So this is how it starts. \u00a05 flavors,1 carbonating canister,\u00a03 bottles and 117 dollars. \u00a0 It’s the creation of Ryan’s first business venture.<\/p>\n
Ryan’s paper route has earned him a lot more than just his $41 paycheck each month. \u00a0It’s taught him life lessons that only having a job can do. \u00a0Being accountable to a “boss” that’s not your mom, giving customers that extra special service, pounding the pavement for new subscriptions, planning ahead, being prepared, and the latest one…clipping coupons.<\/p>\n
Ryan actually reads the paper he throws on driveways. \u00a0He’ll often come in from the garage saying, “Hey, mom, did you know there was a bomb scare at Sierra College yesterday?<\/em>” \u00a0or\u00a0“Whitney High did a real car crash simulation to show kids about drinking a driving with a funeral and everything.”\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0 That story made quite the impression. \u00a0<\/p>\n And now he’s reading the coupons.<\/p>\n Ryan’s a big fan of taking care of our planet. \u00a0He earns extra money collecting recyclables with Nathan and doesn’t waste anything. \u00a0So when he saw the coupon in the paper that said\u00a0Make soda. \u00a0SAVE MONEY. \u00a0Clean planet.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0he was sold. \u00a0He wanted to do all those things.<\/p>\n The coupon was actually a mail-in rebate worth $20 off the purchase of\u00a0soda stream<\/em>, a home soda maker. \u00a0He figured he could save the planet while making a little extra money by setting up a home-made soda stand. \u00a0(He’s not going to save the planet at home because we don’t drink soda!)<\/p>\n So we went out to Kohls after running his paper route yesterday and bought all the supplies. \u00a0He’s learning things like\u00a0initial investment, recurring expenses, profit,<\/em>\u00a0etc. \u00a0<\/p>\n Before we left for Kohls he spent some time really thinking everything through. \u00a0After all, he was spending his own hard-earned money on this venture. \u00a0When kids pay for their own stuff, it has more meaning. \u00a0 And because he has now sunk a lot of money into this, he really wants it to succeed.<\/p>\n After firing up the carbonater and making his first liter of root beer (it was actually pretty good) he started crunching numbers so that he knew exactly how much it cost him to make one soda. \u00a0Here’s an example: \u00a0the flavors cost him $2.99 each. \u00a0Each one makes 12 liters. \u00a0$2.99 divided by 12 is approximately 25. \u00a0Each liter, therefore, costs 25 cents. \u00a0He’s working on how many “cups” he’ll get out of each liter, then needs to do the same with the carbonation, the cost of the cups and ice. It’s a great math lesson.<\/p>\n He’d have it all figured out but I stopped him at 9:30pm because he hadn’t finished packing for his honor band trip to Disneyland. \u00a0Maybe he’s working on it right now on the double-decker bus. \u00a0Probably not. \u00a0He’s on a double-decker bus with his friends!<\/p>\n His first real test will be the Kids’-Only yard sale coming up next Saturday. After that he plans on having soda stands and selling at the soccer games he refs…when he’s not reffing. \u00a0He wants to donate 10% of his profits to charity. \u00a0I told him I thought that was a great idea.<\/p>\n At some point he’s going to have to square with the fact that selling the soda means he needs to buy cups which means the cups will need to be thrown away…<\/p>\n Ryan has learned a lot having a paper route. \u00a0 And the interesting thing is that working for somebody else has introduced him to the idea of working for himself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" So this is how it starts. \u00a05 flavors,1 carbonating canister,\u00a03 bottles and 117 dollars. \u00a0 It’s the creation of Ryan’s first business venture. Ryan’s paper route has earned him a lot more than just his $41 paycheck each month. \u00a0It’s taught him life lessons that only having a job can do. \u00a0Being accountable to a “boss” that’s not your mom, giving customers that extra special service, pounding the pavement for new subscriptions, planning ahead, being prepared, and the latest one…clipping…<\/p>\n