One of the most effective approaches for teaching your child about money is allowing them to earn their own cash. Setting up a small business can instantly provide lessons in budgeting, savings and investing. A lemonade stand remains a popular choice for kids, but the success of that kind of operation depends on foot traffic. Fortunately, there are some other effect business projects for kids to activate.
Landscape Management
Next to the classic lemonade stand, mowing lawns is one of the most popular businesses that a kid can get involved in. The skills for mowing lawns often begin at home when it is one of the chores to earn an allowance. Armed with the family lawnmower, your child could reach out to neighbors for their own lawn care. Beyond cutting the grass, your child can also incorporate other landscape management needs like pulling weeds, raking leaves and shoveling snow in the winter. This is the kind of steady work that your kid can depend on. They only need to take on as many clients as they can handle. It is also a good physical activity that can help keep them in shape.
Pet Sitting
A lot of busy folks don’t have time to make it home to give their dogs a much-needed walk around the block. That is a perfect job for your kid. Chances are that your child is already familiar with most of the dogs in the neighborhood and they won’t have a problem providing them with a daily walk. Pet sitting can also include checking on those pets on hot days to make sure they’ve got enough water and are staying cool. If your home can accommodate pets, then your kid pet sitter might offer vacation sitting. That would mean bringing the pet home and watching over it for the duration of the owner’s trip. Of course, with that kind of care, you can also charge a premium price. Just look up what kennels charge for comparison.
Selling Fresh Chicken Eggs
Backyard chicken coops are springing up all across the country. Mobile chicken coops, also called chicken tractors, are easy to put into your backyard if that’s something your municipality allows. With the right amount of chickens, there could be a decent amount of eggs generate on a daily basis. After the family’s egg needs are met, those additional eggs could be sold throughout the neighborhood. There might even be nearby eateries who would appreciate having fresh eggs delivered consistently from a kid entrepreneur. Using chicken egg pricing calculators can help make the management of this type of business a bit easier. It will also help ensure that the fresh eggs are fetching a fair price. After all, some reinvestment is required with regard to keeping those chickens feed and expanding the flock.
Reselling Candy
Boxes of candy can be bought at wholesale prices. Those individual candy bars can then be resold for a nice profit. This doesn’t have to be a door-to-door type of operation. Instead, your kid could set up their candy business at their school. At lunchtime and after school, they have a captive customer base that would always be on the lookout for a sweet tweet that might not be available in vending machines. Your kid can also expand their business by taking special orders. Whatever they are selling should fit into their backpack. At some point, they might enlist a few of their friends to make sure the supply meets the demand.
Babysitting
A responsible babysitter is something that every parent needs access to. Your child can offer their services as a babysitter throughout the neighborhood. They might find many receptive parents who would be happy to hire someone that they already know to watch over their kids as opposed to hiring a stranger online. If there are a lot of children in the neighborhood, then your kid could create a small babysitting agency using some of their friends as additional employees. Whenever you need to hire additional staff you know that business is good.
Collect Recyclables
If there is a recyclable buyback program in your city, then your kids could be sitting on a gold mine. They can start to collect recyclables from the neighbors and local businesses. This will mean gathering up all the soda cans and plastic bottles. It might also mean that mom and dad will have to pitch in with the transportation of those materials to the nearest recyclable center. This can be a teachable moment when you have kids pay for transportation costs like gas for the car.
Tutoring and Homework Help
If your kids get good grades and excel at their homework assignments, then those can become marketable skills that could turn into a business. There are probably plenty of parents who would benefit from hiring a tutor to help their children improve their grades. Again, familiarity becomes a motivating factor for those parents when your kid is looking to pick up clients. You probably know several mothers who have voiced concerns over their children struggling in school. A few hours of the week with a peer tutor can help improve those grades.
Some of these businesses would operate on a per hour salary or a flat rate. You might have to help your kid determine what the best approach to asking for payment would be. A child who dedicates themselves towards running a small business is preparing for success later in life. That is something that every parent would want to encourage in their kids.