Nurturing Young Entrepreneurs – June 5 Lemonade Day and Pennies on Purpose

I was just four years old when the health department (also known as Mom) shut down my first business, a door to door enterprise selling baggies of strawberries picked out of homemade ice cream. And I had another learning opportunity at age six, when I opened a lemonade stand on my street, a cul-de-sac of just five homes.

The entrepreneur mindset can be learned

What I now know is that my brain was distinctly wired toward entrepreneurship and there are thousands of youth out there today who are the same. I also know that even if someone isn’t instinctively destined to become an entrepreneur the mindset can be learned, practiced and developed.

In opportunities that I personally have had in working with youth on a regular basis through Pennies On Purpose and its annual program, Lemonade Day, I can assure you that it’s not the minority of kids that have some pretty powerful problem solving brains.

All youth should understand spending, saving and sharing

I realize that not every child will grow up to be an entrepreneur. But I do believe that every kid should learn what is involved in making a profit. I believe that all youth should understand the value of spending, saving and sharing that profit and the importance of setting goals, and creating a plan to achieve them. I believe every child should learn how to get money in their life if they should need and want to because that ability creates an expanse of possibilities and hope for a future.

One Northern California nonprofit has tackled this belief head on. Pennies On Purpose, a nationwide financial literacy nonprofit for children, first introduced Lemonade Day in 2020 and it has grown this year exponentially. Not only does the program teach basic financial literacy skills (something they have been doing since 2016) but fully equips youth with the skills and knowledge through the process of starting and running a successful business.

Lemonade Day empowers financial literacy

Lemonade Day is a nationwide initiative to empower today’s youth to become tomorrow’s entrepreneurs, all through the power of a lemonade stand. In Shasta County this June 5, Lemonade Day Redding is the culmination of youth entrepreneurial training, and all youth can sign up for the no cost program and event at LemonadeDay.org/Redding. Mayor Resner even has made a formal proclamation declaring June 5 “Lemonade Day Redding”!

Although it’s called “Lemonade Day” it is not limited to one day — it’s an ongoing financial literacy program. Families, teachers, mentors and  youth organizations can sign up kids for free anytime from now until this August. Once signed up, youth will complete a free app-based training online. Every child who completes the training will have the opportunity to compete in a number of contests and additional activities for cash and prizes.

Each child that registers receives a backpack with an Entrepreneur Workbook that teaches them the lessons of Lemonade Day like creating budgets, setting profit-making goals, serving customers, repaying investors, and giving back to the community. Along the way, they acquire skills in goal-setting, and problem solving, and gain self-esteem critical for future success. They keep all the money they make and are encouraged to spend some, save some and share some.

Universal concepts for any business idea

While the Lemonade Day Program is tailored towards opening a lemonade stand, the concepts are universal and can be applied to any business idea, product or service that a youth is interested in and passionate about pursuing.

More than one million kids worldwide have now gone through the Lemonade Day Program and the 2017 Gallup Poll impact study only reinforces why. They intended to measure four key concepts:

– Entrepreneurial aspiration

– Self confidence

– Reasoning and problem-solving skills

– Hope

The impact study successfully illustrated just that. It was shown that the Lemonade Day program benefits K-12 students through; motivation and inspiration, growth in social skills and positive values, commitment to starting and completing a project, and a positive self image.

Register at no cost

You can register your kids at no cost from now until August, and begin empowering them today to be the leaders of tomorrow they are meant to be. And, when you register, be sure to take advantage of the many resources for parents, educators and youth groups. Register at LemonadeDay.org/Redding.