Sometimes life hands you lemons — or in the case of 100 local Lemonade Day participants — a cold and rainy Saturday afternoon. It was admittedly not exactly the best weather for lemonade.
But adaptability is the name of the game in business, and when things get tough, the tough find a new marketing strategy.
So it was for the 1st Chestermere Beaver Scouts, who suddenly realized they need a new business plan when they found themselves washed out of their prime real estate on the Chestermere Recreation Centre sports field. Plan B turned out to be a much warmer spot in the curling rink for the Chestermere Pet Show.
As it turned out, location was everything.
Although things didn’t go to plan, Little Fossils Pre-historic Cafe still managed to eke out a $207.21 profit, which was donated to the Alberta Children’s Hospital, Muscular Dystrophy Canada and juvenile arthritis at the Arthritis Society of Canada.
“I just wish we weren’t forced inside due to rain as it was very limited foot traffic. But baking, chocolate lollipops and bath bombs were definitely a hit and the Beavers had fun,” said organizer Deanna D’Amour.
Lemonade Day is a strategic lesson-based program that walks youth from a dream to a business plan, while teaching them the same principles required to start any big company. They are also taught to spend some, save some and share some by giving back to their community.
Since its launch in 2007 in Houston Texas, Lemonade Day has grown from serving 2,700 kids in one city to 1 million children across North America — and even South Africa –. Lemonade Day sparks the spirit of entrepreneurship and empowers youth to set goals, work hard, and achieve their dreams.
Further, Lemonade Day teaches young people the core components of running a business by finding find sources for a small start-up loan, negotiate rent for their space, brainstorm ideas for making their lemonade stand unique, think about ways to market their business, obtain a business license and consider how they can give back to the community.
For the Little Fossils, it was a dinosaur theme that featured homemade lollipops and dinosaur shaped bath bombs.
This was the second Lemonade Day in Chestermere, which is sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, which featured more than 100 participants.
Across the hall, the girls at Lemon Squeezy were also forced into the lobby of the rec centre from their prime location at the parking lot entrance by the mailboxes. It added up for some friendly competition for the Beavers.
They distinguished themselves with a light, refreshing unsweetened pineapple and strawberry offering brought over from mom’s native Romania. The family has been in Calgary since 2004 and in Chestermere since 2006.
Daughters Alexandra and Sophia Oros along with friend Sarra Meddeb are donating 25% of their proceeds to the Chestermere Therapy Dogs Society which helps young children to read to dogs at the local library.
“We used it this summer and they loved it,” says Orros. “There were very excited to be doing this.”
