Adults are cashing in on lemonade stands
While lemonade stands are mainly known as a pastime for kids who are looking to make some extra dollars during the heat of the summer, they’re earning a new reputation as a viable income source for adults. As young adults in their 20s and 30s struggle to keep up with the cost of living, they’re looking for new income sources. Lemonade stands are a simple side hustle than almost anyone can start and have had significant outcomes, for some. From paying off student loans, to fully making a living, the classic lemonade stand has actually had life-changing impacts on some people across the country.
“Marketplace” host Kristin Schwab spoke about it in depth with Amber Ferguson, senior video journalist at the Washington Post. Below is an edited transcript of their conversation.
Kristin Schwab: So the first thought I had when I first saw this story was, do people really make money selling lemonade?
Amber Ferguson: Oh, yes, it is actually really competitive to sell lemonade. I had no idea before I saw this really going viral on TikTok.
Schwab: Wow. And how much money are people actually making?
Ferguson: Okay, so it ranges anywhere from $500 to $10,000 per event. And this is like super seasonal, obviously. So really it depends on where you live in the country, but usually it starts around in May and then ends, usually at the end of October, maybe the beginning of November, if it’s still warm in your area. And these — I call them “lemonade entrepreneurs” — they set up these lemonade stands at festivals and concerts and and like fairs and things like that. And it’s like, amazing, and some people just do it on the weekends, and some people, they’ve made it their full time job.
Schwab: Gotcha. So these are not the lemonades in your front yard on your local street corner that we think of as the OG lemonade stands of childhood.
Ferguson: Yes, no, absolutely not. It’s a lot more modern and but the concept’s the same. It’s extremely simple. It’s literally four ingredients, you know: lemons, water, ice and sugar.
Schwab: Gotcha. And you mentioned a little bit about this, but where are they actually selling? And where are people having the most luck with sales?
Ferguson: Most people are having the most luck at, like, farmers markets — that’s huge, and it’s so competitive where you basically have to, like, get into a spot, like, months beforehand. And a lot of these farmers markets have vendor fees, so sometimes it could be $2,000 just to set up. So you’re really banking on making more than that at these places, and you know, at one, like fair or festival or market, there could be multiple people selling lemonade, so you really have to stand out.
Schwab: So is this, you said this was sort of seasonal, is this people’s side hustle? Are there people who are doing this as sort of their full time jobs.
Ferguson: Yeah, so how I even found this story was on TikTok, this young woman named Malia Blake. She’s in D.C. She said that she was trying to pay down her debt. She’s 28, she has $40,000 in debt. So she just opened up a lemonade (stand) one day. It took her two weeks. She got a simple business license. She got her lemons from Costco, she got her, like, little flavors from Amazon, and she just opened up a lemonade stand very, like, by herself. And she didn’t make much money the first time, but then the second time, she made like, $500 then $800 and this past weekend, she just posted another video. She made $4,000 in one day from her market. And then, you know, I spoke to a married couple that paid off their wedding debt by selling lemonade, and they decided to leave their full time jobs.
Schwab: Well before everybody listening to this decides to quit their jobs and sell lemonade. I assume it’s not as easy as just, you know, mixing water sugar and lemon juice. They’re probably, as you mentioned, some uncertainties and lots of hard work involved.
Ferguson: Oh yeah. I mean, the beauty of this is that, you know, anyone can really do it, but it is a manual job, like you’re on your feet for several hours a day in the hot sun, because you need it. The sunnier it is, the hotter it is, the more money you’re gonna make. And you know, everyone I spoke to was in their 20s and 30s, and they said, you know, younger people are looking for outlets that aren’t drinking and alcohol specific. And they said they just found just a lot more kind of community that way. It’s like they just had such a passion for lemonade. It’s really a joy to see.
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