Which kid-friendly business concepts work the best?(small business ideas)
As a new dad, I’m continually attempting to determine the best method to teach our little entrepreneurs about money, business, and entrepreneurship.(small business ideas)
While he’s still a few years away from setting up the traditional curbside lemonade stand, allow me to draw inspiration from that for this piece.
As a young person, I engaged in a variety of entrepreneurial endeavours, some of which were profitable and others which weren’t. However, for every box of Skittles I sold and every baby I watched (OK, that sounded really odd), I was learning the fundamentals of business on a tiny, low-risk scale.
Thank you to everyone who offered their suggestions when I requested for assistance in creating this list!
You should be able to find something below for every age group. After all, according to Warren Buffett, the age at which you launch your first business is a reliable indicator of your future success in business.
Start early and frequently!
Can you learn innovation? Can you teach it to adults if you can teach it to children?
I met down with award-winning middle school and high school teacher Don Wettrick, who is also the CEO and co-founder of StartEdUp, to find out. Don has spent the last ten years encouraging teachers and students to use innovation and entrepreneurship in the classroom.
1. Sneakers that flip(small business ideas)
Ned, a fifteen-year-old entrepreneur in sneakers, By buying and selling shoes locally and in various “sneakerhead” Facebook groups, he has quadrupled his $50 investment on a pair of Air Jordan 3s.
By the time he graduates from high school, he will have made $5000 by selling that pair of shoes for $100.
2. Acting(small business ideas)
The daughters of Aja McClanahan can make up to $1000 per hour acting in voiceovers and for television.
She has an Udemy course on how to help your children into the field while avoiding all the predatory frauds.
3. Soda sales(small business ideas)
Business Success Systems’ Reed Floren started out as a businessman at a young age. He forwarded me this tale:
Selling Mountain Dew, Smarties candies, and pickle slices from my cheeseburgers was the simplest business I ever operated as a child. (???)
From 1999 to 2005 (when I was 13 to 19 years old), I made $10 to $20 every day selling snacks to my buddies during our lunch break.
The initial costs were low because I could buy a 6-pack of Mountain Dew for a few dollars, sell each one for $1, or the cost of a lunch ticket ($1.75 at the time), and use the proceeds to pay for sweets, my own lunch, and sell pickle slices to other kids for $0.50 apiece.
When we went on field excursions, it always allowed me to have lots of spending money on me. I could give other students a few dollars if they needed a loan while we were out and about, and most of them paid me back the next day with interest.
There you have it, a prepubescent loan shark and pickle tycoon.
4. Candy Sales(small business ideas)
Candy sales are a popular kid’s business because they’re so close to the candy’s target market: other kids!
At the Scout camp when I was younger, I most definitely made money with this one. I filled up on Skittles and Caramel Apple Pops to sell to the other campers at Costco with Mom’s help before I left for camp. It wasn’t difficult to compete with the “Trading Post” while still making a small profit.
In middle school, “the gum guy” was a friend of mine. He was making a lot of money selling gum sticks for $0.25 each.
According to Priest Willis, the creator of Affiliate Mission, “My 13-year-old buys sweets from BJ’s and sells it.” We “invested” in her initial products, but she reimburses us and learns how to save and invest for subsequent products.
5. Online polls(small business ideas)
Users can earn money for completing quick surveys and other tasks, such watching advertisement films, on a number of online survey sites, like Survey Junkie and Swagbucks, if they are 13 years of age or older.
Despite the modest returns, these platforms might be a terrific way to get some additional spending money if you’re a teenager with nothing better to do.
For more information, visit the Side Hustle Nation blog, where we recently looked into a number of additional apps that pay you.
6. Vending Machine (small business ideas)
Adding more salespeople to your candy-selling empire is one way to “scale up,” and it’s even more profitable when those salespeople are actually machines.
Preston Lee told me, “My son and I purchased two inexpensive candy vending machines after hearing your episode on vending machines. They’ve already located a place for one, and it generates weekly passive revenue.
After spending some more money on the equipment and some time locating a location for it, vending can generate income without requiring your direct labour.
7. Grass Cutting(small business ideas)
Of course, you might get customers for lawn mowing by going door to door in your neighbourhood with your lawn mower, but that’s outdated.
Let’s introduce GreenPal, which may be thought of as Uber for lawn maintenance.
In seven states throughout the nation, GreenPal has over 5500 vendor partners (lawn mowers and other providers of yard care).
Many of our lawn care vendors are high school and college students who use our app in the summer to earn extra money, according to CEO Bryan Clayton. Many younger vendors use our app in the evenings and on weekends, and it’s a great way for them to supplement their income.”
Bryan added that the typical GreenPal seller gets $55 per hour mowing lawns using the method.
