A couple of weeks ago my five-year-old daughter asked if she could have a lemonade stand. As a business-owner myself, I was thrilled that the entrepreneurial spirit had made it down the genetic family tree. “You bet!” I said, and we set to work getting her set up with the basics. A table, some chairs, cups, napkins, and yes… a pitcher of cheap, powdered lemonade — all were gathered together. “Where should we set up our stand?” she asked.
As the dad on duty that Saturday afternoon, I was happy to supervise the new commercial venture if it was set up in my front yard (we live on a quiet cul-de-sac) but not willing to disrupt my chores to keep an eye on things down the street, around the corner a couple blocks away – on a busier road near the bike trail. “Let’s put the stand right here under the tree in the front yard. That way you can sit in the shade.” She liked the idea of shade. “OK,” she said.
Sixty seconds later, with no cars, pedestrians, or thirsty cyclists in sight she asks me, “Dad, can you help us make some signs?” “You bet,” I say. And I head back into the house to see what scraps of cardboard I can find in that one closet where such things tend to be found. Not finding any good cardstock or big boxes, I scotch taped two pieces of printer paper together, grabbed the crayons and let her make her own sign. “Is this the only sign we get?” she asked. “Yep,” says I, since I really needed to get around to mowing the backyard before it really heated up; and putting more signs out on other streets in the neighborhood would take some time. The single wimpy sign was taped to the front of the table, and the waiting began again.
Thirty seconds later, with still no cars, pedestrians, or thirsty cyclists to be found, my daughter asks me, “Dad, can you find us some customers?”
Realizing that I had micromanaged her first business into certain ruin, I did what any well-meaning but embarrassed father would do; I bought several glasses of lemonade.
On hot summer days, it is good to remember that if we want customers for our various “lemonade stands” we need to WANT THEM BAD ENOUGH to not just make the easy decisions and the comfortable choices and set up our shops in the shade in the front yard… Oh No! If we TRULY want customers, we need to be willing to schlep the whole operation to where the thirsty people are. Complete with lots of signs funneling traffic our way, free samples, product extensions, referral bonuses, affiliate deals, channel partners, bulk discounts, loyalty programs… the works.
So, what do you say? Do you want customers? Or do you just want to have a lemonade stand?