Today we’d like to introduce you to Lyla Jones.
Hi Lyla, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I wanted to make some money to redecorate my room. My mom showed me a video of an older girl on TikTok who started a lemonade business to earn money for college, and it looked like something I would love because sweet and sour flavors are my favorite. Plus, the setup was simple enough for a kid to do, and it was unique because of the specialty flavors we develop. My parents agreed to pay for some basic lemonade supplies, and after my first event, I paid them back. My mom is in marketing, so she helped me come up with a really cute logo and branding. I think the bright colors help us stand out. After each of my first few events, I put all of the money back into my business. I was able to pay for a lot of upgraded equipment, which made making the fresh lemonades a lot faster and easier. People really seem to love that this is owned and run by a kid, which makes me very proud because there is so much work that I put into my business.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been pretty smooth, but of course I have learned a lot in the first year. There are a lot of rules for owning your own business, especially when you are serving people food or drinks. I spent several hours taking the ServSafe courses to get my certification. Plus, I learned that every county has their own vendor set up rules, so we have to pay attention to these and make sure we are following them at all times.
Also, it took awhile to find reliable brands to buy our supplies from, such as the containers we use to make and serve the lemonades in. There were a few times we tried a different supplier, but the cups would crack or leak while we were making the drinks. This happened with a few different items, but luckily we found reliable ones.
But, I think the biggest thing I learned in our first year is how to organize the system to make sure we are as efficient as possible. Sip! can get pretty big lines, so figuring this out meant we can serve more people and make less mistakes.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a kid! That is what sets me apart the most. I was only 8 years old when I started Sip! in 2024, and now I’m almost 10. The idea of fresh lemonade isn’t necessarily groundbreaking. I’ve seen other vendors out there, but I put a lot of effort into creating really special flavors for our customers that change every season. We take a lot of time to test the flavors out with come of our customers before we put them on the menu, and I get inspiration for them all over the place. For example, Sip! was hired to serve lemonade at a local Hawaiian BBQ restaurant’s grand opening. So, I created a special menu for that event that only had flavors you would find in Hawaiian culture such as Lychee, Passionfruit, and Guava.
In the Summer, I create bright, fresh flavors that make people think of vacation like blue raspberry and coconut, but then at the end of our season, we use a lot of deeper flavors like pomegranate and orange, cherry and cranberry. I even get inspiration from the local culture — our most popular flavor is called ATLien, which was inspired by Outkast.
What were you like growing up?
I’m definitely still growing up, but I’ve never really been the kid who likes to play to with toys and dolls. I’d much rather have something to keep me entertained and earn money at the same time. I also like to be creative, but using that to start a business just seems more interesting than like…coloring. People tell me I am very logical and I’m also able to focus for a long time on something that requires a lot of detail.
I’m also pretty shy, but now being the owner of Sip! for over a year and having to talk to customers all of the time, I’ve gotten better at creating conversations and pushing through my shyness. I have to because I really want to have great customer service.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/sip_specialty_lemonade
- Other: siplemonadega@gmail.com
