Over 1,100 young entrepreneurs launch small businesses on Lemonade Day Calgary

Over 1,000 lemonade stands were launched Saturday as part of Lemonade Day Calgary.

Lemonade stands sprouted across the city Saturday.

Over 1,000 young Calgary entrepreneurs participated in Lemonade Day Calgary, tripling last year’s total.

The program is designed to introduce children between five and 13 years old to business skills through operating their own lemonade stands.

“Over 1,100 kids who have set up stands are out selling lemonade,“ said Mona Csada, the director of marketing at Tiller Digital, who sponsored Lemonade Day. ”They’ve gone through our free curriculum and learned how to set up their own business and now they’re out making money and learning how to run a business.”

Csada said the event helps introduce children to a few core business skills that could be invaluable throughout their lives.

It’s really important to build – not only skills like business and math – but skills like communication,“ she said. ”Kids have a chance to build confidence through this experience. They get to express their creativity by coming up with a name for their stand and figuring out what their product is going to be.

“And we find that kids who go through this program really feel that they’ve not only learned a lot, but feel more confident and more excited about what they can accomplish.”

Why lemonade?

“It’s just a simple concept,” she said. “If you’re going to start your first business, start with something simple and easy, and build your foundational skills through that.”

Everyone who participates submits business and branding plans, with winners chosen in both categories -- and organizers say they encourage each business to set goals for spending, saving and giving.

And it’s something everybody likes to buy. It’s classic.

“A lot of them contribute to the community with some of their profits,” she said, “so we encourage them to think about ways they can continue to give back.”