Could I interest you in a hot little gem?

I've got one that might make a big difference to your business.

It isn't a valuable gemstone, but it is a gem of an idea that may prove to be just as valuable. While I've only recently stumbled on the concept, it turns out I've had this gem in my possession ever since I set up my first lemonade stand as an 8-year-old.

I won't go so far as to say that Everything I Really Needed to Know About Business I Learned While Operating a Lemonade Stand. But that early entrepreneurial experience taught me three simple business functions - gathering, enhancing and marketing - that have remained with me throughout my professional life. Every business success I've enjoyed from that day to this was determined to a great extent by my ability - and the ability of my partners - to manage these three elementary, but very vital, processes.

The first thing we do, regardless of the type of business, is gather. We collect all the raw materials, resources, equipment and personnel we need to build our product or supply our service. The gathering step is found in most cultures and businesses. For a lemonade stand, we gather the raw materials we need: sugar, lemons or lemonade mix, ice, pitcher and water.

We also gather the equipment and resources we'll need for our business: the table, tablecloth and poster board. Finally, we recruit our friends to make up the management team.

Second, we enhance or add value to the resources we have gathered. This is the point at which we create our product or service. In the lemonade business, we mix the ingredients and then chill the lemonade. If we are good at what we do (or sometimes, if we're just plain lucky), we will have added value or enhanced the raw materials. If not, and the lemonade is undrinkable . . . well, maybe we'd ought to find another line of work.

Third, we market the materials that we have gathered and enhanced. We pick out the location for the stand and make posters and signs. As children, we get our friends to stop cars that are speeding by so the passengers will buy lemonade from us. Eventually people stop and we persuade them to buy more than one glass. It's all part of the marketing function that takes place in selling lemonade and almost any other product.

So that's my little business GEM: gather, enhance, market. Let's see if it works in a business more sophisticated than a lemonade stand. How about running a newspaper?

First we gather paper, presses and ink, reporters, artists, printers and press technicians. We find a facility in which to locate the presses and editorial offices, and then we begin gathering news and advertisements.

Next, we enhance what we have gathered as we write the news and design the ads, lay out the paper and print thousands of copies. And finally, we market the paper by selling ads and distributing the news on newsstands and through paper carriers.

See? It works! What a GEM!

Can your business use the GEM idea? Carefully consider your operation relative to these three simple functions. See if you can find ways to be even more effective and efficient in gathering, enhancing and marketing. If you're spending too much time outside these three areas, you might want to consider refocusing. I'm convinced that the closer we manage these functions, the more successful our businesses will be.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a sudden hankering for some lemonade.