Company Blog

When Business Gives You Lemons…

by Adam Zack — October 28, 2015

My mom has a lemon tree.

Enough with the thought provoking blogs for this week. I know we are all here to make money, and once a month, starting now, the topic will be a sales idea that is easy, inexpensive, effective and most of all, profitable. Here’s the back-story: My mom has a lemon tree that produces an obscene amount of Meyer lemons. She brought over a bag, and besides just freezing a few ice cube trays worth (bonus cooking tip! Great way to always have lemon juice on hand!), I decided to look up the recipe for Hot Dog On a Stick Lemonade. Besides the fun of watching the Hot Dog On a Stick girls with the goofy multi-colored hats pogo-ing on their lemon crusher, it really was the best lemonade I’d had. So, sans goofy hat and pogo stick, I googled the recipe and mixed up a batch. Delicious! (even better with vodka!). It was the hit of the day. So I started thinking to myself “Self, how can you make some money with this idea?” Naturally by making a big batch in-store, placing it strategically in the store in cups with a slice of lemon in an ice display, with the straw already in the lid (with the paper covering of the straw still on the top like they do at In-N-Out for sanitary reasons). Have some great graphics that brand it as our Old Fashioned Signature Lemonade and watch it fly. You can put some little sample cups out there to get them hooked or put your demo person on it for the lunch rush. Sell a 16 oz. cup for a $1.49 and you will make about 80% profit. And here’s the kicker part of the idea: It can spawn lots of other juice impulse sales. Think Strawberry Lemonade, Fresh Orange Juice in the mornings, Carrot Juice, Green Health Juice…so many ways to make some dough from juice.

HOMEMADE LEMONADE RECIPE

7 parts water
1 part lemon juice
1 part sugar, dissolved
Sliced lemon

Stir together ingredients. Taste. If not sweet enough, add more dissolved sugar. Chill. Pour into plastic cups, add lemon slice. Put on lid and insert straw into cup with the lower half of the paper wrap removed. Place in ice display by your deli or busiest checkout lane. Make a lot of money. Repeat with orange juice in morning.