Anyone who knows me very well knows that I have a soft spot for entrepreneurs. Especially for kid/young adult entrepreneurs. Just the other night a young man knocked on our door and was selling wooden handmade and customized charts that you can hang on hour wall to track your kids’ growth. My wife turned him away, but I made her go back outside after him and bring him back. We bought one for Alex that’s blue with some animal cutouts on it. After we ordered it, he told us that ours was the first house he had knocked on with this new venture and that this was his first successful sale. His older sister makes the charts and he is going to do the sales. I used to go door-to-door as a kid selling Christmas cards. I know what that’s like. And I’m glad we were his first house.

Anyway, about a year ago, I rounded up some neighborhood kids that I had seen with their lemonade stand and had them come down and supply lemonade to all of Doba.

Well, a few weeks back, I was driving again and saw a roadside Sno-Cone stand. I flipped a quick u-turn and stopped to get a Sno Cone. On the way back to the office, I remembered the Lemonade Kids, so I sent my assistant Meagen back and she planned to have these budding entrepreneurs (Marci and Caden) come down to Doba last Friday afternoon and provide Sno-Cones to all of Doba’s employees.

Come to find out, Marci and Caden are the kids of Taylor Candland, an old friend of mine, Brandon Williams, and Blaine Nielsen that we used to work with at Netschools back when we were all still in school about 10 years ago. Taylor makes sure that they only get to spend 50% of their revenues–with the remaining going to take care of their church tithing contributions, some repayment to Taylor and his wife for fronting the costs of the Sno-Cone machine, and their savings. What great lessons those kids are learning!

Candland, LLC (aka Marci and Caden) did a SUPERB job delivering a great product at a good price to the Doba team. We’re going to have them back again before the summer is out. Here’s a challenge for everyone: find a way to help support kids that are chasing their entrepreneurship bug. Stop at lemonade stands. Buy products from people knocking on your door. It really is fun. And maybe someday, when kids like Marci or Caden end up being the CEO of massively successful company that has in some way changed the world, they’ll get up and tell the story of the time some crazy person had them bring their Sno-Cone machine into a company of 100 people.

Long before television’s “The Apprentice” turned private sector enterprise into popular entertainment, Utah Business Week was making corporate culture a real-world experience for high school students. In recent years, more than a thousand Utah high schoolers have participated in Business Week, and this year—just a few weeks ago in fact—I was fortunate enough to be able to speak a group of them up at Utah State University (in Logan, UT).

In all, about 150 students were in town to learn about the principles of business, how to work as a part of a team, and participate in mock company meetings and business simulations. The weeklong event’s organizers asked me to present an hour session on what it means to be an entrepreneur, and to share my own story for how I became a successful business owner.

As one might expect, the title of my presentation was “Adventures in Entrepreneurship” (why reinvent the wheel, right), and after covering my upbringing on a farm and how that experience taught me the value of hard work, I dove right into the meat of the presentation, which covered:

1. Risk versus Reward
2. The Law of the Harvest
3. Being a Firefighter or a Firestarter
4. The Value of Specialization

The most valuable part of the presentation though, I thought, was the part on Risk versus Reward. Rather than present a bunch of boring PowerPoint slides or talk the subject to death, I made it experiential (“hands-on” if you will). In preparation, I brought three decks of playing cards with me to the talk. One deck of cards I left intact; one had all the diamonds and hearts removed; and the third contained only spades.

After telling the students what I had done to each deck, I asked for three volunteers but stipulated that each needed to have cash-in-hand in order to participate. Not a lot of hands shot up at first, but eventually three students came forward to help out.

Here’s what happened next:

• Once the first student came to the front of the auditorium, I posed the following question: “Using the first deck–the one that I left intact–how much of your own money would you be wiling to risk on being able to pull either the Jack, Queen, King, or Ace of Spades?” She bet $8.00, and with only an 8 percent chance of pulling it off, she lost, and I kept her $8.00. (Hey, it’s risk versus rewards, right? You risk, you lose, and someone else gets your money. That’s how it works!)
• The next student was given the same option but with the second deck (the one with all the diamonds and hearts removed). The odds this time around were about 16 percent in his favor, and with that in mind, he risked $10.00 on being able to pull either the Jack, Queen, King, or Ace of Spades from deck number two. Unfortunately, he didn’t win either, so I was up $18.00 (great, enough for gas money for the drive back to Orem).
• The final volunteer had the best odds of all. Using the third deck–the one that contained only spades–there was a 32 percent chance that the student would pull either the Jack, Queen, King, or Ace of Spades; but like the other two, he lost, and I counted his $10.00 towards my winnings.

“Entrepreneurship is a lot like gambling,” I told the packed auditorium; “You risk, and you might you be rewarded; but as we saw, not each and every time!” “The first person–the one who wagered $8.00 of her own money,” I said, “played ’straight up Las Vegas style’ gambling, which is always the most risky type of gamble there is. That’s why the Las Vegas casinos make so much money. The odds are always in their favor!”

“The second deck,” I told them, “well, that’s like entrepreneurship… you put more odds in your favor because you control more of what happens, but not entirely.”

“The final deck–the one with the best odds,” I said, “that’s like entrepreneurship with smart advisors and helpers.” “Even though the odds are more in your favor than with decks one and two, it’s still risky, as evidenced by the fact that I just added the cost of a value meal and then-some to my gas money!”

By this point, I think everyone understood the notion of Risk versus Reward. And even though I could have ended the session right then and there, I chose to go a little further. What type of entrepreneur would I be if I didn’t complete the Risk versus Reward scenario by introducing the much-heralded Venture Capitalist into the mix.

Here’s what happened next:

I pulled $500 in ten dollar bills from my pocket and said that I need three more volunteers. This time, every single hand in room shot up, and when my three volunteers came to the front of the auditorium, I asked each for their best business idea. I told them that if I liked their idea, I’d invest in it, and that with the money I invested, they could either walk away or risk some or all of it with deck number three (the one containing only the spades).

• The first volunteer’s goal was to open a nice Bed and Breakfast. I asked if this ‘nice’ B&B would have a similarly nice day spa, and since she said it would, I chose to invest $50.00 in her business. With 32 percent odds in her favor, she decided to risk $40.00 of my money on being able to pull the Jack, Queen, King, or Ace of Spades. Like the others before her, she lost, but was able to walk away with $10.00.
• The next volunteer said, “I want to open a custom electric guitar shop,” to which I replied, “Cool… do you have a celebrity sponsor or spokesperson?” ” Yep… it’s Eddie Van Halen,” he proudly proclaimed.
  
  Now let me go on a bit of a tangent for a second here. I really like Van Halen, and I really like a lot of the music from the late 80’s and early-90’s that has been referred to as ‘glam rock,’ ‘hair bands,’ and even ‘cheese rock.’ Bands like Poison, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, and Van Halen are right up my alley.
  
  Naturally, given my own passion for his business, I said, “Okay, ‘I’ll fund your business with $250.00!” The crowd went nuts with students left and right yelling, “Take the money and run!!” But, like a good entrepreneur, he said, “I’m risking $200.00!” Unfortunately, he didn’t win either, but did end up going back to his seat with $50.00 of my money.
• The final volunteer said, “My idea is to open a veterinarian business, but I’ll be different from all the others because I’ll only do house calls.” “Sounds good,” I said, “so I’ll invest $100.00 in your business,” to which she replied, “I’ll risk $50.00 of it,” and wouldn’t you know it… she pulled out the Queen of Spades and walked off stage with $150.00 (much to the applause of the audience, which was going crazy over the fact that someone had finally won).

I’m glad that the final student walked off with more than just a bit of my money. I really wanted someone to do that. Obviously, I could not have given everyone in the room $150.00 to teach that lesson, but the fact that one person did succeed… well, I’m guessing they’ll be talking for a while about that crazy entrepreneur at Utah Business Week that gave a student $150.00 as a part of a lesson in entrepreneurship.

Why are the Dutch always beating everyone else to the punch, especially Americans? Springwise reports that Dutch Postbank recently started a campaign aimed at budding entrepreneurs.

Kids who open one of Postbank’s “Easy Blue” accounts qualify to receive a briefcase containing materials for printing their own t-shirts (aka bizznizz attire), stickers, letterhead, flyers, and business cards. To get started, the young businessperson logs on to bizznizz.postbank.nl and decides what type of business he or she would like to run. Postbank suggests washing cars, walking dogs, household chores and mowing lawns, as well as an intriguing ‘entertainment’ category.

Then it’s time to pick a name, create a logo using an online design wizard, print promotional material and start advertising: throwing flyers through as many neighborhood mailboxes as possible. Once a client has been secured and the first job completed, the kidpreneur can log back on to the website to print an invoice, and have the client transfer the car-washing fee to their bank account.

Brilliant! And as cool as the idea itself is, Postbank’s ‘bizznizz.postbank.nl‘ web site is even cooler.

Seriously, though, why haven’t U.S. banks figured this one out for themselves? It seems like such a no-brainer, doesn’t it… develop a fun, educational, and supportive relationship with a kid today, and you win her personal and corporate banking business tomorrow.

I don’t know what it is about me and kids and their lemonade stands, but I stopped by another one yesterday afternoon; this time while on my way out of town to speak at Utah Business Week.

“How long have you guys been out here?” I asked. “Since this morning,” one of the older kids replied, ” adding, rather dejectedly, “and you’re our first customer“.

It didn’t occur to me until I drove off that I could do something to help their business (aside from paying a quarter for my own cup of their delicious lemonade). The traditional lemonade stand business model is this… set up shop and wait for people to come to you. Simple enough, and depending on weather, location, and cuteness factor, you may or may not experience success. I thought to myself as I drove away, if it were me, and I’d been standing out there for most of the morning and early afternoon without generating any business whatsoever, I’d hope I’d have the wherewithal to conceive a new business model.

Realizing that these were 10-year-olds, and that most 10-year-olds have the wherewithal of, well, 10-year-olds, I sprung into action. I called our Chief Marketing Officer’s assistant, Lindsay, from my car, and told her that there were a group of kids on the corner of 1200 North & 500 East selling lemonade, and that I bet if she drove over there and asked to speak to their parents, that they’d agree to let their kids come to the Doba office to bring everyone at company a nice refreshing glass of lemonade.

The rest, as they say, is history:

A special note of thanks to Lindsay, Cindy, and Meagen (they’re the big kids in the back row of the picture on the right) for helping to pull this off. I think we showed some neighborhood kids what sorts of possibilities exist when you rethink your distribution model. That, and you can make a whole lot of money by pouring lemonade at Doba.

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 ).