kids-in-biz.com

I know, I know…school is out and you long for the days that you can sleep in and lounge around without worrying about anything! Starting your own business doesn’t have to take up all of your time. Think of it as a labor of love! If you put a few hours a day or even a few hours a week, you can be on your way to earning money doing something you love to do!

Summer is the perfect time to explore your entrepreneurial options. Check out the library or your local book store on topics that interest you. If you have required summer reading, perhaps you can include a business book. Although there are many books out there on kids in business, don’t limit yourself there. If you love to take pictures, grab a book on photography. Love sports? Read an inspirational book on a favorite athlete or coach – many of these people are truly motivational. Like computers? Why not choose your favorite software program and really master it? Or choose a new one! Love kids? Then really show it by taking a CPR course. Summer is also a great time to volunteer your time. Offer your services to a local small business in exchange for some experience.

Here are some words of wisdom. If you want to make a lot of money – you need to have valuable skills that people will pay for. It’s really that simple. As a kid, you’re probably thinking that you are too young or that’s what college is for. Wrong! People don’t pay you for your degree – they pay you for what you can do. For what you have to offer.

Summer is a great time to start a blog. Learn to build a website. Take an online Photoshop course. Write articles for website owners. If you want to work, you must let people know you are available and interested! Want to pet sit, dog walk, babysit, mow lawns, type, or write? Make up flyers or business cards and take a walk around your neighborhood and hand them out. No one is going to find you unless you let them know you exist!

What are you doing this summer?

Check our your high school club listings and see what is offered right in your own school! DECA has over 4500 chapters and over 180,000 students participating!  Students that are interested in hospitality, finance, sales and service, business administration and/or entrepreneurship are encouraged to join.  DECA programs are co-curricular, meaning that they learning coincides with classroom curriculum, and goes further by incorporating realistic educational experiences not available through classroom instruction alone.

Sure, a business club like DECA will look great on your college resume.  Local businesses will be impressed, too.   But don’t overlook how much fun you can have! Students with entrepreneurial spirit are great to be around!  Local and national competitions are a great way to meet new people and gain some real-life experience. Check it out.

Let’s face it. Kids love to spend money! What better way to start on the road to financial success than to start earning money at a young age. Gone are the days when babysitting and raking leaves are the only way to make a buck! (Don’t count these out, though. There’s still great money to be made that way.)

Many parents and kids alike are looking for some extra cash. While a successful internet business is a cool thing, kids don’t have mortgages to pay and usually don’t have to feed a family. If you are involved in extra-curricular activities, committing to a part-time job is often impossible. Most of these options allow you to work as little or as much as you please.

There are really only three basic ways you can make money on your own. You can offer a service. You can sell a product. You can provide information.
Offering a service is probably the most common way that kids make money. Babysitting, lawn mowing, and snow shoveling are classic examples. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Remember, people are willing to pay others to do what they (1) don’t want to do themselves (2) can’t do themselves (3) don’t know how to do themselves.
Selling a product is also fairly easy to grasp, but more complicated to start up.  You can create your own product to sell, such as jewelry or other hand-crafted items. You can buy items in bulk and resell them. It can be as simple as buying a cooler full of water and Gatorade and sitting at a soccer field on a hot day. You can also be involved in Direct Sales, where you sell products for someone else, don’t have to keep inventory, and get paid a commission. Think of Avon and Tupperware where you have a catalog and take orders. Most direct sales companies will need you to be 18 or older, but this can be a great way to earn some money as a family.
If you plan to start an online business, there are two really important concepts to learn up front – Affiliate Marketing
and Pay-per-click advertising. We’ll be talking about these soon, so be sure to check back!

Be sure to poke around http://www.internetbasedkids.com for some inspiration.

Are you interested in starting your own business?  We’ve done it and hope to encourage other parents and kids to do the same!