Make a Business Plan
Create a simple business plan for a small lemonade or craft stand, sketching budget, pricing, and a marketing idea to test with family.
Step-by-step guide to make a business plan
Step 1
Decide whether you'll make a lemonade stand or a craft stand and pick a fun name for it.
Step 2
Write one sentence that explains what you will sell and who you hope will buy it.
Step 3
List three different items or choices you will sell (for lemonade list flavors or sizes; for crafts list types).
Step 4
Write a price next to each item using dollars or coins.
Step 5
For each item write the cost to make it including ingredients materials and packaging as cost per item.
Step 6
List one-time startup costs like a table sign decorations and write their total cost.
Step 7
Subtract each item's cost from its price and write the profit you make on one item.
Step 8
Divide the total startup cost by the profit per item and write how many items you must sell to cover the startup cost rounding up.
Step 9
Make a simple budget chart on your paper that shows expected number sold revenue costs and profit for one selling session.
Step 10
Draw a bright flyer or write a one-sentence sales pitch to use as your marketing test.
Step 11
Ask two family members to try your product or listen to your pitch on a chosen day and write their feedback on sticky notes.
Step 12
Share your finished business plan and photos of your budget flyer and feedback on DIY.org to show what you learned.
Final steps
You're almost there! Complete all the steps, bring your creation to life, post it, and conquer the challenge!
Help!?
What can we use instead of a table sign, sticky notes, or a camera if we don't have them?
If you don't have a table sign use poster board or a cereal-box cutout with marker, replace sticky notes with small taped paper squares for family feedback, and use a phone camera or draw the flyer and photograph that to share on DIY.org.
My profit numbers or the 'items to sell to cover startup cost' look wrong—what should I check?
Double-check that each 'cost per item' includes ingredients, materials and packaging, make sure you subtract that cost from the price to get the profit per item, and then divide the total startup cost by that profit per item and round up as the instructions say.
How can we make this activity easier for little kids or more challenging for older kids?
For younger kids simplify to choosing a name, two items and drawing a flyer while a parent records prices and fills the simple budget chart, and for older kids add sales tax, multiple price tests, a break-even graph and a detailed budget for several selling sessions before uploading photos to DIY.org.
What are easy ways to improve or personalize our lemonade or craft stand plan to get more customers and better feedback?
Personalize your stand with a hand-drawn logo on the flyer, offer combo deals or free samples to boost sales, record different price and sales outcomes in your budget chart across multiple selling sessions, and have family members rate taste or pitch on sticky notes to refine your plan before posting photos on DIY.org.
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Facts about entrepreneurship for kids
🧾 A one-page business plan can be enough for a small stand: goals, costs, price, and a simple marketing test.
🍋 Lemonade stands are a classic first business — many kids use them to learn money, customer service, and marketing!
🎯 Pricing tip: start by covering cost per item and add a small markup (like 25–50%) to save or reinvest.
💸 Tracking costs and sales is how you know if your stand makes profit — even a few dollars teaches budgeting.
👨👩👧 Test your idea with family first — friendly feedback helps improve recipes, signs, and price before going public.
How do I help my child create a simple business plan for a lemonade or craft stand?
What materials do we need to make a kid-friendly business plan for a stand?
What ages is making a lemonade or craft stand business plan suitable for?
What are the benefits and safety tips for a kid making a simple business plan and running a stand?
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