LESSONS FROM A LEMONADE STAND LEARNING BY DOING CAN TAKE ENTERPRISING KIDS INTO THE BUSINESS WORLD AND BEYOND.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

When life gives you lemons, hang on to them - they'll serve you well later on in the business world.

If small businesses are the backbone of American commerce, then the good old-fashioned lemonade stand is the spinal cord. Usually run by entrepreneurs so young they can't even get into PG-13 movies, let alone hold regular jobs, that first business can teach valuable lessons that budding business people can hold on to far into their careers.

``We did a car wash, we sold brownies, we sold little cups decorated and filled with candy, but that wasn't that good - it only made $5,'' said Alana Hartkop, a 9-year-old lemonade magnate from Simi Valley. ``It's been easier than I thought. We didn't think we'd make that much money, but we did. ...''

She and her 7-year-old pal, Kerstyn Yardley, have been working Blossom Street in Simi Valley each Saturday for a month. With the goal of raising money for a Fourth of July block party, they've made more than $60 from freshly squeezed lemonade, 25 cents per cup, and the aforementioned projects.

Regardless of the product, some experts say, the concepts that a small business teaches will get young minds working on issues like profits and loss, division of labor, marketing and debt. Even if they don't end up running their own company later in life, they'll still take away important economic concepts useful for any job.

``It's the rebels and the misfits who end up becoming something,'' said Mia Lipsanopolous, director of public relations for Junior Achievement of Southern California. ``Being exposed to business at such a young age creates the sense to them that they're going to have to provide for themselves one day.''

The nonprofit business education group tries to instill ethics, management and customer relations skills in school kids by introducing them to volunteer entrepreneurs. Following their lead, children can figure out if they'd rather be a boss or a worker, as well as learn how to deal with fractious customers or challenging suppliers.

``You've got to go out and raise some capital before you start that lemonade stand,'' said Jim Charkins, executive director of the California Council on Economic Education and a professor of economics at Cal State San Bernardino. ``If Mom and Dad provide you with the startup capital for free, it's all bunk. You've got to pay them back; otherwise you don't learn about risk.''

With that risk comes the possibility of payoffs - money for the movies or a new outfit, in the kid business world - but also the concept of reasonable economic goals. And, Charkins says, if their economic enterprise doesn't pay off, parents should let kids learn how commerce works in the real world. When Enron flamed out, Ken Lay couldn't have called his dad to ask for a loan. Neither should childhood entrepreneurs.

Most of the lessons don't require much coaching. Once kids get working on their own, they figure out concepts like handling money and supplies soon enough on their own. Without prompting, Hartkop was able to offer a fairly detailed marketing plan that sounded no different from an adult's business.

``People like fresh squeezed lemonade better,'' she said. ``Sometimes we do the powder if we're in a rush, but usually we'll use real lemons. Maybe we'll do pink lemonade next, so we'd have to do powder since there's no such thing as a pink lemon.''

Though simplified into kid terms, that's not that far off from the process juice-makers like Dole and Snapple go through to create their multimillion-dollar-selling beverages. Armed with that, economist Jack Kyser says, they'll be well-served for any career they want to tackle in the future.

``Kids dream about being rock stars, but any exposure to business is good for later in life,'' said Kyser, chief economist of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. ``You learn about product quality - you can't water down the lemonade, you better stick to that cookie recipe and if you're going to mow lawns, don't leave any little strips unmowed or you're not going to get asked to do it again.''

Brent Hopkins, [phone]

brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Kerstyn Yardley, 7, and Alana Hartkop, 9, demonstrate how they serve fresh lemonade from their stand in Simi Valley.

(2 -- 3 -- color) no caption (Kerstyn Yardley and Alana Hartkop)

(4) Kerstyn Yardley, 7, and Alana Hartkop, 9, mind their lemonade stand in Simi Valley.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

Box:

FRESH-SQUEEZED BUSINESS ADVICE