My 10 year old daughter decided to have a lemonade stand over the weekend.   She meticulously prepared and planned and I helped her haul supplies to the nearest high-traffic location.    She held her sign and proceeded to market her product.  I could see she was a little embarrassed, but she persisted.  Business was off to a slow start.  Finally she turns to me and says, “This is why I wanted the other guys to help, so they could get customers.  But, I didn’t want to share the profits.”

Ah, a classic business dilemma.  Do I partner and share the responsibilities and risk, or fly solo and keep all the profits to myself?  After some thought, she decided she would call for a partner.  Her 8 year old brother soon joined in, fully embracing his sales role.

As a 20 year marketing veteran, I found it fascinating to watch the innate marketing skills emerge and evolve.  The tactics and claims were both amusing and intriguing.   They tried smiling, waving, calling out, “Fresh lemonade, get your fresh lemonade.”

They struggled over moral decisions, “I wish I could say this was for a good cause like Breast Cancer or something.  I think people would really stop for that.  But then I would have to donate the money.”

In true marketing fashion, they experimented with stretching the truth, “Buy some lemonade and live forever.”

They were reduced to bashing the competition, “Don’t buy Jamba Juice, buy Lemonade.”

And finally, the most desperate of acts, they played the “Disability Card.”  I watched in disbelief as my son placed one of his arms inside his sleeves so as to simulate a deformed arm and awkwardly waved his sign and flashed a pitiful smile to passing cars.

How can this be?  I have spent my whole career honing my craft, only to learn that I was born with all the ingenuity needed to effectively (although not always ethically) market a product.   So the honing stops now while I focus my attention on teaching ethics to these creative young minds.

P.S.  All in all, it was a good day at the stand.  They made $14 dollars in about an hour (thanks to the generous young man who paid $5 for a single cup of lemonade).  In true capitalistic form, my daughter split the profits with her brother 60-40.

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