Daily Idea

Notes
1 - Find the right customers (aim for the target)
2 - Don’t spend too much money (you have to pay yourself)
3 - Don’t spend too little (avoid being cheap)
4 - Be yourself (Use your personality to your advantage)

Photo credit: Jim Kukral’s kids shown above

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Many of you may not know this about me, but I had a successful startup business a few years ago. At the age of 11, I built a simple lemonade stand that was making only $5.00 a day into a business empire that was making anywhere from $40.00 to $70.00 per day in only 4 months. But I wasn’t always raking in the big bucks. I made my share of mistakes.

Recently, I ran across a blog post that really hit home with me. StevePavlina has listed 10 stupid mistakes made by the newly self-employed. As I read through the list, I remember taking a few of those missteps along my path to the big lemonade businesswoman that I became. Perhaps you can relate as well.

The first mistake I made was selling to the wrong people. Or in my case, selling to the wrong species. Every little girl on my block had a lemonade stand targeting adults. I decided to make my lemonade especially for dogs! I made a couple of bucks here and there from our dog-obsessed neighbors, but that’s about it. That’s when I realized, I was selling to the wrong species. I needed to target those adults that were buying lemonade from the other stands by differentiating my stand, but more on that later. No matter what your startup is, you need to be sure you are selling your product to the right people. If your startup is selling makeup, you should mostly target women. Unless they are in a 80’s hair band, most guys don’t want makeup and most dogs don’t want lemonade.

The next mistake I made with my startup was spending way too much money. When I finally started bringing in some consistent cash, I wanted to invest it back into the business to keep growing. I hired my little brother to look cute and walk around to different houses to sell it door-to-door. I bought better wood for my stand. I took out an ad in the paper. By the time it was over, I had no money left to buy any toys or makeup for myself. Yes, you will have to invest in your startup for it to grow, but keep in mind that you need to make a living as well.

The next mistake was in response to the previous one. Instead of spending too much money, I spent too little. After firing my little brother, I had to hire someone to build my new stand with the lumber I bought. I hired my grandfather to build it, but he didn’t know what he was doing. As soon as the first windstorm came, my new stand had blown away. Thanks a lot gramps. I was looking for cheap labor and that’s what I got. I should have hired someone who actually knew how to build something. You have to learn when to look for deals and when to go for quality.

Another mistake I made was sacrificing my personality quirks. I figured I had to be like all the other little girls selling lemonade by putting on a pretty dress and offering only a cup of lemonade, so that’s what I did in the beginning. Eventually, I decided to be myself. I stopped wearing dresses and just wore what was comfortable for me. As I mentioned earlier, I originally targeted lemonade for dogs. I love dogs. So instead of offering just a cup of lemonade, I differentiated by also providing a dog-bathing service. With in no time, our business was booming. I combined my passions for lemonade and dogs and we had success. Use your personality to bring passion to your business.

So even the most successful make mistakes. Learning from those mistakes is what separates the unsuccessful from the successful.

And just so you know I eventually sold that profitable lemonade stand business to my younger brother for the bigger room at our house.

And that’s another Daily Idea.

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