day you plan to set up your stand, make sure to choose a shady spot.
2. Set up your stand. In any case, you need a good, sturdy table for your stand and a chair to sit on. Make sure to place them on a flat surface so your stand doesn't wobble and you don't spill lemonade. It's also a good idea to put a brightly colored tablecloth or blanket on the table so that you can draw attention to it.
   • Make sure the fabric at the front of your table hangs down to the floor. That way you can keep your stock under the table, but your customers will not see these items.
   • Place your carafes, cups, napkins and straws neatly on the table. The tidier your stand is, the more people will come to it.
3. Make it a comfortable place. If you plan to keep your booth open for a long time, make it as comfortable as possible. Keep water on hand if you get tired of drinking lemonade every time you're thirsty. Also, put a comfortable cushion on your chair so that your butt doesn't hurt. When the weather is warm, set up a battery-powered fan or cool yourself off with a piece of paper.
   • If you keep your stall open long enough, you may find that the shade disappears and you end up in the sun. If that happens, close your stand for half an hour and move it to a place where you are in the shade.
   • Make sure to also apply a lot of sunscreen to protect your skin from the sun.
4. Decorate your stand. There is no right or wrong way to decorate a lemonade stand. It is only important that your stand looks good and that you enjoy doing it.
   • You can print lemonade-themed decorations from the Internet and stick them on your stand.
   • Try to draw your own decoration. You can draw lemons, glasses and carafes full of ice-cold lemonade, or the sun, the beach, or other things that remind you of lemonade.
   • Maybe you can put freshly picked flowers in your stand, or use colored straws and napkins instead of plain white ones.
   • Also, make sure to make a nice, larger sign where you write what your stand is selling and what your prices are. Place it where passersby are sure to see it. It's a good idea to put the plate in front of the part of your tablecloth that hangs down to the floor.
5. Create signs to advertise your stand. Even though you're in a good place, you want everyone around to know that you have a lemonade stand. Create signs advertising your lemonade stand and place them around your stand to attract customers.
   • You can use plain sheets of white printer paper or colored craft paper to draw attention.
   • Use different colored markers to advertise your lemonade stand.
   • Make sure to include the price of a glass of lemonade, the address of your stall or how to get there.
6. Tell everyone about your stand. Ask your friends not only to visit your stand, but to tell their other friends about the stand and bring them along. Post a message on your Facebook page or that of your parents to let as many people as possible know where and when you will open your stand.

Part 2 of 3: Running your lemonade stand

1. Be friendly. Nothing attracts so many people to your stand like a broad smile and a sunny disposition. Talk to passersby and ask them to buy lemonade. You will be amazed at how many new customers you can attract just by being friendly.
   • Encourage customers to come back by telling them when you reopen your stand, "I'll be back here tomorrow afternoon at noon! Come back again!"
2. Keep your booth neat and clean. With a sunny character you can attract customers, but with a cluttered stand you can chase them away. Make sure to pour your lemonade without spilling and making everything sticky. Place your napkins in neat stacks and place your straws in a cup so that they don't roll everywhere. Make one or two stacks of cups. Just make sure you don't stack them so high that they fall over.
3. Sell ​​different products. A lemonade stand is a classic way to attract people, but your customers may be more likely to visit you if you sell more than one product. On a hot day, some people may prefer an ice cold bottle of water, so put down a cooler with bottled water to sell. You could also sell snacks so that your customers have something to eat with their lemonade.
   • You could make your own snacks to make more profit. Cookies, brownies, and lemon pastries are all good homemade snacks to go with your lemonade.
   • Some people may prefer salty snacks over sweet ones. Separate sachets of pretzels, chips or peanuts can dissipate the sweet taste of the lemonade.
   • Sell ​​fresh fruit to have a healthier alternative too. Apples, oranges or slices of watermelon are delicious on a hot day with a glass of cold lemonade.
4. Think of reasonable prices. Make sure to charge a reasonable price for all the products you sell. If you are in a busy place with a lot of thirsty people, ask for 75 cents or a euro for a cup of lemonade.
   • Come up with attractive offers for your customers, such as "two for the price of one". You may not make money with that second cup of lemonade, but you will attract more parents with children.
   • Set out a bowl or jar for tips to earn some extra money.
5. Have some change on hand. Even if you try to spend some money with your stall to earn, you will also have to have some change yourself if customers pay with larger amounts of bills. You do not have to accept notes with an amount higher than 20 euros, but make sure you have some 10 and 5 euros notes, as well as 1 and 2 euro and 50 cent coins. It would be a shame if you lost income because you cannot give a customer change for a 20 euro note.
   • Have an envelope handy to keep your change and the money your customers give you. Make sure you don't lose it.
6. Keep track of how much you sell. Running a lemonade stand can be a great opportunity to learn more about selling products and making and spending money. Keep track of how much money you make by writing down all sales.
   • Divide a lined sheet of paper into 5 columns, and name them "Day," "Number of cups sold," "Price per cup," "Tips" and "Total."
   • Enter this information every time you sell something.
   • At the end of the week, add up all the amounts in the "Total" column to find out how much money you have made.
7. Calculate your profit. You may have made some money selling lemonade, but don't forget that you also had to spend money to start your stand. You need to find out whether you have recouped the money you spent in the beginning. Hopefully you made some profit.
   • Write down the cost of all the items you had to buy for your stand. This includes the ingredients for the lemonade, cups / straws / napkins, billboards, decorations, etc.
   • Add up all the expenses you had to make before starting the stand.
   • Subtract your expenses from the amount you earned from your lemonade sale. If this is a negative amount, then you have lost some money this week. If this is a positive amount, that is the profit you made.
8. Clean afterwards. When it's time to close your stall, clean up all the clutter like empty cups, used napkins, and lemon peels. When people see you tidy up, they see that you are a neat and tidy person. This will make them want to come back again.

Part 3 of 3: Making the lemonade

1. Decide if you want to make fresh lemonade or powdered lemonade. Lemonade made from real lemons is healthier and has a brighter taste than powdered lemonade. Many customers will find signs advertising "fresh" or "homemade" lemonade. However, powdered lemonade is cheaper and easier to make. These are also processed foods that are not as healthy as fresh lemonade. Weigh the pros and cons of both types of lemonade against each other and decide which type of lemonade you want to sell.
2. Make powdered lemonade. If you opt for powdered lemonade, then you have it easy. Making powdered lemonade is a quick and easy process.
   • Buy lemonade powder from the supermarket.
   • Follow the directions on the package to mix the powder with water. Mix it thoroughly until the powder is completely dissolved.
   • Taste the lemonade to see if it is too strong (add more water) or too watery (add more powder).
   • When you are happy with your lemonade, you are ready to start selling it.
3. Make freshly squeezed lemonade. If you opt for fresh lemonade, you will have a bit more work to do. However, you do have delicious lemonade that is healthier than powdered lemonade. Start by collecting all your ingredients. You can make about 3.5 liters of lemonade with the following ingredients:
   • 8 lemons
   • 400 grams of sugar
   • 250 ml of hot water
   • 3.5 liters of cold water
4. Mix the sugar with the hot water. Putting the sugar in hot water will help the sugar dissolve so that no grains of sugar float around in your lemonade. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.
5. Roll the lemons. If you roll the lemons before squeezing them, you can extract more juice. Place each lemon on a table and press it with the bottom part of your palm. Roll the lemon back and forth over the surface until you notice the fruit is less firm.
   • When you are done rolling, cut all the lemons in half.
6. Squeeze the juice from the lemons. Each whole lemon provides about 60ml of juice. You should end up with about 500 ml of lemon juice. If you have less juice, squeeze more lemons until you have 500 ml.
   • Squeeze the lemons over a bowl so that the juice drips into the bowl. Make a bowl with one hand and hold it under the lemon to catch any seeds or pulp that you don't want in your lemonade. You can also use a juicer if you find it easier.
   • You can poke the inside of the lemon with a fork to release more juice.
7. Mix the ingredients together in a large carafe. Pour the hot water and sugar mixture, lemon juice and 3.5 liters of cold water into a carafe that is large enough to hold the mixture. Stir through until well blended. Place the carafe in the refrigerator to chill the lemonade. You are now ready to serve your fresh lemonade.
8. Do not add ice directly to the lemonade. If you put ice directly into the lemonade carafe, the ice will have melted within a day. You will then have watery lemonade.
   • Instead, refrigerate your lemonade before selling it. Place a cooler bag or cooler with ice near your lemonade stand so customers can put fresh ice in their lemonade when they buy it.
9. Sell ​​multiple types of lemonade. When you have made the basic lemonade, you can make small adjustments so that your customers can choose from multiple flavors of lemonade.
   • Make strawberry lemonade: chop 400 grams of strawberries and mix this with 100 grams of sugar. Let the strawberries stand at room temperature for 45 minutes, then separate the "syrup" from the strawberries. Add 1 tablespoon of syrup for each glass of lemonade.
   • You can repeat these steps with other fruits to make raspberry lemonade, blueberry lemonade, or any other type of lemonade.
   • Put watermelon slices in a blender and mix the leftover water into your lemonade to give it a watermelon flavor.
   • Be creative. During the summer, experiment with as many flavors as you can think of

Tips

• If you are angry that you are not attracting that many customers, do not show this. Make sure you have fun.
• Create a nice poster to attract more customers.
• Be nice to your customers.
• Don't make the prices too high, because then very few people will buy your lemonade.
• Make sure you look neat. Don't stand behind your stand with messy hair or dirty clothes, or people will think you mixed the lemonade with your hands.
• If people don't buy your lemonade, give away some free lemonade to try. If people like it, they might buy a cup.
• Ask some friends to come and help you, but make sure everyone gets a share of the profit.
• If you want a stand all year round, you could sell hot chocolate in winter.
• If someone doesn't have time to visit your stand, leave them alone. The person may come back later if you remain polite.
• The cheaper your lemonade is, the more customers you will get. Don't make your price lower than 50 cents and no higher than 75 cents. However, if you have good lemonade, you can charge 1 euro for it. You won't get many customers if your prices are too high.

Warnings

• Put the money next to you or behind the table. Don't let thieves get it easily.
• Never leave your stand unattended. Someone could steal your money or lemonade.
• Make sure you have permission to set up your stand on private property.
• Use sunscreen so you don't get sunburnt.
• Have an adult help you cut the lemons in half.

Necessities

• Lemons or lemonade powder
• Carafe
• Sugar
• Plates to attract customers
• Envelope or box to put in the money
• A table and a chair
• A tablecloth
• Ice cream and a cool box
• Snacks to sell with your lemonade (optional)
• Tip jar (optional)
• Extra money to use as change