Story Name:  Money Smart Lucius talks about his plan to riches by being entrepreneurial through his lemonade business

Teacher’s Notes:

a.  Key topic

Through this story the kids are introduced to the concept of entrepreneurship, what an entrepreneur is and what it takes to run your own business.  We take the kids through the steps of setting up and running a neighborhood lemonade business and throughout the process we demonstrate the decisions that have to be made when you run a business.  We also explain that entrepreneurs have to spend money in order to make money so that the kids understand that there is always a risk when you start a business.

b.  Concepts Introduced to the kids through the Story

• Understand the concept of entrepreneurship
• Develop an understanding of the risk involved in being an entrepreneur
• Realize the hard work that goes into running your own business

c.  Learning objectives for the Kids

• Develop an understanding of the business cycle
• Trigger entrepreneurial thinking
• Realize what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur

d.  Tips for Teaching through Storytelling

When teaching youngsters we need to use a slightly different approach than when teaching adults, meaning that youngsters relate better to visuals, examples and stories (real life examples/stories are even better) and interactive technology.  Also, young kids do not need a lot of jargon, they need a much simpler vocabulary that they can understand.  In addition, the teacher has to figure out a way to relate to the kids and there are a number of things that can be done in this direction from the type of clothes the teachers wear, to the language they use, the way they move about in the class, etc.

Storytelling is more than just reading the words of a story out loud.  It takes other skills as well.  It is important for teachers to use different tones in their voice when they are telling a story.  If the teacher’s voice stays at the same level it becomes boring!  The teacher will want their voice to go higher and lower, louder and softer.  Teachers should try to use different voices for different characters and make sure that they speak loud enough so that everyone hears them, and say the words clearly so that everyone can understand them.

Teachers should also have in mind that storytelling is not just words; it is motion as well.  They will have to move around when they tell their story; they should use their arms, legs, hands and their face to tell the story.  In addition, they have to make sure to maintain eye contact with their audience.  Eye contract is one of the most important non-verbal ways to connect with other people.  It helps keep the attention of the audience and it also conveys a sense of confidence and truthfulness.  It is best that teachers always look directly into the kids’ eyes; they will connect with them and keep their attention longer.

e.  In-class discussion after the storytelling

• Explain that going into business requires hard work and discipline and ask the kids for some examples from people in their life.  Follow with a discussion of their examples.
• Discuss the concept of risk and that entrepreneurs have to spend money to make money and ask the kids how they feel about taking such a risk. Follow with a discussion of the kids’ views on risk taking.
• Ask the kids the following questions and discuss their answers.  Usually there is time to take and discuss the answers of 2 to 3 kids.

• • What is an entrepreneur?
  • Would you like to be an entrepreneur and why/why not?

The Story

Another school year is ending in Soccertopia and the Soccertopia Eagles Academy kids are gathering after practice to have their weekly chat with Mr. Soccerball.  Lucius seems especially excited today because there is something he wants to discuss with Mr. Soccerball and his academy teammates.  Last weekend he was talking to his cousin who is the same age as him, who told Lucius that he had set up a lemonade stand in his neighborhood and he was making money.  Lucius found this a great idea and he wanted to discuss it with Mr. Soccerball and the rest of the kids, to decide whether he would set up a similar business in his neighborhood.   As soon as they all gathered round and took their usual places, Lucius immediately stood up, turned to Mr. Soccerball and said in a very serious voice:

-Today I want to talk about having and running your own business.  My cousin who is my age, has set up and is running a neighborhood lemonade stand each Saturday and he told me that he is really making some money from this!  He calls himself an ‘entrepreneur’ which is someone who goes into business for himself and he says that by the time he is 30 years old he will be a millionaire!  I am thinking of doing the same thing; just think of all the money I will make!

-Hold it pal, said Mr. Soccerball.  Entrepreneurship is fine but it is not all roses.  There are so many things to think about when you plan to go into business.

-What’s to think about Mr. Soccerball, said Lucius.  I will be selling lemonade and make big bucks.

-Businesses don’t work just like that my boy, said Mr. Soccerball.  He then turned to the rest of the kids and said:

-Why don’t we all help Lucius set up a successful business?

-How do we do that sir, asked Fiducius?

-By going over all the steps he will have to take to set up and run his lemonade business, replied Mr. Soccerball.  Who wants to go first?

-I think I know how he should start sir, Madya replied immediately, I have been reading a book on kids’ entrepreneurship and I know all about it.

-Great, let’s hear it then Madya, said Mr. Soccerball.

-There are several steps that you have to go through Lucius, Madya said. First, you have to buy your ingredients which are lemon and sugar and also bottles to store the lemonade.  Do you know how much they cost and where are you going to find the money to buy them?

– I know how much they cost, about $30, replied Lucius and my mom is lending me that money.

-Good, said Madya, so then you will have to actually go through the process of making the lemonade by squeezing the lemons and combining them with sugar and boiling water.  After your lemonade is ready you have to store it in bottles and clean out the kitchen.

-Got that, said Lucius, what’s next?

-You will then have to decide what the price of each lemonade bottle will be, said Madya.  Usually you add up the costs of the lemons, the sugar and the bottles and there you have all of your costs.  But then, how about your time?  Isn’t that worth something?  Let’s say it took you three hours to actually prepare the lemonade, put it in bottles and clean the kitchen.  How much is that time worth?

-When I walk our neighbor’s dog for one hour, I usually get $10 so I guess we can use that as the hourly cost of my time, said Lucius.  So for three hours, the cost of my time is $30 which brings my total business cost to $60.

-How many bottles of lemonade do you think you will have with the ingredients you are buying, Madya asked Lucius.

-Let’s say 10 bottles, replied Lucius.

-So if you have 10 bottles of lemonade and your total cost is $60, the cost of each bottle of lemonade is $6, said Madya.  But you want to make some profit too, this is how you earn money as an entrepreneur, so you should sell each bottle at about $10.  You need to check though and make sure that the price that people usually pay for a bottle of lemonade is around your selling price, otherwise your lemonade will be too expensive for people to buy.

-This sounds right Madya, said Lucius, go on.

-Now you will have to decide who to sell the lemonade to, said Madya.  You will have to figure out who needs fresh lemonade.

-Well, families with kids consume a lot of lemonade, said Lucius, so I will go around my neighborhood and sell the lemonade door-to-door to families with kids.

-Yes, but how will you persuade your neighbors to buy your lemonade, asked Madya.  You will have to promote it in some sort of a way to make them buy it.

-I know what I am going to do, said Lucius.  I will prepare and rehearse a little speech about the freshness of the lemons and how lemonade is very healthy and full of vitamin C, besides being tasty and refreshing.

-Ok, so now you are ready to start selling, said Madya. You should put your bottles carefully into a small cart and start your round of the neighborhood.  Do not feel bad if your first sale attempts are not successful because this is part of running a business.  Those people who tell you that they have already bought lemonade from the supermarket are potential customers for next week so make sure to tell them that you will pass by next week.  Let’s say that it took you an hour to sell all ten bottles and that you now have $100 from your sales.

-That’s a lot of money, said Lucius.

-Not quite, said Madya.  You need to give your mom back the $30 she gave you to buy the lemons, sugar and bottles and you are left with $70.  You then pay yourself the $30 for the cost of your time to make the lemonade plus you have to give yourself another $10 for the hour it took you to actually sell the lemonade.  So you are left with $30 which is your profit.

-And I can use this $30 to buy the ingredients for next week’s batch because I kind of like the idea of doing this, said Lucius.  I think I will be continuing the business on a weekly basis.  If I do that for the next 10 weeks of the summer, I will make a total profit of $300 plus I will have earned another $400 for the time I put into my business.  That’s $700 and I can then buy the guitar I wanted.  You know what?  Entrepreneurship is really cool!

-Madya, Lucius, I am very impressed with the detailed plan you have just laid out, said Mr. Soccerball.  You have made entrepreneurship seem like a piece of cake!

-So kids, Lucius gave us the business idea and Madya gave us the step-by-step process to implement this.  They both gave us a lot to think about but we know now that to set up and run your own business you need to have the idea and you have to put in the hard work into the process to make your business a success.

-That is right sir, said Madya who continued with her usual singing.

To go into business

You need an idea

But you have to have the drive

To bring your idea to life

Be willing to work long and hard

To implement your plan

You will definitely need that

For a successful business path!