School was out for the Summer, the weather more hot than warm,
and eleven year old Ron was working on his business plan,
dotting every “i” and crossing every “t”, no detail missed his scan,
and he had all Summer to take Oak Street by storm.
Ron was an “A” student well ahead of his years,
and he self imposed non-school homework with a trip down the street.
There he watched construction workers swelter in scorching June heat
and was reassured his biz plan was strong, minimizing failure fears.
He craved a shiny new bicycle, to buy with money he’d earn,
and the construction site was only part of his scheme,
though its workers were important others could also fuel his dream.
Ron asked his mom to drive him to the library for a book to learn.
He spent a full day reading about marketing and the like,
learned how to move products by fulfilling the buyer’s need,
about merchandising and about pricing to succeed.
Eager now to get started, his mind’s eye saw that bike.
His dad was a carpenter and built and painted a nice large stand,
mom busied herself making signs to post ’round the neighborhood.
“Ron’s Famous Lemonade” they read, “So Much Better Than Good”,
below that directions you’ll need when thirst takes an upper hand.
Now the family piled in the car for a trip to the grocery store,
buying cases of lemonade mix, pounds of sugar too,
large bright red paper cups, and small ones with a dull grey hue.
Ron read that color influences buyers, a fact he wouldn’t ignore.
Back home they mixed up lemonade, two pitchers just to get going,
then set up the stand at the sidewalk and Ron arranged the cups,
placing six rows of red ones in the front, and the greys with no closeups.
Clearly, his newly learned marketing knowledge was already showing.
Ron priced large lemonades at a dollar and small ones at sixty cents,
again demonstrating marketing prowess by making large the better deal.
Mom took on the chore of posting all the signs and searched for spots ideal,
tacked the first one on the stand, then the construction site quite immense.
The sun was high in a clear blue sky, the temperature over a hundred,
and when all the signs were up a thirsty throng was quick to the stand,
hot and sweaty laborers and every other type, all with cash in hand.
Ron knew they were doing it right, and how he never wondered.
Well, the incredible opening day preceded two months more of the same,
after which the young merchant of Oak Street decided to close shop
to spend all his time riding his shiny new bike, something he didn’t want to stop.
But that daily luxury will soon be lost, when he starts 6th grade to fresh acclaim.
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