Young entrepreneurs prepare pop-up businesses for Lemonade Day Kamloops

Photo: Pexels/Susanne Jutzeler,

Dozens of local youth are preparing to serve up refreshing drinks as part of entrepreneurship program Lemonade Day Kamloops.

Dozens of local youth are getting a taste of entrepreneurship with Lemonade Day Kamloops, preparing refreshment-selling stands that will pop up in locations all across the city later this month.

Jennifer Brown-Binns, city director for Lemonade Day Kamloops, said about 60 youth have registered to take part in the program.

She said groups of kids are earnestly creating branding, business names, menus and even special T-shirts in preparation for Friday, Aug. 22, when they will operate their stands for the day.

“Our objective of Lemonade Day is to plant that seed of entrepreneurship, and teach these youth that they can start own and operate their own business,” Brown-Binns said.

This is the first time the program will be offered in the Interior. It’s hosted by Community Futures Thompson Country, an economic development organization that provides small business financing and promotes entrepreneurship.

Youth from kindergarten to Grade 8 have signed up to participate in the program. A number of businesses have also come on board, providing spaces for the young entrepreneurs to set up for the day.

Blair Gray, general manager, told Kamloops council in a July meeting that participating youth get access to a number of online resources and workbooks to help them build out a business plan for their lemonade stand.

“They get to learn about branding, marketing,” Gray said.

“It really focuses on that financial literacy component, so they have to consider their expenses and their revenue and their pricing, so it kind of builds on that entrepreneurship spirit.”

Binns-Brown said the youth set profit-making goals, and learn how to balance their finances.

“They do encourage the youth to spend some of their profit as a reward for their hard work, save some of their profit for a rainy day, and then to pay back their investors or reinvest in their business and then share some of their profit with the community that supported them,” she said.

Binns-Brown said people can expect to find refreshing drinks, including different varieties of lemonade and iced teas. Some stands will be selling extra items like baked goods, candy, eggs, and crafts.

“They’ll definitely see a lot of creativity, as you can see with the stand names,” she said, listing monikers like Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy, Palmer’s Paradise, and Pour Some Sugar On Me.

An online map shows the locations, business hours and menus of each lemonade stand, so anyone interested in supporting the young entrepreneurs can plan their visits.