It’s time to get serious. You can’t afford to fail now. Plus, with all the interest the media is fostering, folks are ready to explore consignment, resale, and thrift shops. A multi-episode blog entry.
Episode #1
If you’re depending only on the kids in your block to hit your lemonade stand, you’ll soon run out of thirsty customers. So if you want to get serious about running your shop, you need to
reach out to a NEW audience.
Who might that be? Kids from a coupla blocks away (get out the markers and construction paper, we’re making posters!)? Their parents? The marching band that practices across the street on the playing field who can’t see your stand (blow up the balloons and tie them to your lawn chair!) Maybe your stand should be on the corner of Main and Elm where lots of folks are strolling in the hot sun and need refreshment.
Or maybe you need to
expand your offerings to please your old, and new, audience.
Lemonade drinkers need cookies. Maybe you’ll start realizing that some kids prefer Kool-Aid and their parents prefer lemongrass martinis. Maybe selling coffee to commuters early in the day might surpass your lemonade sales after school. Or is it the season for hot chocolate instead? How about adding home-picked apples to your stand? Lemonade drinkers might even buy a pretty red fall leaf from you or they may have need of a bandaid for their skinned knee.
Sell to more people. Sell more. That equals more income. It’s child’s play.
Next: Turning your lemonade stand into La Boutique Citrone on a kid’s allowance.
Then: Ya gotta have Presence.
And finally: Tell them “I’m not playing store here.”
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
[…] Read the 4-part series on Playing Store. […]
It took me about 5 years before I felt like I had a clue about what I was doing as a store owener. The turning point for me was at a Narts conference, new shop owners were asking me questions and were actually listening to my answers. I guess they figured if I made it that long I was doing something right. Once I realized the same thing, I started thinking differently about my store. It is still fun for me, but now It is also a well run business that makes me money.
[…] Learn how NOT to play store (a 4-part series.) Tell us about when you finally felt like a real grown-up proprietor by clicking […]
[…] November 3, 2008 by Auntie Kate (Episode #2 in a series: read Episode #1) […]
yup, that’s me, looking to expand my market share, reduce expenses and keep more profit. Maybe I have to add tequila to my lemondade???
Patiently awaiting the multiple posts from the GURU, Auntie Kate.