Murphy entrepreneur sisters set up shop for a day
By Sonia Duggan
Sisters Ana and Mia Yoch discovered something interesting at the Children’s Museum in Houston while on a trip and it had nothing to do with the museum. They discovered they could sign up to set up a lemonade stand as part of a national campaign called Lemonade Day.
Mom Jennifer Yoch, who homeschools her daughters, immediately thought it would make a valuable teaching tool. “It teaches kids how to be entrepreneurs,” she said. Once you sign up, materials are available to ensure your child has a successful event.
Jennifer arranged for the lemonade stand to take place at the Kroger located at 4017 14th St. in Plano from 2-4 p.m. Saturday, May 2. Cups of lemonade sold for $1 and big frosted sugar cookies were $2. Ana thought $1 was a fair price. Mia thought eating the cookies was the best part. One was the test taster and the other put on the sprinkles. Although they did OK in their particular location Ana thinks her friends would be the most supportive “because they like us and would help us.”
Lemonade Day founder, Michael Holthouse, had a vision to empower today’s youth to be tomorrow’s entrepreneurs. He launched the special day in Houston in 2007. It grew from 2,700 kids in one city to 200,000 kids in 35 cities throughout the U.S. and Canada.
According to the website lemonadeday.org, the goal of the program “Is to give children of all socio-economic backgrounds, in all neighborhoods, the opportunity to start their own business and learn how to make money where they are encouraged to ‘spend a little, save a little and share a little.’”
There is a strategic 14-step process that walks youth from a dream to a business plan, while teaching them the same principles required for starting any big company “It teaches kids all these skills,” Jennifer said.
Some kids plan to save, some plan to donate part of their profits. For Ana and Mia, their goal is to try to earn money for ballet and ice-skating. In addition, Ana has plans to donate some of her profits to the special needs programs of the Plano Metropolitan Ballet. Ana participates in the Gotta Dance group, the younger version of the Plano Metropolitan Ballet.
After selling for a day the girls are not ready to hang up their aprons. They already have business cards for their business called Rising Star Refreshments. Jennifer said the plan is to sell cookies, cupcakes and lemonade, all ready to be delivered to a customer’s home or school in Murphy. For those wishing to support the young entrepreneurs, go to risingstarrefreshments.weebly.com
Mia (left) and Ana Yoch of Murphy sold lemonade and frosted sugar cookies outside of the Kroger at Los Rios and !4th St. May 2. The girls participated in the Lemonade Day event to raise money.
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