Literature
Kaleb, the Businessman
July, 2011
One of my favorite mutual projects with Kaleb was baking cookies, and we baked up a batch on almost his every visit. I often bragged about our cookies being so good that we could go into the cookie business. I’m afraid I told him this one time to many, and he called my bluff. He began regularly to ask me if we could set up a lemonade and cookie stand. I always had a good excuse to postpone such a venture with promises that we would do it some later time. In the summer of 2011, he was smart enough to get a commitment out of me to do it the on the next Saturday that he visited me.
I hoped he would forget during the week-not a chance! His first words as he arrived on Friday evening were to ask me if we could do it the next day. I responded with a yes, half hoping that he would sleep late and then forget about it.During the night I began to think about the possibility that such a project wouldn’t be all bad. If he were truly interested, it could be more fun than playing with Legos. This would give us a real project to work on, and we would create something together, even if in the end it turned out to be a flop. Maybe we could spend the whole day working on it, and he would get tired and change his mind after he saw how much work was involved.
So without much dismay on my part I greeted, with a bit more enthusiasm, his earlier-than-normal wakening the next morning and his stream of ideas about what we should do. I was a bit worried that no one would stop and buy cookies and lemonade, so I explained to him that we would have fun building the stand and producing the product, and whether we sold anything or not was irrelevant, trying to prepare him for a possible disappointment. He would have none of that. Of course we will succeed! How could people refuse cookies as good as ours?
I insisted that we do a complete plan and draw it all up on paper before we started to build. Our plan was to be in business by noon. First we had to design and build a stand and signs. We began by designing the signs, which was, for me, possibly the most fun part. Together we worked out the wording after much discussion drew up the plan then transferred it large sheets of watercolor paper. During the preparation, Kaleb informed me that he wanted to donate all the profits to charity.
“Are you absolutely sure you want to donate the profits to charity, Kaleb?” I queried.
“Yes, I am absolutely sure.”
“Okay, then we’ll put that on the sign. It may help us sell more,” I replied.
“Yes!” was his enthusiastic response.
We discussed the pricing, the costs, and ultimately came up with what we thought would optimize sales. As it came together he became more and more excited, especially when he saw his name unfold on the signs. It seemed that the signs passed far beyond his expectations.“Grand Daddy, you are the best artist in the whole world,” he told me excitedly-several times as the signs evolved.
The signs and the stand were complete by 10 AM. We were falling a little behind schedule, which was okay by me, since that meant less time for me sitting in the front yard making a fool of myself. We made a list of what we needed, hopped in the car and off to Ralphs to do our shopping. We picked out lemons and two kinds of cookie mix, and then quickly returned home. We made some rules about sanitation, washed our hands, squeezed lemons, baked cookies, and set the stand in place in the front yard by about 12:30 PM.
Kaleb preparing cookie dough. We started off with two dozen cookies, oatmeal- walnut-raisin, and chocolate chip.
Kaleb and Grand Dad’s Cookie and Lemonade Stand. One customer asked which one of us was Kaleb.
Our first customer, a city construction worker, showed up within minutes and bought two cookies and two lemonades. I poured the lemonade as Kaleb, using tongs so as not to touch the merchandise, carefully placed two cookies on a paper plate and handed it to the customer, who then handed Kaleb two dollars and told him to keep the change. Kaleb thanked him and told him to enjoy and have a nice day. I almost dropped my teeth at what I had seen. Kaleb’s interaction with customers was that of a seasoned professional! He made sure the customers had an impression of cleanliness, kept everything covered, collected money, made change, and even did some curbside service.
Our First customer
My only problem was that he wouldn't even give me a discount when I wanted a glass of lemonade for myself. :) But, then, I guess that is just good business not to drink up the profits.
By 1:30 we had sold out our first batch of cookies and Kaleb took over the stand while I went to produce another batch. By the time I arrived with a second steaming batch of cookies, Kaleb had a line of customers waiting. We poured the last of the lemonade, and I went for another batch. Arriving with the second jug of lemonade I was greeted with a table in need of more cookies. Opps! I was out of eggs. I borrowed an egg from our next door neighbor, Duke, who by this time was all excited about our business. No sooner than I put out the next batch, we had a line and had to ration the remaining cookies. By this time, to my great surprise, we had taken in almost $40. (Most people gave him sizable tips.)
Being out of product, Kaleb began to strategize how we could continue. Fortunately, he was okay with shutting down for the day, and we discussed how we would distribute the profits. We took out enough to buy supplies for the next time and set out to Ralphs where we had seen a person from the Salvation Army collecting money for the homeless. The Salvation Army man was no longer there. As we exited the parking lot, we passed a homeless man standing on the corner near Ralphs. The guy really looked like a needy, deserving person, and Kaleb suggested we go straight to the source and give it to him. So we did.
Kaleb and I had successfully completed our first business partnership.
Kaleb helps a homeless person.