To promote youth entrepreneurship, Inc.com, the national small-business and entrepreneurship website and online edition of Inc. magazine, will search the nation for promising "kid-trepreneurs" between the ages of 5 and 12. The editors of Inc.com are asking all promising future Inc. 500-CEOs to submit digital photos of themselves and their lemonade stands along with a short essay describing what it's like to run a really small business. Essays will ask each kid-trepreneur to tell Inc.com about their "business," including what motivated them to go into the lemonade trade, what they named their stands, what products they used in their secret recipe, and how much money they made in a single weekend. Entry forms are available at http://www.bestlemonadestand.com.
Starting July 9, Inc.com will choose a Lemonade Stand of the Week, which will be featured on the contest's homepage. The kid-trepreneur chosen for this honor each week will receive an Inc.com t-shirt.
The contest will run through September and entries must be received by September 3, 2007 in order to qualify for the Grand Prize. Winners will be chosen based upon criteria such as creativity in design of the lemonade stand, interesting story essay, and overall excellence in running the stand. Readers will be able to view all photo and essay submissions and vote for their favorite at
http://www.inc.com/lemonade/2007/recent_entries.html. Inc.com editors will pick the final winner and post online after September 25, 2007.
The Grand Prize winner, awarded to the child with the country's top lemonade stand, will receive a $1,000 college savings bond and super backpack filled with back-to-school supplies. Winner of the "Best Lemonade Stand Design," and "Coolest Lemonade Stand Story," will each be awarded a $500 college savings bond and a super backpack filled with back-to-school supplies. -Inc.com
