Last year, they set up a table at the end of our driveway, with the popcorn popper directly behind them, a cooler next to them, and a large sign advertising freshly popped popcorn, and various drinks for sale (including lemonade, iced tea, Arnold Palmers, bottled water, and a variety of soda pops), each item for a dollar. They paid for the supplies (popcorn kernels, oil, plastic cups, containers to hold the popcorn, napkins, etc.) with money saved from their weekly allowance, and at the end of the day, they had made a net profit of $50. At least $10 of that came from Mark and Samantha, who spent money from their allowances to purchase popcorn and drinks, repeatedly, even though I offered to give them the very same snacks for free. There was just something about purchasing from the snack stand that our "wonder twins" couldn't resist.
Slope Day Snack Stand 2009
This year, they decided to make some changes. They moved the stand from the end of the driveway out to the corner of our lane and the intersecting avenue. They decided to offer a variety of baked goods (brownies, chocolate chip cookies, an assortment of cupcakes) in addition to the popcorn and drinks. This significantly increased their overhead, which meant they had to work longer to get out of the red ink and start making a profit. But they did make more money this year that last. This year, revenue was $144 and profit was $100.
They also raised $35 for Loose Change to Loosen Chains, as well as raising awareness about the problem of modern day slavery. Half the college students with whom Caleb and Amelia spoke were shocked to hear that slavery is still a problem, a very large problem, in our world.
They always enjoy being "homeschool ambassadors" and Slope Day was a great opportunity for that. Although very few people ever question why they aren't in school, the fact that they don't go to school does come up, often because people, just to make conversation, ask them, "What school do you go to?"
These Ivy League university students were impressed with the kids' enterprising attitude, with their hard work, and with their understanding of what running a business really means. When a young woman asked "How much have you made today?" and Caleb responded, "$144 gross; $100 net..." while Amelia simultaneously answered, "We've made $144 revenue, so that's $100 profit after overhead expenses..." the college student shook her head in surprise, laughed, and said, "I *know* I didn't understand those concepts when I was your age."
Slope Day Snack Stand 2010
Lessons learned:
•Better location and better variety of items for sale leads to increased sales, but scaling up means a lot more prep work and more hours of working just to break even before starting to make a profit.
•Having the popcorn popper located half a block away from the sales booth means that customers can't see (and smell) that the popcorn truly is freshly-popped. This is a drawback to the new location. Question: Next year, can we get permission from the next door neighbor to run an extension cord across his lawn, in order to be able to have the popcorn popper close the the sales table?
•Another problem with the new location: somebody has to run back and forth between the house and the sales booth to replenish supplies of popcorn, lemonade, and iced tea. This is tiring. Question: Do the benefits of the new location outweigh the disadvantages?
•Free advertising and word-of-mouth really bring in the customers. (The young men belonging to the fraternity across the street were cheering the kids on, chanting: "Brownies, cookies, cupcakes, YUM!" and calling out to any pedestrians who did NOT stop at the stand, "Hey, you! You've got to buy something from those lemonade stand kids! The food is awesome; we love those kids!" It *worked*; of the people who initially seemed uninterested in making a purchase, many of them did make a purchase in response the the "suggestions" from the young men across the street.
•Brownies and cupcakes are more popular than chocolate chip cookies.
•All four varieties of cupcakes (chocolate with chocolate frosting, chocolate with vanilla frosting, vanilla with chocolate frosting, vanilla with vanilla frosting) sold equally well, and customers seem to like having choices.
•Working an eight hour shift in food service is exhilarating, but exhausting.
•Don't accept Canadian quarters; they're worthless here.
•Mark and Samantha learned that a free cupcake offered by Mom at home tastes every bit as good as one purchased at the snack stand. Ditto popcorn and soda pop.
•In addition to selling food and beverages, Caleb and Amelia also advertised and collected donations for the charity Loose Change to Loosen Chains. They learned that many people do not know that slavery exists in the modern day. They were happy to raise awareness and money to fund modern day abolitionists' efforts.
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