The Mac & Cheese Millionaire

8StartupThe First Wobbly Steps of a Baby Business

“The secret to getting ahead is getting started.”

—Agatha Christie

Looming large over my parents’ front yard is a spectacular Meyer lemon tree. Meyer lemons are a touch sweeter than the Lisbon lemons found in supermarkets, and a ton juicier. Their skin is thin, and when you squeeze them the tart, tangy juice flows out like water from a spigot. As a ten-year-old confronted by a bounty of juicy lemons right in my front yard, I did what any young, entrepreneurial kid would do, and made a lemonade stand. I would wake up early on Sunday mornings, and after filling my head with cartoons I’d run outside to pluck a few low-hanging fruits, squeeze them between my hands into a large pitcher, and dump in generous amounts of sugar and a few splashes of water. I then poured ice out of the freezer into my dad’s bar bucket so the ice wouldn’t dilute the thick lemonade, and hauled my pitcher outside with a handful of flimsy Dixie cups. I charged 25 cents a cup, and proudly earned an average of $3.50 a day to support my weekly Butterfinger habit at the local liquor store.

I really thought I was crushing it at life until my younger brother, Stephen, decided to operate his own lemonade business. Stephen was too little to make homemade lemonade, so he whipped up a batch of Country Time powdered pink lemonade instead. He branded his business “Pick Your Price” lemonade, and offered customers the chance to drink their lemonade first and then ...