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Kid entrepreneurs across the country will test their business skills this summer by participating in the quintessential summer pastime: running a lemonade stand. Inc.com will celebrate their efforts with its second annual Best Lemonade Stand in America contest.
Through Sept. 3, kids ages 5 to 12 can log on to Inc.com to enter by sharing their stories and photos of themselves running their lemonade stands. Once published, kids and adults alike can review, rate and comment on the entries. The grand-prize winner will receive a $1,000 savings bond. Each weekly winner gets a T-shirt.
Besides the contest, kids can read about last year's grand-prize winner, Siena Jeakle from Washington state, who shares how her win boosted her entrepreneurial spirit and offers advice for creating a winning stand. She'll be around all summer to answer questions about lemonade stands and entrepreneurship in the "Ask Siena" feature.
In the meantime, veteran business owner and Inc. magazine columnist Norm Brodsky offers kids these 10 tips for building a great lemonade stand:
- Read "Tom Sawyer." Pay attention to the part about painting the fence. Hint: You don't have to do all the work yourself.
- Use your age advantage in creating the stand. Make a deal with the best architect in town: If he designs a great lemonade stand for you for free -- and you win the contest -- you'll make sure he gets recognition on national TV.
- Find a niche. A niche differentiates your stand from your competitors' stands. One idea: Hook up with a good cause and pledge a percentage of the profit to it.
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- Be nice to your parents. You'll need capital to build your stand and buy ingredients. Unless you have savings, you'll have to find sympathetic outside investors, namely, your parents.
- Location, location, location. Set up your stand in front of your house only if you happen to live next door to the biggest mall in town. Look for a place with a lot of foot traffic. The more people who pass by you, the more sales you'll make.
- Don't skimp on quality. Buy the best ingredients -- and let your customers know about it.
- Charge a lot. You're a kid; you have the highest quality lemonade; and you need the money. If you're supporting a good cause, that's another reason people should be willing to pay more.
Talk back
Tell us: How are your kids earning money?Discuss what your kids are doing this summer and share your opinion on the 10 tips for a lemonade stand on MSN Money's message board.
- Diversify. Whoever said that a lemonade stand could sell only lemonade? What about, say, cookies?
- Follow your instincts. It doesn't matter if you make mistakes. Just make sure they're your mistakes. Learning from mistakes is how lemonade champions are made.
- Win the contest. Ask a professional photographer to take your digital photos. (You don't ask, you don't get.) Have a teacher check your essay. But remember, in business, winners make a profit.
Published June 30, 2007
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