When I was a kid, I went door-to-door selling Christmas cards. Mind you, I lived on a farm in southern Idaho, so “door-to-door” meant getting on my bicycle and riding a few miles in one direction, and then backtracking and doing the same thing in the other direction. These days, with urban sprawl creeping steadier and steadier towards the rural regions, and with all the distractions kids have (think television, Xbox 360, PlayStation, and even soccer tournaments and beauty pageants), I’m not sure many 8-15 year-olds get to experience the same types of solitary entrepreneurial endeavors.

I’m a big believer that solitary entrepreneurial endeavors—like selling lemonade on the side of the road or going door-to-door to sign people up for a newspaper subscription—afford kids with unique opportunities to build character. From developing sales pitches to negotiating price and accepting criticism and compliments from complete strangers, entrepreneurship—especially at a young age—paves a path to developing common sense and strong people skills.

A few weeks ago, while driving home from work, I stumbled upon a 9-year-old girl selling cups of water on the side of the road. That particular day was hottest of the year, and her location, timing, and strategy were dead on. While cups of water are a dime-a-dozen, she differentiated and called attention to herself by decorating each one with colorful streamers. From my car, half a block away from the neighborhood intersection where she set up her stand, I could see her smiling face and cleverly decorated cups.

Then, the other day, while following the same route home, I noticed her again. This time though she was selling lemonade, and with a little extra time on my hands, I pulled off to the side of the road and ordered up a refreshing cup. As an entrepreneur myself, I wasn’t so much interested in the lemonade as I was in experiencing something similar to my own entrepreneurial endeavors from when I was her age. Standing there on the sidewalk downing the lemonade, I couldn’t help but feel like I was contributing to her success in a way that others may not have considered.

Unfortunately, sights like this little girl are a far and few between. I hope my kids seize opportunities like this on their own some day. When mine are old enough, I think I’ll kick my kids to the curb (so-to-speak) and encourage them to sell some lemonade (or Doba memberships ).