A hot summer day isn't stopping a certain pint-size Franklin entrepreneur from running his lemonade stand.
The person behind Chase Lemonade? An 8-year-old. And like most kids, he likes to have fun - but only on breaks.
"Let's get back to work! We're on the ball!"
The lemonade stand began two years ago, but Chase has always had the mind of a businessman.
"Chase was about two and a half, three years old. He asked Santa Clause for a rental property," explained Chase's mother Andrea LaFleur. "We didn't have the resources at the time to get him a rental property, but we gave him an idea on how he can make his own money and establish his rental properties."
Now, his lemonade stand has expanded beyond his neighborhood. While school was out because of the pandemic, Chase had more time on his hands to focus on his business.
"It's been hard," he said. "It's not fun to be staying inside, because you won't have nothing to do."
With a high demand, he's now serving gallons of his family's secret recipe to others. LaFleur said they've had customers from New Iberia, Lafayette, even as far as Houston.
A big business for an 8-year-old with an even bigger heart. With some of the money he earns, he gives away gift cards to children, free lemonade, and he's on his way to creating a non-profit to continue helping those in need.
"We just hope that Chase can be a role model to anybody who has doubts that they can't make it or succeed in life. We just took simple lemonade and turned it into something bigger," LaFleur said. "Get the value of community, family. Everybody is helping everybody."
Chase's grandpa agrees.
"It's a wonderful thing, because at this day in time we need to show our youth how to take care of themselves and if they want something, they work for it. That's the teaching."
These are lessons Chase is continuing to learn.
"Man don't work, a man don't eat!" he said.
And he has some advice for others during this pandemic.
"Stay safe, wash your hands, and you'll be good. You'll be Gucci, man!"
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