Grade: 3 Lesson # 14
What are the advantages and disadvantages of
operating your own business?
What factors impact the profits a business earns?
SS.4.FL.1.6: Describe ways that people who own a
business can earn a profit, which is a source of income.
Correlated Standards:
MAFS.3.OA.4: Solve problems involving the four
operations, and identify and explain patterns in
arithmetic.
LAFS.3.W.1.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to
examine a topic and convey ideas and information
clearly.
SS.3.E.1.In.b: Recognize characteristics of money,
such as portable and recognizable.
SS.3.E.1.In.c: Recognize the roles of buyers and
sellers in exchanging goods and services.
SS.4.FL.1.6: Describe ways that people who own a business can earn a profit, which is a
source of income.
Starting Your Own Lemonade Stand
Grade 3 Lesson Plan
Lesson Number : 14
Correlated Florida Standards (See Full Text on Cover Page)
 MAFS.3.OA.4
 LAFS.3.W.1.2
 SS.3.E.1.In.b
 SS.3.E.1.In.c:
Essential Question
 What is an entrepreneur?
 What are the advantages and disadvantages of operating your own business?
 What factors impact the profits a business earns?
Learning Goals/Objectives
Students will:
 Understand the advantages and disadvantages of operating your own business
 Identify factors that impact the success or failure of a business
 Practice calculating profits and losses for a lemonade stand business for five days
Overview
In this lesson students will explore the basics of entrepreneurship. Students will analyze lemonade the
profits and expenditures of lemonade stand business for five days, discovering the basic concepts of supply
and demand.
Materials
 Whiteboard
 Calculators (optional for lemonade stand activity)
 Lemonade Stand Cards (at end of lesson plan)
 Lemonade Stand Handout (at end of lesson plan)
Time
 30 minutes
Activity Sequence
INTRODUCTION/HOOK (4 minutes)
Ask students to if they rather work for themselves when they grow up or work for someone else and why?
Encourage students to compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of both working for yourself and
working for someone else. Use the following chart to guide the discussion.
•
Work for Yourself
Flexibility to control your working
conditions
•
Work for Someone Else
Inability to control your working conditions
•
Ability to choose whom you work with
•
No control over who your coworkers are
•
Ability to be your own boss, make your
own decisions, be in charge
•
You will report to a supervisor whom
usually reviews and approves your actions
before decisions can be made
•
Sense of pride established in building
something you own
•
Can be equally rewarding despite not being
the business owner – the face of the
company
•
Risky venture – as about half of all new
businesses fail within the first five years
•
Less risky – more job security
•
Greater financial reward
•
Usually earn less money
•
Being the boss comes with greater stress
and responsibility
•
Typically less demanding and stressful –
you are mainly responsible for your job not
that of others
ACTIVITY (24 minutes)
1. Explain to students that successful business owners are great decision-makers that understand how to make a
profit through the basics of supply and demand. Write the following words on the board and review its
definitions:
• Supply: The amount of some product which is available to customers.
• Demand: The desire to own a product and also having the willingness to pay.
• Overhead: The costs associated with operating a business – such as the costs of production, paying
salaries, rent, utilities, etc.)
• Profit/Revenue: Income that a business receives through business activity after subtracting operating
costs. (2 minutes)
2. Help students understand the challenges of being a business owner, such as the responsibility of making
decisions that impact the costs of operating the business and the profits earned. Business owners hire employees,
set operating hours, determine wages, control production, decide what prices to charge, and are consistently
thinking of ways to increase business and profits. (2 minutes)
3. Tell students that today they will be taking on the role of entrepreneur by operating their own lemonade stand.
They will discover what goes into operating a profitable business as they calculate the expenses for a cup of
lemonade and decide a fair cost to customers to earn a profit. Let students know that the principles of running a
lemonade stand can be applied to any other business venture such as a car wash, ice cream stand, dog walker,
baby sitter, etc. (1 minute)
4. Place students in small groups and explain that they will be working together to identify the successes and
failures of a lemonade stand by monitoring profits and expenditures for ten days. Allow time for students to share
what they discover about their business. Distribute a set of lemonade stand cards to students and a copy of the
lemonade stand handout.
5. Guide students through calculating expenses and profits for Lemonade Stand Cards Day 1. Calculators may
be used if available. ( Steps 4 & 5 – 19 minutes)
CLOSURE (2 minutes)
 Ask students to share what they have learned about operating a business and how their perceptions have
changed after the lesson. Revisit the essential questions and encourage students to support their answers
with evidence from the lesson.
OPTIONAL EXTENSION SUGGESTION/HOME LEARNING
 Have students brainstorm a business idea and advertise it by creating a flyer which includes the
company’s name, what goods or service it provides, prices, and so forth. Ideas may include an ice cream
stand, car wash, baby sitter, dog walker, landscaping, etc.

Online Interactive Lemonade Stand Game
https://www.omsi.edu/exhibitions/moneyville/activities/lemonade/lemonadestand.htm
BIBLIOGRAPHIC RESOURCES

Lesson Content/Activity Adapted from:
http://web.mnstate.edu/econed/WinterInstitute/Lemonade%20Stand2.pptx

Teachers Guide and Lessons Plan related to Operating a Lemonade Stand
http://www.flourbluffschools.net/assets/pdf/elementary/lemonade_day_youth_teachers_guide.pdf

Article describing 10 reasons to run your own business
http://www.inc.com/guides/201101/top-10-reasons-to-run-your-own-business.html

Article listing statistics regarding businesses that fail
http://www.successharbor.com/percentage-businesses-fail-09092015
Lemonade Stand Cards
Day 1
It's sunny. You are selling it for $.10 ( .10¢ ) 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ cup. There is enough lemonade for 100 cups to be
sold. The ingredients necessary cost you $5.00. Eighty-seven people stop by, but only 73 buy a glass of
lemonade. You have two people at the stand working, each expecting 10% of your total profit for the
day.
Day 2
It's partly cloudy. You have decided to sell your lemonade for $.15 (.15¢ ) a cup. There is enough
lemonade to sell 85 cups. The ingredients necessary cost you $.75 because you had to buy more ice. 79
people stop by, but only 62 people purchase lemonade. You have 1 person at the stand working who
expects to receive 20% of the total profit for the day.
Day 3
It's raining today. You have decided to sell you lemonade for $.10 (.10¢ ) a cup again. There is enough
lemonade to sell 95 cups. The ingredients cost you $1.25 because your lemons went bad. Only 34
people stop by, but only 25 people purchase lemonade. You have 2 people at the stand working
because no one likes to sit in the rain alone. Each expects 10% of the total profits for the day.
Day 4
It's breezy and mostly sunny. You have decided to sell your lemonade for $.20 (.20¢ ) because the rain
has passed and everyone's happy. There is enough lemonade to sell 100 cups. The ingredients cost you
$1.00 because you needed more sugar. You have only 1 person working the stand and they are
volunteering their time. Out of 50 potential customers, 45 purchase a cup of lemonade.
Day 5
Today is a scorcher! It's 95 degrees and humid. You have decided to sell your lemonade for $.25( .25¢ )
a cup. There is enough lemonade to sell 100 cups. The ingredients cost you $1.00 because you had buy
more cups. You have 3 people working the stand because you expect it to be very busy. Each
employee expects 20% of the day's final profit. 142 customers stop, but only 100 customers purchase
because you sold out!
Name ______________________________________
Date ______________________________
My Lemonade Stand
Day
Weather
Selling
Price
per Cup
# of
Cups
Sold
Profits
from Sales
# of
Salary Rate &
Cost of
# of
Cups
Amount Paid in
Ingredients Visitors
Made
Salaries
Final Profits
1
2
3
4
5
What was your total profit after ten days? ___________________________________________________
Did you make money or lose money? Why do you think this happened?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Name ANSWER KEY
My Lemonade Stand
Day
Weather
1
sunny
2
partly
cloudy
Selling
Price
per Cup
10 cents
15 cents
# of
Cups
Sold
73
62
Profits
from Sales
73 x .10 = $7.30
62 x .15 = $9.30
# of
Salary Rate &
Cost of
# of
Cups
Amount Paid in
Ingredients Visitors
Made
Salaries
100
85
$5.00
$.75
87
10% of Profits
2 employees
$7.30 x .10 = $0.73 x 2
= $1.46
($7.30 - $5.00) –
$1.46 = $0.84
79
20% of Profits
1 employee
$9.30 x.20 =$1.86
1.86 x 2= $3.72
$9.30 - .75 $3.72 = $4.83
$2.50 - $1.25 .50 = .75
$9 – 1 = $8
3
rainy
10 cents
25
25 x .10 = $2.50
95
$1.25
34
10% of Profits
2 employees
$2.50 x .10 = .25
.25 x 2 = .50
4
Breezy
20 cents
45
45 x .20 = $9
100
$1.00
50
Volunteer
1 employee
5
Very hot
25 cents
100
100 x .25 = $25
142
$1.00
Final Profits
142
20% of Profits
3 employees
$25 x .20 = $5 each
$ 15 all employees
$25 – 1 – 15 = $9
What was your total profit after ten days? _$23.42
Did you make money or lose money? Why do you think this happened?
Money was made on the days it was not rainy. More money was made on the days where overhead was
reduced, in other words there were less salaries paid and less spent on ingredients.