Lemonade Freedom Day Is Tomorrow

Tomorrow, parents and children across the country will set up lemonade stands in their neighborhoods. More info here. And they’re going to do it without getting licensed, inspected, poked, and prodded by regulators. But not everyone is happy about it. Esther Cepeda writes:

By all means, let’s celebrate Lemonade Freedom Day — make it a teaching moment. Those who actually care about preparing the next generation to become profitable businesspeople should take their favorite youngster down to city hall to jump through the necessary hoops and learn what it really takes to become a successful entrepreneur.

Sounds more likely to discourage than encourage young entrepreneurs.

Still not a bad idea, though. A trip to city hall would be an excellent way to teach the young ones about opportunity costs. Show them the forms they have to fill out. The licenses they have to apply for. How long permits take to process. Take them to the store and show them how long it takes to buy and install a handwashing station; many towns require lemonade stands to have at least one.

Then tell them they could have spent all that time actually selling lemonade.