Start a Business

If you’re curious about how money works and how to earn it – or how people create their own businesses and become their own boss – then this may be the challenge for you. It’s surprisingly easy to get started, and as any business owner knows, it will stretch you and challenge you in many new ways.

Everyone has skills and energy that others would pay for. When you turn that into a business, you’ll learn how to make money, how to serve customers, how to communicate, and ultimately how to be more independent.

Getting Started:

1. What will I offer? Make a list of every service or product you could imagine offering, that someone else would pay you for. Here are some possibilities to get your ideas going:

   1. Babysitting

   2. Lawn / Garden care (mowing, raking, trimming plants, or in cold places, snow shoveling)

   3. House cleaning

   4. Car washing (I have seen students make a surprisingly large amount of money washing cars)

   5. Teaching people how to use technology (this is one of the businesses I started in middle school and it was awesome!)

   6. Helping people organize their houses (only if you are a very organized person of course!)

   7. Tutoring

2. Describe your product or service: It really matters how you communicate about your business. Make sure you explain what service you’re offering, what experience you have, what your price is, and how people can get in touch with you. If you’re not sure how much to charge, look online, in ads, or ask your parents/guardians or friends’ parents if they know what the “going rate” is for a particular service.

3. Get the word out: Once you’ve decided on the business and how to describe it, it’s time to get the word out. You may want to create a website (try a free service like wix.com) and/or a social media account for your business. Share the word in as personal a way as possible, with notes or texts to people you know who might hire you, and if they don’t need your service, ask them if they know anyone who does. Your parents/guardians could be a great help here as well, sharing the word with their friends, on social media, etc. Some schools might also allow you to put a notice in a school newsletter about your services, and if you are connected to local neighborhood groups, or your parents read neighborhood discussions on websites like nextdoor.com, make sure to post there as well.

4. Manage the business: Once you’re up and running, remember that nearly all businesses thrive on “word of mouth” — meaning that it’s all about making your customers happy, and then they’ll tell friends! Try to respond as quickly as possible to any communication from customers, and go above and beyond in the services you deliver. You’ll earn a great reputation and will have customers interested in hiring you, and that’s the foundation for a thriving business and all the opportunities it will offer you!