Tips for making the most of your lemonade stand

Lemonade stands are a great thing for children of all ages. They can make you money or be an opportunity to get some fresh air, and it's a very constructive way for kids to learn business tactics.

Many kids do lemonade stands in the summer or late spring because it is hot out and people who are taking a run or walking their dog or just taking a stroll would probably love a nice cold cup of lemonade. (If someone happens to be walking their dog, you might want to have a bowl of water on the side of your table).

There are many good strategies that you can use when you are running a lemonade stand. Here are a few:

Franchise: You can get a lot of your friends to help you, and they will each run their own lemonade stands all over town. After they have all sold out, you can meet up and divide the money evenly. A franchise can help make you money because instead of only one lemonade stand with only one person, there are more people to split up.

More merchandise: You can make more money by having extra things at your stand such as bracelets or baked goods. With these at your table, it might attract more customers because if there happens to be a person who doesn’t prefer lemonade, they will have an alternative.

Change: When you are running a lemonade stand and your price per cup is less than a dollar or if it is around a dollar, some people might not have that exact amount, so you should always have some quarters and dollar bills and things like that. So if your price is 25 cents and the person gives you a dollar, you can give them their change back.

Marketing: If you are planning your lemonade stand you might want to budget for writing or printing some flyers that you can staple to wood poles around town. You can write where, when and what you are going to be selling. That gives people a head start on planning when they can come if they know they are going to have a busy day.

More for your money: When people are walking around town in summer or spring they usually are going to a festival or something in that genre. They may have brought only a certain amount of money and they might not have budgeted for lemonade, so if you can, you might want to lower your price for an hour or 30 minutes, or you can give them two cups for the same price. People always love to save money.

Melinda Moran’s fourth- and fifth-grade Stretch students, Cherry Avenue Elementary School, West Sayville