A business support organization in Texas is helping local youth build entrepreneurial skills by hosting their own lemonade stands.
The initiative, supported by the United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce Foundation, culminated in a recent event, the 12th Annual Lemonade Day Coastal Bend 2024. At the event, budding entrepreneurs got to run their own lemonade stands, personalizing their offerings and creating their own branding and marketing to attract customers. The organization also created an interactive map to help people find lemonade stands throughout the area.
Each participant was sponsored by a local organization. For example, five-year-old Rai’lynn Coleman was sponsored by the Texas Association of Black Personnel in Higher Education Corpus Christi Chapter. Coleman’s mother and grandmother helped her run her lemonade stand, but allowed her to interact with customers, handle money, and prepare their food and beverages.
Coleman told Kris 6 News in Corpus Christi, “I have muffins, cupcakes, and cake, strawberry cake, and lemonade, blueberry muffins and everything!”
Running a lemonade stand is often seen as the perfect business opportunity for kids. It’s simple enough for young people to do most of the work themselves. But it still involves many useful skills that apply to actual businesses and careers, from money handling to marketing.
Kids don’t need to participate in an organized event like this to learn the valuable lessons that can come from running a lemonade stand. But this chamber foundation understands the importance of teaching these lessons and fostering an entrepreneurial spirit early on. So creating this opportunity may simply provide the spark and motivation needed for some young entrepreneurs to give it a try.
Even for those who don’t end up running their own businesses one day, participating in this type of event or running an independent lemonade stand can teach lessons that apply to a huge array of careers. And supporting kids with any entrepreneurial endeavors may foster a new generation of innovation and unique ideas.
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