It was the summer of 2025, and the days were long and hot. When I was eight and my little sister was six, we were looking for something fun to do over the summer. We didn't want to just play boring video games or run in our backyard all day. We wanted to try an experiment. We wanted to see if we could start a real business, earn our own money, and most importantly, use that money to help poor people in our community. That is how the idea for "Lemon ‘n’ Bites" was created.

The first step was to tell our parents that we wanted to run a lemonade stand business. They told us that if we wanted to run a business, we had to act like business owners. They asked us to write a real business plan! It felt a little like extra homework, but we really wanted to do it. So, I sat down and did all the math and calculations of the price of the lemonade and snacks that we were going to sell, while my sister was getting the design of our stand ready on paper. We made a list of everything we needed: lemons, sugar, cups, and snacks. We decided to sell cookies, gummies and Otter Pops because those are the best treats on a hot day. We calculated the costs and showed our parents exactly how much budget we needed. Once they saw our hard work, they approved the budget and invested in our company.

Next, we had to get everything ready. We didn't want it to be boring, so we bought two different lemonade flavors: original lemonade and strawberry lemonade, to give our customers a choice. Pouring the lemonade from the glass bottle into the big glass jars made me feel like a scientist in a lab. We also organized the Oreos, Chips Ahoys, assorted chips, Bluey gummies and Otter Pops into neat bins so they looked professional.

We knew that a good business needs a good name. We brainstormed for a long time before we agreed on "Lemon ‘n’ Bites" as the name of our stand. To make sure everyone saw us, we built a huge decorative entrance for our stand in front of our garage. We hung up bright balloons that danced in the wind to catch people’s attention. My sister and I worked really hard on the setup, making sure the menu card was easy to read and looked perfect.

Finally, it was prime time. It was a scorching hot Saturday afternoon, around 4:30 PM. We set up our chairs, put on some upbeat music to set the mood, and waited. At first, it was a little quiet. People walked by and smiled at us because we looked cute, but they didn't stop to buy anything. We realized that smiling wasn't enough; we had to convince them to become customers!

That is when my sister saved the day. She was so enthusiastic! She didn't just sit there; she walked right up to our neighbors' houses to tell them about our stand. She invited them over with a big smile. I am really thankful she did that because it attracted more people to buy from our stand. Suddenly, people started coming! A high school principal stopped by, which made us feel famous. A lifeguard from the nearby pool came to cool off, and lots of neighbors came to support us.

We ran the stand for two days: Saturday and Sunday. Most people just admired our hard work, but enough people bought snacks and drinks so that we earned some money. When we counted the coins and bills in our cashier, we counted $42! We were so proud.

But the best part isn't the money itself; it is what we are going to do with it. We aren't going to spend it on toys for ourselves. We are keeping it safe in our piggy bank until Thanksgiving. Then, we are going to use it to buy food for the local shelter and toys for kids who might not get any gifts. We want to make sure other people can have a happy holiday, too.

This experiment taught me that earning money is hard work, but it is also a lot of fun. We learned about math, planning, and talking to people. But mostly, we learned that even small kids can do something to make a big difference in the neighborhood. We look forward to setting up this stand next year!