Little Entrepreneur

Isabella has been asking for weeks (maybe months) to set up a lemonade stand. I'm not sure where she first got the idea, but when she sets her mind to something she doesn't forget. We hadn't found a good time to do it before now because it was either too cold, a weekday or a holiday weekend when she asked. I suggested that we wait for a hot day some weekend when our neighbors would be around in order to maximize her customer base. It was in the 90's this weekend, so Isabella figured out that A) it was very hot outside and B) it was a non-holiday weekend. I couldn't think of a good reason not to do it, so we mixed up a batch of lemonade, made a sign and set up shop in the one shady spot in our front yard. I explained to Isabella about making change, and she definitely didn't like the idea of giving someone a cup of lemonade AND some money, too! We got off to a slow start, but our neighbors across the street came over for Isabella's first sale. As other neighbors drove by, I suggested that Isabella and Sienna wave to people to get their attention. They started doing that and got two neighbors to back up after driving past them.

Isabella and Sienna's friends, Collin and Cal, knew that we were going to do a lemonade stand one day, and their mom said they'd stop by when we did it. We gave them a call and they came over for an ice cold cup of lemonade (and a few free refills!). Collin even said that he'd like to set up a cookie stand next to Isabella's lemonade stand so that they could give each other business. If I had known this, we could have given him some advanced notice. Next time...

Isabella ended up making a couple of dollars after a little less than an hour. We didn't last long because of the heat, and we consumed most of the product ourselves! Afterwards, she said, "Noone even wanted to buy any money!" In other words, she didn't have to give anyone any money since all of her customers let her keep the change. Unfortunately for Isabella, Mike wanted to give her a lesson in business, so he made her give me the $1.75 I gave her at the beginning to make change. He also had her pay me $1 for the cost of the lemonade. She also had to give Sienna $1 for labor costs!!! Mike said that she was lucky that she didn't have to pay taxes!! After all of those costs, she still ended up with $4!!

At the end of last year, Isabella made a special piggy bank at school for Mike for Father's Day. It has this poem on it:

Here's a bank I made for you.
To put your change in, a penny or two.
With this money I hope you'll say,
We'll have our very own special day!


Isabella has been saving money all year for an extra special day with Mike. They decided that they will go to Six Flags by themselves. Isabella can't wait for the morning that Mike wakes her up and says, "Today's the day!!" She added her $4 from the lemonade stand to the special can.