STARTING YOUR OWN SUMMER BUSINESS

Every summer thousands of pre-teens and teens launch businesses.  Sometimes it’s because they are entrepreneurs and want to try self-employment while they have the safety net of living at home.  Other times, teens start a business because they can’t find someone to hire them.  Whatever the motivation, if there are services you love to do or products you want to create and sell, summer is a great time to create your own job.

For parents...For ideas on what you can do, and reminders of what you shouldn't do, to help your teens create or find jobs, please see this websites Parent/Teacher tab

Below are few guidelines and a list of businesses that a teen could start.  Please feel free to post your own ideas or questions about starting a business through the Comments link at the end of the article.

1. People will pay for services that save them money, save them time, entertain them or help take care of their children.  With a friend or parent, walk your neighborhood – Who lives there? What are the ages of the families?  What are their needs?  What do you see that needs doing?
2. Give good value for what you charge and know what you are doing if you want word of mouth advertising and recommendations.  For example, do you know that to avoid making streaks, a car must be washed in shade, in the early morning or evening, so that the metal isn’t hot?  Try out everything you hope to do on family or friends before you do it for paying customers.
3. Brainstorming - working out of the vacuum of our own minds can be so limiting.  Figuring out a summer business can be a great time to learn the value of brainstorming with other people.  In addition to friends, family and extended family,  get together with some older folks who lived through the Great Depression and hear what kinds of things they did to make money when times were tough.
4. Any project is more fun with friends.  If you have friends who want to start other business or who all want to work on yours, get them together to share information, create time-line to get business going quickly, brainstorm possible obstacles and keep each other on track.  Through your group, find a successful self-employed adult for a mentor. 
   
5. To help meet the needs in your neighborhood, you may need to create a job or business that doesn’t help you explore careers, fields or work that interests you.  But, first try to start business that lets you explore some part of your career interests.  This summer, you may be able to make some money and career decisions too.

 Business Ideas for youth, teens and young adults too:

Making jewelry

Reverse mentoring:  be an MP3 guru for an adult or teach then how to create a blog

Stage block garage or rummage sales

Face painter

Word processing service

Silkscreen service

Sign painter

Grocery delivery service

House cleaning service

Laundry service

Dog sitting or walking service

Pet sitting service

Baby-sitting service

House sitting service

Tutoring service

Hauling service

Telephone wake-up service

Website designer and developer

Home repair service (specialize in small projects)

Gift buying and delivery service

Lawn, yard, and gardening service

Recyclable materials pickup service

Home  window washing service

Car washing, waxing, and detailing service

Door-to-door flyer distribution service

Door-to-door sales of a product you truly like

House number painting service

Hardware or software consultant for installations, repairs and troubleshooting

Food delivery service, representing one or more restaurants

Manage a concession stand selling food in a busy part of your area

Make and distribute coupon booklets that represent local merchants in your neighborhood

Small catering service for parties, receptions and private dinners.

Organize yard sales to sell your things and other people’s things

Laptop Repair Business

Personalized Baby Newspaper

Cookie Business From Home

Card Making

Doggy Daycare Business And Doggy Recipe Business

Selling business plans/providing start up coaching (older teens who have started summer business before)

Entertainments to seniors in assisted living

Planting efficient vegetable garden: taking out lawn, plant vegetables, install irrigation

Bicycle tune up and repair

Repairing anything that is cheaper to repair than buy new

Know a second language?  Offer Translation services or language tutoring

Neighborhood sports “Camp”

Make and deliver meals for Seniors

Saturday Mornings for Mom; explore the city, farmers markets, etc. with neighborhood kids 6 – 12

Moving furniture for painters, flooring installers

Greening houses – create a “safe cleaning supply kit” or show homeowners other products and services that will be less harmful.

Light buld replacement service - Replace standard light bulbs with energy efficient flourescent

Career Exploration – take preteens to visit various kinds or businesses or job sites

Exercise and Healthy Eating “Camp”

Take younger children on trips to farmers markets, meet growers, learn about products, buy produce, make healthy meal or snacks

Medicine Pick up and delivery

Meal magic - For families with working parents and young children; clean kitchen, set dinner table, leave healthy dinner to be microwaved or in oven.

For more business ideas, check out the following websites (or do your own Internet search)

Business ideas for teens - http://www.bellaonline.net/articles/art7736.asp

Business ideas for young entrepreneurs - http://www.mysmallbiz.com/teen-business/teen-business-ideas.php

Job ideas for 15 and younger - http://www.quintcareers.com/jobs_for_teens.html

Teen job options: starting your own business - http://jobsearch.about.com/od/teenstudentgrad/a/teenbusiness.htm

Teen step-by-step guide to starting a business - http://www.moneyhelpforchristians.com/start-business-for-teens/

Business ideas for young entrepreneurs - http://www.mysmallbiz.com/teen-business/teen-business-ideas.php

Just in case…If you can’t find paid employment, spend sometime this summer taking classes that will give you more employment skills, doing volunteer work, job shadowing or other career exploration activities. All of these activities will help you gain experience, contacts and clearer ideas about where you might find job satisfaction in the work world. Success in today's job market is as dependent on having a detailed career plan that has been put through due diligence as it is on having good grades.

For parents...For ideas on what you can do, and reminders of what you shouldn't do, to help your teens create or find jobs, please see this websites Parent/Teacher tab