Granted, I was about 7 years old, but it was a tough loss regardless.

I remember running into the house, excited about the results of my new lemonade stand venture in Silverlake (our neighborhood in the Philly suburbs).

The unique selling proposition was that we had built a mobile lemonade stand— we trash picked a cabinet, cleaned it up, and my Dad nailed it to a platform on wheels. I could roam the neighborhood, go directly to the people with the lemonade!

I sat down at the kitchen table and excitedly reported to my parents that I had made $36* that first day!

I started counting the money again, organizing it to face in all the same direction like my Old MamMam (Great-Grandmother) had taught me, thinking about all the things I could do with it, when my Dad interrupted my thoughts.

“Well, Stephanie, you know that’s not all profit, right…”

“WTF does that mean, Dad!? This is ALL mine that I earned!”

My Dad then proceeded to pull out a notepad, and I’m sure a pen from his pocket, and list out my Lemonade Stand “start up costs” that he had “invested.”

I started to feel my first gut wrenching agony of losing money on a business venture — something I didn’t even know was possible until that very moment!

Labor for Stand Set Up: $21

Lemonade Mix: $22

Supplies (Pitchers, Spoon, Napkins): $17

Cups: $0 (Because we would stay after every Yankees game and collect the plastic cups everyone left behind… then sell them to our Philly fan neighbors… #thatsawholeotherchildhoodlessonpost)

“Stephanie, it looks like your start up costs came out to $60*… so you may have made $36 today, but you’re technically at -$24 since you owe me $60 to start this business.”

Seven years old, no savings, and in business debt for the first time.

:: Insert seven year old Strategic Stephanie crying over business for the first (but certainly not last) time in her life ::

I don’t remember if my Dad made me pay him back (he probably actually wanted me to, to prove a point, and my Mom wouldn’t let him), but that story has always made me laugh, and stuck with me as my first lesson in business.

Nothing is free of some sort of cost, no matter who you are or what age you are. Someone (mentor, brother, co-worker, friend, parent, etc) is always investing something (time, money, effort, love, etc) into getting you where you’re going, so be conscious of and grateful for that, and always pay it forward.

*All numbers guesstimated since I wasn’t as organized back in the 90s and can’t find any records of the actual profits and losses recorded 😉