Business Overview:

If your child loves making cookies, brownies or muffins, helping him or her start a children’s baking business is a fun way to teach valuable business skills. All children enjoy helping mom in the kitchen and older children can even do most of the work on their own. Teenagers can make baked goods from start to finish without parents’ help at all. Selling baked goods is the perfect first business idea for a budding epicurean and entrepreneur. Your child can set up a table in the front of your house or in a more crowded location like a neighborhood garage sale or park. A large sign and some balloons will help draw attention to the delicious treats. Your child may want to build their business even more quickly and go door-to-door selling their goods. Be sure to have an adult or teen accompany the younger child on this part of the business venture. Have your child concentrate on one item they make particularly well at first like chocolate chip cookies or pumpkin bread. Then, as their skills progress, they can add more items to the menu – muffins, brownies, lemon bars, etc. Maybe they will find that one item sells better than the others and they can make more of that item. This will teach the concept of supply and demand. Youngsters will also learn how to work with money and the importance of good manners and customer service. Baked treats are always a big draw and starting a children’s baking business is a good way to spend time with your children while they learn skills that will last a lifetime.

A Day in the Life of a Children’s Baking Business Owner:

Your child’s day will begin by baking treats they will sell that day. Once the baked items are ready, you will help your child set up the table and chairs and arrange the cookies, brownies, muffins, etc. in an attractive display. You will help your child throughout the day as he or she deals with customers, makes change and restocks the display table. At the end of the day, you and your child will put away the table and any leftover treats and head home.

About Your Customers:

Your customers will be adults and children hungry for delicious baked goods.

What You Need to Start:

• Delicious baked treats
• Table and two chairs (for child and parent)
• Sign and balloons
• Dollar bills and change
• Transportation if location is away from home

The Good:

• Demand for baked goods is always high.
• Children can learn about profit since they’ll be able to sell baked goods for more than the cost of the ingredients.
• Selling baked goods is an excellent way to teach customer service to youngsters.
• This business can be set up again and again throughout a slow summer.
• It’s a good opportunity to spend time with your children while they learn.

The Bad:

• Young children will need a lot of help doing the baking.
• Without a lot of traffic, it will be difficult to sell your goods.

Resources:

• American Bakers Association
• Retail Bakers of America
• Wikipedia on Baking and Baked Goods

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Business Overview:

If you live in a particularly snowy region and are looking for a great small business opportunity, you should find out how to run a teen snow removal business. If you’ve ever been snowed in, you can appreciate the value of a snow shovel and some old fashioned muscle. Starting a snow removal business can include shoveling driveways and sidewalks as well as removing snow from vehicles and roofs. Since all you will need are a few inexpensive tools (shovel, scraper, ladder), the startup costs for this business idea are low. You can run the business before and after school as well as on the weekends. Homeowners will pay you quite well to perform this service. Before bad weather hits is when you want to get your business name out there and distribute fliers and business cards. Once people are in need of your services, they must have your name and number handy so they can get in touch with you quickly. Keep an eye on the weather and if a big storm is coming, start blanketing your area with your business contact information. You can even hire other teens to assist you if demand gets very high. Obviously the demand for snow removal is dependent on the weather so you may not need a full staff all the time. Flexibility will be required on your part and that of any staff you want to employ since demand will not be constant throughout the season. However, if your services are top notch and word spreads though the community, your business could be very busy during the winter months.

A Day in the Life of a Teen Snow Removal Business Owner:

When snow is on the ground, your day will begin by checking to see what appointments you have scheduled. You will pack up your gear and get to your first client’s house and take care of their snow situation. If you have several clients in need of snow removal, you will coordinate with your teen crew to assign them their jobs. If there is no snow to remove, you will spend your day distributing marketing materials and spreading the word about your business.

About Your Customers:

Your customers will be homeowners in need of speedy, high quality snow removal of their sidewalks, driveways, vehicles or roofs.

What You Need to Start:

• Marketing materials
• Equipment (shovels, scrapers, ladder)
• Transportation
• Price list
• Staff (if needed)

The Good:

• This service is in high demand in particularly snowy regions.
• Owning your own small business looks great on college applications.
• Startup costs for this business are low.
• Homeowners will pay top dollar for high quality snow removal.
• You can hire a team to work for you and concentrate on marketing and managing your business.

The Bad:

• This business is seasonal; demand will vary even in winter months.
• You may have some early mornings in order to clear snow before clients go to work and you go to school.

Resources:

• Snow and Ice Management Association
• Small Business Association Teen Business Link
• Wikipedia on Snow Removal

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Business Overview:

If you want to teach your child valuable skills and responsibility, you and your child should learn how to start a children’s street flower vendor business. Not only will your child learn how to work with money and make change, they’ll learn the importance of good manners in customer service. The most important aspects of making this business idea a success are having attractive flowers and an excellent location. You’ll want to set up your child’s stand in an area that gets a lot of foot traffic and auto traffic. Husbands on their way home from work will be good customers as well as women passing by wanting flowers to spruce up their homes. Flowers are often an impulse purchase so having a nice-looking, easy-to-see table with beautiful flowers displayed will go a long way to attracting customers. If your budding entrepreneur is old enough, you may decide to set up his or her flower table near (or as part of) a neighborhood garage sale or sporting event. As long as you buy high quality flowers and arrange and bunch them with your child, you’ll be able to mark up the prices enough to teach your child about profit. Helping your child start a children’s street flower vendor business will also be a good way to spend time together while teaching basic business principles.

A Day in the Life of a Children’s Street Flower Vendor Business Owner:

Your child’s day will begin by deciding on a location for the flower table. You will then transport and set up your table, signs and flowers. You will arrange your flowers attractively and wait for your customers. You and your child will spend your day interacting with customers and selling your flowers. At the end of the day you will pack up your supplies and head home.

About Your Customers:

Your customers will be individuals wanting beautiful flowers at an attractive price. They will likely be passing by (on foot or in their vehicles), see your child’s table and decide they must have some fresh flowers to take home.

What You Need to Start:

• Fresh flowers
• Rubber bands and plastic flower wrap
• Vases or buckets to keep flowers in water
• Table and chairs (for parent and child)
• Signs
• Dollar bills and change

The Good:

• A flower business is the ideal first business for a budding entrepreneur.
• It teaches fundamental principles that children will need throughout life.
• It’s a good opportunity to show children the importance of good manners and customer service when dealing with adults.
• It’s a fun way to spend time with family and neighbors.
• It’s rewarding to make customers happy.

The Bad:

• This is a seasonal business that will be more successful when the weather is nice; people won’t stop in the rain or cold.
• You’ll need to learn the exact amount of flowers to purchase so that you don’t end up with a surplus that wilts before you can sell them.

Resources:

• Retail Florist Association
• American Floral Industry Association
• Wikipedia on Flower Sellers

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Business Overview:

Helping your child learn how to start a children’s entertainment business is the perfect way to teach a sociable youngster some valuable business basics. If your children love to play dress up, put on plays for the family or enjoy playing in makeup, finding a way to focus these interests into a first business will help them have fun and make a little money for their piggy banks. For children who enjoy performing, putting on a puppet show for neighborhood kids can be as easy as making a stage out of a cardboard box, puppets from some socks and fabric scraps and putting up a few signs advertising their next show. They can make up their own story or find one from a book. Performances can be done at the library or in the front yard. This is a good business venture for two or more children since one will need to help with the audience (seating, taking admission, etc.) and the other(s) will perform the show. Another entertainment idea that’s great for older children is dressing up as a clown for parties. A lot of young kids are afraid of adult clowns so a kid-sized clown may be more acceptable. Costumes can be made of mismatched clothing and makeup can be purchased for a few dollars. Aspiring clowns can leave fliers at the library, local party supply store and other places parents of young children gather. A final entertainment idea that’s ideal for an artistic child is face painting. All you’ll need to help your child set up is a table, two chairs and a sign. Your child could set up his or her table at the park, playground or another area with lots of kids and offer a few standard faces for set prices. Any of these business ideas will be fun for your children while teaching them how to interact with others, count money and organize a small business.

A Day in the Life of a Children’s Entertainment Business Owner:

Your child’s day will vary depending on what type of business he/she is starting. If your child is performing a puppet show, you will help your performer set up the stage and arrange any seating that might be necessary (chairs for inside, blankets for outside). Party clowns will need to get dressed in costume and makeup and can either ride a bike to the client’s party venue or you can drive him. A face painting child will set up her table in the desired location and spend her day talking to kids and painting faces. At the end of the day, you will need to help your child pack up the equipment and head home.

About Your Customers:

Your child’s customers will be young children who like puppet shows, clowns or painted faces. In the case of party clown, the customer will likely be the parents of the birthday boy or girl.

What You Need to Start:

• Puppet Show – stage, puppets, story, seating, change for admission
• Party Clown – costume, makeup, transportation to/from parties
• Face Painting – table, two chairs, face paints, change for payments

The Good:

• Entertainment businesses are the perfect outlet for sociable children.
• These businesses are fun and teach valuable principles.
• Children will learn how to organize, plan, promote and execute a small business.
• Children will learn important customer service skills.
• These businesses can be done over and over, perfect for a slow summer.

The Bad:

• Parents will need to be involved a lot in the beginning (building sets, buying materials, etc.)
• It can be difficult to get a child to concentrate on one task for an extended period of time.

Resources:

• Children’s Entertainment Association
• Puppeteers of America
• World Clown Association
• Face Painting and Body Art Association

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Business Overview:

If you’ve spent your pre-teen years mowing lawns and pulling weeds for your parents and neighbors, you should consider running a teen lawn care business. Starting your own business means you could continue to service the lawns on your block and you could branch out and hire other teens to mow and groom lawns in the whole neighborhood. Mowing lawns, raking leaves and weeding gardens are chores that most homeowners would gladly pay someone else to do. If your lawn care services are high quality and your prices are reasonable, demand for your services could quickly increase to the point where you would need to concentrate only on managing your team and marketing your business. In the beginning, however, this business idea will only be successful if you distribute fliers around the neighborhood (telephone poles, doorknobs, etc.) and have your friends and family spread the word about your new business. You will likely be doing most of the work yourself at first so it’s important to prioritize your new business with any other obligations you have (school work, sports, etc.). However, once demand increases, you can step back from the hard work and concentrate on the business. Owning your own teen lawn care business can teach you valuable skills that will translate into life skills as you get older.

A Day in the Life of a Teen Lawn Care Business Owner:

Your day will begin with a check of your appointments to see what lawns need to be serviced that day. You will load up your equipment (if using your own equipment) and head over to the job site. If you have a team of teens working for you, you will coordinate assignments with them and check in with them afterward to ensure the job was done properly. You will also check in periodically with your customers to see if the current level of service is satisfactory. Between jobs, you will spend some time distributing marketing materials around town.

About Your Customers:

Your customers will be homeowners in need of high quality, reasonably priced lawn care services.

What You Need to Start:

• Marketing materials
• Lawn mower, rakes, garden gloves, etc. (You may be able to use some of your clients’ equipment, especially mowers)
• Transportation
• Lawn care staff (if desired)

The Good:

• Running your own business teaches valuable business skills.
• Owning your own business looks great on college applications.
• Start-up costs are minimal and you can charge enough for lawn care services to make a healthy profit.
• As demand for your services increases, you can hire a staff of teens to do the work for you.
• The majority of your customers will be repeat customers who will pay you regularly to care for their lawns and gardens.
• Working at a job that keeps you physically active is a great way to stay healthy.

The Bad:

• Lawn care is a seasonal business in some locations.
• The hours may be long and the conditions may be very hot.

Resources:

• Professional Landcare Network
• Bureau of Labor Statistics on Grounds Maintenance Workers
• Small Business Administration Teen Business Link
• Wikipedia on Lawns and Lawn Care

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Business Overview:

If you’re an excellent student who’s looking for a way to put your smarts to use in your very own small business, you should start a tutoring by teens business. Many parents today are vigilant about their children’s grades and hiring a teenage tutor would be a wonderful option. Your teen tutor business would cater to younger children in elementary school and middle school, helping them raise their grades in basic studies like math, history and English. Depending on your high school curriculum, you may even be able to earn course credit for tutoring children. But even if you don’t earn credit, owning and operating a tutoring business will look wonderful on your college applications and your resume. You would likely set up your tutoring appointments in the afternoons so as not to interfere with your clients’ dinner and bedtime schedule. You may have some weekend appointments as well. This business idea requires in-person communication so you’ll meet your clients either at their homes or at their schools (if their schools offer after-school programs). Therefore, you will need some form of transportation. If you’re not old enough to drive, you can always ride your bike to your appointments. As you market your business around town and your schedule fills up, you will probably need to hire teen tutors to work for you. At that point, you can either continue tutoring your clients or hand them off to one of your capable tutors and concentrate on marketing and managing your business.

A Day in the Life of a Teen Tutoring Business Owner:

Your day will begin with a check of your schedule to see what appointments you have after your school day ends. You will travel to meet your clients either at their homes or schools and tutor them in various subjects. You will also meet with parents from time to time to discuss their children’s progress. If your schedule allows, you will spend some time marketing your business around town with fliers and business cards. You will also talk to counselors at local elementary and middle schools, asking them to refer students to you. If you have a team of teen tutors working for you, you will need to coordinate assignments with them and check with them after their appointments to check the students’ progress.

About Your Customers:

Your customers will be elementary and middle school students who need help with various school subjects. You will also be working with students’ parents to discuss students’ progress and arrange payment.

What You Need to Start:

• Marketing materials
• A pricing plan
• A computer
• Transportation
• A knack for teaching young children

The Good:

• It is rewarding to help children learn.
• Owning a business looks great on college applications.
• You can easily run this business in the evenings and on weekends.
• This is a great way to stay in the loop on new curriculum in the elementary and middle schools.
• Start-up costs are minimal and you can charge top dollar for high quality tutoring services.

The Bad:

• Some students and parents will be difficult to work with.
• You must manage your time effectively to leave room for your own school work and extracurricular activities.

Resources:

• National Tutoring Association
• American Tutoring Association
• The Association for the Tutoring Profession
• Wikipedia on Tutoring

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Business Overview:

Attention pet-loving teens: you can gain valuable business experience while playing with cuddly cats and canines by starting a teen pet care service. Pet owners spend billions of dollars on their furry friends each year and with today’s busy schedules, more and more people are wanting to outsource some aspects of their pets’ care to trustworthy teens. A business offering services such as bathing, walking and pet sitting is the perfect way to learn valuable business skills while earning some extra money. But before you get started with this business idea, you need to think about what types of services you will offer. If you plan to market your services outside of your neighborhood, you will need some form of transportation to get to your clients’ homes. If you will offer pet bathing services, make sure you have a good place to do that, whether it’s in your bathtub or in your back yard. If you’re not old enough to drive, you may need to enlist the help of your parents when it comes time to pick-up or deliver your “clients.” Pet sitting is a great service for older teens to offer since you’ll be alone in someone’s house and will need to be responsible enough to care for the home as well as the pets. Marketing your new business will be important, especially at the beginning, so make some fliers to post around the neighborhood. You may even want to distribute business cards at dog parks and in local pet shops. Soon your business will take off and you may need to hire more teen pet care professionals to help you keep up with demand.

A Day in the Life of a Teen’s Pet Care Business Owner:

Your day will begin with a check of your appointments to see which clients you will need to visit and what services you will be offering. You will need to check your bathing supplies if you have a bath on the schedule, check in with your parents if you’ll be out on a pet sitting gig, etc. If you have a pet care staff working for you, you will coordinate assignments with them and check in with customers to ensure they are pleased with the work done. You will spend some time distributing marketing materials around town and telling everyone you run into about your new business.

About Your Customers:

Your customers will be pet owners who need help with various aspects of pet care such as bathing, walking or pet sitting.

What You Need to Start:

• Marketing materials
• Love for and patience with other people’s pets
• Transportation (if offering pick-up and delivery services out of your immediate area)
• Bathing and grooming supplies (shampoos, brushes, nail clippers, towels, etc.)

The Good:

• For a pet lover, this is a great way to do what you love while learning valuable business skills.
• Owning your own business looks great on college applications.
• This business will teach you how to manage money and learn responsibility.
• You can easily run this business on the weekends.
• You can choose to hire other teen pet care workers and concentrate on marketing and management of your business.

The Bad:

• Animals can be difficult to handle.
• Some pet owners may be very particular about the way they want their pets to be cared for.

Resources:

• Pet Care Services Association
• National Association of Professional Pet Sitters
• National Association of Dog Walkers
• Bureau of Labor Statistics on Animal Care and Service Workers
• Small Business Association Teen Business Link

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Business Overview:

If you want to teach your children the basics of entrepreneurship, customer service and marketing, you should help them learn how to start a lemonade stand. A lemonade stand business is the perfect way to introduce your child to the business world and teach principles like making change, supply and demand and the importance of choosing just the right location. You will need to discuss with your youngster how to set up a lemonade stand and make a list of everything you’ll need including signs, balloons, cups, ice, lemonade, etc. You might also consider adding other items to your menu like cookies or muffins. Stress the importance of making the signs large and easy to read so they will attract both foot traffic and auto traffic. If your house isn’t in a high traffic area, you should find a location such as a street corner where more people will see your child’s stand. You may even be able to partner with a neighborhood garage sale or sporting event to really increase visibility. Explain to your child that when you are learning how to run a lemonade stand, it’s important to set your business apart from the competition. You can do this by offering organic or flavored lemonade. If you have a snow cone machine, you could also offer lemon snow cones. The final thing that will make this business idea a success is customer service. Make it clear to your budding businessman (or businesswoman) that a simple “thank you” and a smile will go a long way in making customers happy and making a healthy profit.

A Day in the Life of a Lemonade Stand Business Owner:

You and your child will start your day deciding where to set up your stand. If it’s not within walking distance, you’ll need to put your materials in your vehicle and drive to the location. You will set up the stand, put up signs and balloons, and get the lemonade (and other items if you choose to sell them) out and open for business. You will spend your day helping your youngster make change and serve customers. At the end of the day you will help count profits, pack up and head home.

About Your Customers:

Your customers will be thirsty drivers or passersby looking for a refreshing glass of lemonade and perhaps a snack.

What You Need to Start:

• Delicious lemonade
• Pitcher, cups, ice
• Other snack items like cookies (if you choose to offer them)
• Table and chairs (for parent and child)
• Signs
• Balloons (optional)
• Marketing materials (optional)
• Dollar bills and change for making change

The Good:

• A lemonade stand is the perfect first business for a budding entrepreneur.
• It teaches basic principles that youngsters will need throughout life.
• It’s a good opportunity to expose children to dealing with adults in an “official” capacity.
• It’s a fun way to spend time with family and neighbors.
• It’s rewarding to please your customers.

The Bad:

• This is a seasonal business that won’t do well unless the weather is warm.
• It can be difficult to get a youngster to focus on one activity for an extended period of time.

Resources:

• Wikipedia on Lemonade Stands

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Business Overview:

If you’re a golf-loving teen who enjoys the outdoors and you’re looking for a small business idea, you should look into how to start a teen caddy business. A caddy typically carries the golfer’s clubs, hands out clubs and puts them away, cleans golf balls, helps the golfer find errant shots and does anything else the golfer may need. Once you’ve learned how to become a caddy, you might also replace divots, pull the pin for putts and calculate the distance to the hole. The level of service you provide will determine the amount you charge. Since you will be an independent business, not affiliated with a particular golf course, it’s important that you clear your services with each course at which you will be caddying to ensure you aren’t breaking any course rules since many courses employ caddies. Once your business is up and running, you will likely want to hire other teens to be caddies in order to handle the demand. You may even talk to local golf courses to see if you can contract your business services directly with the course and be paid by the course and not the individual golfers. In this case, not only would you and your caddies earn money from the course but you would also earn tips from the golfers each time you caddied a round. As your team’s skills increase, you can raise your rates. Increased skills will turn into increased demand in the golf community. Soon your caddy business will be the talk of the town and you’ll need to keep hiring new caddies to keep up with demand.

A Day in the Life of a Teen Caddy Business Owner:

Your day will begin with a check of your schedule to see what caddy appointments you have. If you have a staff working for you, you will coordinate client assignments with them. If you don’t have any appointments of your own, you will spend your day distributing marketing materials to local golf supply stores, fitness centers, and golf courses that allow outside caddies to help course golfers.

About Your Customers:

Your customers will be golfers in need of excellent caddy services. Your customers might also include golf courses if you are able to contract your business services directly with them.

What You Need to Start:

• Excellent customer service skills
• Moderate to high level of golf knowledge
• Marketing materials
• Transportation

The Good:

• If you are interested in golf, this business is a great way to gain more experience.
• Owning a small business looks really good on college applications.
• The startup capital needed for this business is very low.
• You can charge top dollar for high quality caddy services.
• Working within the golf community is a wonderful networking opportunity.

The Bad:

• Golf is seasonal so you would only be able to operate this business during certain times of the year depending on where you live.
• Since golf is strictly an outdoor sport you may have days of working in intense sun and heat.

Resources:

• Professional Caddies Association
• Small Business Administration Teen Business Link
• PGA Junior
• Wikipedia on Caddies

Technorati Tags: how to become a caddy, how to start a teen caddy business

Business Overview:

If you’re an entrepreneurial teen who is a computer whiz, starting a teen computer services business is a great way to start out in the business world. Maybe you’re a high school student looking for a way to turn your computer skills into a small business and make a little spare money. The scope of this business can focus on whatever area you are especially good at. Your business can offer virus removal services, wireless network assistance, general computer training, or any other aspect of computer services that customers might need. You can offer in-home help to individuals in the area in which you live or you can turn this into an online business idea and offer services via email, Skype or IM. Many elderly folks desire to learn more about computer but they need someone to guide them through the steps the first time. The most important aspect of this business, at least in the beginning, is marketing. Posting fliers around the neighborhood, in computer stores and in local high schools and colleges would be a good start. Distributing business cards to friends, family, teachers, senior day centers and church members would also help to spread the word about your new business. This business idea will not only help you learn important business skills but it will help the community gain important computer skills.

A Day in the Life of a Teen Computer Services Business Owner:

You will begin your day with a check of your email to see if any new (or repeat) customers need assistance. You will schedule appointments and visit clients (if offering services locally). If offering online services, then you will coordinate appointments online and communicate with customers via Skype or IM. If it’s not a particularly busy day, you will spend some time distributing marketing materials around town.

About Your Customers:

Your customers will be adults, other teens and even younger children who need help with various aspects of computer training.

What You Need to Start:

• Excellent computer skills
• Marketing materials
• Transportation (if offering in-home services)
• High-speed internet connection
• A knack for teaching others about computers

The Good:

• For the computer whiz, this business is the perfect way to turn those skills into a small business.
• Owning a small business looks great on college applications.
• If this business does really well, you can hire other computer experts to work for you.
• This business requires little to no startup capital and you can charge top dollar for high quality computer training.
• This business is a good way to stay on top of the latest computer programs and systems.

The Bad:

• You will need to have excellent time management skills to run this business successfully; maintaining school grades and other extracurricular activities needs to be properly prioritized.
• You may find some customers are very difficult to teach and it may require a great deal of patience.

Resources:

• International Association of Information Technology Trainers
• Computing Technology Industry Association
• Small Business Administration Teen Business Link
• Wikipedia on Information Technology Consulting

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