A waterproof, easily transportable and storable lemonade stand is such a simple idea, yet it didn’t become an actual product on the market until a bright sunny day when senior Joel Zeid was taking his dog on a walk.

He started thinking about how in America people learn about the value of making money at an early age. One particular example came to mind: lemonade stands.

“I thought about how lemonade stands teach us this [value],” he said. “I was a little old to sell lemonade but what about the stands…”

And so a month-long process began. Zeid’s plan was to create a lemonade stand that kids could easily set up and decorate. It was also designed for easy transportation and storage. He drew rough sketches of his plan and then took his idea to Loy-Lange Box Company, a custom box manufacturer.

“I worked with a team of engineers to come up with a prototype,” he said. “After some adjustments, we produced 500!”

Made out of recyclable paper, it includes the use of a water proof adhesive card board for possible spills (the consumer is a kid, after all). The stand is a completely blank so kids can add their own artistic creativity to it.

“I had to talk to patent lawyers to get a patent and become a legal company, Do It Yourself Toys LLC,” he said.

Along with Loy-Lange Box Company, Zeid also approached marketing teacher Marci Boland. Zeid says that she has been very supportive throughout the process, and Boland was more than glad to help out.

“Joel had come in and talked to me at the very beginning of the school year interested in DECA,” Boland said. “He was trying to figure out how DECA and his new business would work together.”

Making time was fairly difficult for both Zeid and Boland in the beginning, but as soon as Zeid’s product was talk in the news, Boland decided to seek Zeid out.

“We’re trying to work together with him to write up an entrepreneurship project,” she said. “It would help him because this project would be a business plan for him to take to banks if he needs financing from a financial institution.”

Even more important, Zeid had to find stores willing to sell his product. Zeid went personally to many companies and talked to the owners. Fortunately, many companies were willing to sell his product.

“It sold right off the bat,” he said. “We had a yes from every store we tried from the beginning.”

Zeid’s success is not exactly common, though. Boland said that although she had many students with great ideas, she had very few who would actually take that next step and start a business.

“Every once in a while we’ve had students who were entrepreneurs and who had started their own business,” she said. “His idea is a simple one. Every kid has had a lemonade stand. It’s a very simple idea, but sometimes the simplest ideas make the best businesses.”

Zeid has been a successful entrepreneur so far, and he has considered studying business in college because of his experience. He also hopes that by doing this, he will have an impact, on the community.

“I don’t really know what impact I hope to have except to encourage kids to take an interest in business,” he said. “It is definitely something I considering continuing in college but I will just have to see.”

Boland hopes he continues to be successful in the future, but she also believes that he shouldn’t necessarily take the easy path.

“I hope that he stumbles along the way because you learn more from your failures than you do from your successes,” she said. “And that’s one of the beauties of trying things out at this age, by the time he is a full blown entrepreneur, he will have already stumbled and he will have made those mistakes and he will have learned from those mistakes.”

Zeid has a lot left in the road to becoming an entrepreneur, but he is enjoying the creation of his product and what it has brought to the community.
“My favorite part about this and the most worthwhile [part] is getting pictures of the stands being used by little kids,” he said. “It makes me happy to know people are having fun with it.”