6-year-old entrepreneur gaining recognition

Ethan Haney's business is barely a month old, but the Gilbert entrepreneur is already turning a profit, diversifying his product line and looking for other ways to grow his bottom line.

But he still doesn't know what he wants to be when he grows up, which is forgivable considering he's only 6 years old.

The first-grader and owner-operator of Ethan's Lemonade stand, Ethan is becoming somewhat of a minor celebrity in his neighborhood after winning recognition from Inc.com, which is conducting its third annual Best Lemonade Stand in America Contest.

In August, Ethan will compete among other industrious little entrepreneurs for $1,000 in college funds and a portable Nintendo DS game console.

But on Thursday, while showing off his lemonade stand, which features a beach theme with tropical flower stickers and a skimboard, the tyke-tycoon seemed like he was less focused on prizes and accolades and more concentrated on improving his business.

"I don't have a happy hour yet," he said when discussing his future plans.

Ethan said he's earned $150 so far. He said he's saving the money for his and his brother's college education.

Rod Kurtz, senior editor for Inc.com, said many of the entrepreneurs he covers who helm multimillion-dollar companies got their first taste of the business world by running lemonade stands as children.

"I think the most fascinating thing is that so many of them actually are applying real business lessons, even if they don't know it," he said of the kids in the contest. "In one of the entries, the kid, who's probably about 8 years old ... said that one of his brothers was his head of marketing. What they considered marketing is he would run in front of the cars and flag them down."

When asked how long he will be in business at the corner of Waterman Street and Arroyo Lane in his neighborhood, Ethan said "till I get bored."

But for now, he's making too much money to shutter things down.

Ethan's mom, Angela, said she's impressed with his ambition and drive.

He's only allowed to operate the stand when she or his father, Brandon, are able to supervise him. That usually limits his operating hours to weekends, but lucky customers may be able to find his lemonade stand open during the weekday evenings when mom and dad are home, and "if he's up to it," Angela said.

Andrea Lato, whose 3-year-old son, Maddox, is playmates with Ethan, said she's impressed with his elaborate lemonade stand, which he put together with his father.

"He's put so much effort in it that you couldn't resist buying a lemonade from him," she said. "You know he's serious about it and he's working hard. It's a great lesson."