Note: A 2022 survey by Junior Achievement USA found that 60% or teens hope to start their own business one day rather than work a traditional job. This week, Southern Indiana Business Report talks with young entrepreneurs who started businesses in high school and highlights state and school programs that are teaching students about business ownership.
Carol Johnson, Southern Indiana Business Report
BEDFORD – Just 17, Carson Boady has become famous for his lemonade shake-ups, selling them at markets, festivals and sporting events in and around Lawrence County.
In just a few years, Boady has grown his business to include two employees and a cadre of students who help out. In 2022, Boady’s Shake-Ups worked 100 events. He does all this while a full-time student, member of Renaissance, manager for boys basketball and baseball, junior class president and student council president.
Boady, a junior at Bedford North Lawrence High School, always dreamed of starting a business, but before he squeezed his first lemon, he was learning the hard lessons of business when his cookie business crumbled.
Boady’s first venture was selling cookies at the Bedford Farmer’s Market in 2020. With help from his dad Duane, he made three varieties.
“We made 500 cookies and I think we sold four,” he said.
Boady was disappointed but he wasn’t deterred.
He adjusted his approach and made fewer cookies but after several Saturdays of low sales, he had to make a change.
His dad, half joking, said, why not make lemon shake-ups.
Boady thought about it and gave it a shot, buying lemons, sugar and cups for a return to the Farmer’s Market with a new product.
Business started out slow, until it got hot.
Suddenly, Boady was busy.
“I was going home with $200 after a couple of hours and I was thrilled with that. I’m a kid who can’t drive and I’ve got $200 and it was super fun,” he recalled.
His first version was a tart lemon shake-up but when he noticed customers didn’t return, he went with a sweeter shake-up, which customers loved.
Once the Farmers Market ended, Boady looked for special events to set up his stand.
In March 2022, he entered the Women’s Expo, nervously paying a $200 entry fee not knowing if his product would sell in March the way it does in July.
He bought 60 lemons for 60 shake-ups and sold out in an hour. A quick trip for more lemons and he sold out again, selling 140 that day. At a spring market at Needmore Elementary School, he sold 190 shakeups.
With his new found success, he hired a few employees, paying them $10 an hour and he added a strawberry option.
Over the summer, business picked up. In addition to selling at the Farmer’s Market, he worked other events. As the demand grew, he formed two teams. In a five-day stretch selling at five events, Boady’s Shake-Ups sold 600 lemonades.
The start of school in August was a big adjustment.
“That first week of school was rough. I still had events to plan, obtain food permits and order lemons and strawberries. It’s a whole lot of little things,” he said.
Still searching for another outlet, he approached BNL Athletic Director Jeff Callahan about setting up a stand at BNL football games. He worked out an arrangement with the BNL Band Boosters, which operate football concessions, and donated 25% of his profits to the band boosters.
He also added middle school football games, offering the same donation to the host school.
His business has donated about $2,000 – $1,100 to the band boosters, and $500 to Riley Hospital for Children during a fundraiser organized by Bedford Walmart. During BNL Homecoming, he sponsored a kickball team, the Boady Shakers.
“I like donating and I like to see small businesses thrive,” he said.
Boady also hopes his business encourages other students to take the leap.
“As a student with a business, I want kids to look at this and say, ‘I can do that.’ Whether it’s mowing lawns or dog sitting.”
Boady, who currently carries a 3.67 GPA and will graduate BNL with 30 college credits through the Indiana College Core, said making money, while nice, is not the goal.
“I have always looked for the opportunity more than the profit. If I’m able to get in and sell, that’s the opportunity I care about,” he said.
One smart cookie
Boady’s time as a cookie baker was short lived, but the lessons endure.
“What I learned was just because you have a product to sell doesn’t mean it’s going to. Before going into that, I made a spreadsheet on the possible earnings, but I never looked at the selling part of it. I learned quickly I needed to set myself apart and create a brand,” he said.
Bright future
This summer, Boady’s Lemon Shakeups will be at three county fairs. He has his first sponsor – Pritchett Bros. – which allowed him to make upgrades to his stand. He hopes to one day buy a food truck and college is also in his plans, as he intends to apply to the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.
Boady’s drive for business is a combination of financial independence – he never wanted to ask his parents Duane and Angela for money – and he just likes to sell things.
He said it was a fundraiser in sixth grade to buy Angel Tree Christmas presents that piqued his interest in sales.
He bought cases of soft drinks and sold them out of his locker for $1 each, raising $150 in two weeks.
“I knew that’s what I wanted to do the rest of my life.”