Lots of American children set up lemonade stands, but not many establish a payroll.  

Starting from the summer when she was 8 years old, Lauren Maillian launched a lemonade stand at the corner of Madison Avenue and 96th Street in Manhattan, in front of Jerome Florists, a shop that is still there today. Quickly realizing that it was too hot to stand out in the sun, she convinced the mom-and-pop shop owners to “lease” her a space under their awning for $50 a week—which she could afford because she was regularly pulling in $300 a summer day in lemonade sales.

“Before I celebrated my 10th birthday, I had my first taste of entrepreneurial success—the rush of accomplishment and independence that comes along with starting a business and making real money,” she wrote in her 2014 book The Path Redefined: Getting to the Top on Your Own Terms.

– Worth