It's Your Business: Making entrepreneurship a dinner-table topic
K-12 programming is one of the pillars at The Mill. We want entrepreneurship to become a dinner-table topic.
We focus on it for two reasons:
While we can plant the seeds now, they take a long time to mature and for our community to see the compounding effects of new businesses.
Even if you don’t want to start a business, the traits of entrepreneurs can be learned and can propel your career:
Leadership
Optimism
Self-discipline
Open-mindedness
Competitive spirit
Self-motivation
Willingness to fail
Innovation
Tenacity
Flexibility
Ingenuity
Action bias
In other words, entrepreneurship isn’t just for starting a business but for developing the traits that will lead to a fulfilling career, even if you don’t want to start a business.
To that end, we’ve supported Lemonade Day at the Boys & Girls Clubs since The Mill was founded. First as a sponsor, then as a member of the planning team for their Lemonade Day events, and now we’re co-leading the program with them to bring our resources and connections to grow this great program even further. These events let kids plan, build and execute their own lemonade stand business.
These young entrepreneurs attended Lemon Day University at The Mill in early April to level up their stand. We had a great turnout. Ninety-six kids came to see booths from the Bloomington Urban Enterprise Association, the health department, Velocities, Fifth Third Bank, Ivy Tech, WildCare and WTIU. Kids learned everything from how to build a budget and price their lemonade to new lemonade recipes and how to market their stand.
In preparation for the Lemonade Day Pitch Competition later in June, we’re hosting a Pitch Bootcamp 5:30-6:30 p.m. May 31 at The Mill. Come hear some tips and tricks for an effective pitch and register for Lemonade Day if you haven’t already.
Next up is Lemonade Day on June 18 where kids will build their own unique stand and then show off their new business skills. There are currently 350 kids signed up to participate in Lemonade Day, so you won’t have to look far to find a great glass of lemonade in Monroe County.
During Lemonade Day, judges will travel around to the various stands and sample what the kids have to offer. Prizes and awards will be given out at the Lemonade Day Pitch Competition and Carnival at The Mill from 5 to 8 p.m. June 28.
At the Lemonade Day Pitch Competition, you’ll be able to hear pitches from the lemonade stand owners who went above and beyond for this year’s Lemonade Day. Last year’s pitches included everything from how these young entrepreneurs marketed their stands to impressive sales totals and in some cases, where they decided to donate some of their profits.
Lemonade Day doesn’t work without community volunteers. If you’d like to volunteer to judge Lemonade Day stands or help out at the Lemonade Day Pitch Competition and Carnival, you can sign up at https://airtable.com/shrXy26sYZBbcSL6w
If you’re still interested in signing your kids up for Lemonade Day, you still can. Website to register: https://www.lemonadeday.org/monroe-county
Pat East is executive director of The Mill, an entrepreneurship center whose mission is to launch and accelerate startups and whose vision is to become Indiana’s center of gravity for entrepreneurship.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: The Mill has entrepreneurship talks, events for Boys & Girls Clubs
