(Source: Blackbusiness.com)
Micah Harrigan, a 10-year old entrepreneur from Philadelphia who started selling lemonade on the sidewalk last summer, is ready to upgrade his business. In fact, he just purchased a school bus that he plans to convert into a food truck.
Micah, a 5th-grade honor student, thought of the lemonade business idea last winter. Since it wasn’t ideal at that time, he was only able to work it out last March before the stay-at-home orders were executed.
He started packaging the lemonade and iced tea in bottles and bags but it wasn’t cost-effective. Three months after, he discovered 16-ounce clear plastic cups with lids and used those to pack lemonade he sold at his sidewalk stand. On the first day, his company, Micah’s Mixx, instantly sold out.
With the help of social media promotion from Micah himself and other people who shared his story, his sales continued to increase. He eventually began doing pop-up events and sold more than 1,500 bottles. He saved up from his profits and also received donations in cash and in-kind from people who believed in him.
His mother, Danielle, first thought of purchasing a trailer to attach to her car but realized that it wouldn’t be easy to drive that in the city. That’s when they began searching for mini school buses online. Eventually, they found and purchased a yellow minibus for $4,000 that was previously owned by a private school.
Now, they have started a GoFundMe page to help raise the funds needed to convert the bus into a food truck with counters and refrigeration, which would cost around $10,000. So far, they have raised over $1,700 of their goal.
Once Micah is able to officially launch his lemonade food truck business, he says that he hopes to sell more bottles of lemonade to pay his mother back and give away free lemonade to the homeless people who live in his city as well.
For more details about Micah and his journey, follow him on Instagram @micahsmixx.
