Top 10 Small Business Ideas for Children

My top 10 Small Business Ideas for Children for those Smallbiz minded kids..

These days, kids grow up fast.  They always seem to be in a hurry to grow up.  Kids always seem to want to rush that next milestone.  They want to be an official teenager, to start driving and become independent as soon as possible. 

One of the biggest achievements for kids during these transformation years is to earn their own money. 

For some children, they become bored with doing things around the house for an allowance.  Others feel like they would be able to make a lot more money working outside of the home environment.  For others still, working around the house doesn't seem like a "real job" where they are really earning their own "real money."

The problem is that until a child reaches a certain age, there aren't a whole lot of "real job" opportunities available for them.  A lot of kids have also experienced the consequences of waiting too long to apply for jobs as the university kids seem to snap them up while home on summer break.

How you can develop small business ideas for children

The good news is that the opportunities to create their own opportunities to earn money are increasing. 

Thanks to advances in technology and a new mindset of the "sharing" (or freelance) economy, all it takes is a bit of creativity and brainstorming to start earning some good money.

In a sharing economy, the basic idea is to "share" your skills to provide services to people looking for them. 

More and more "start-up" businesses are popping up all the time. 

It's easier to let the world know about your services via the internet.  Kids can use social media to get the word out about what they have to offer.  By using a free website builder, even younger children can reach out and advertise a new business venture to potential clients.

As parents, recognising and nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit in your kids will give them invaluable tools that will serve them well for a lifetime.

In order to encourage your child to develop their own small business ideas instead of depending on a traditional employer to hire them, sit down and brainstorm ideas with them. 

• What are their strengths? 
• What are their hobbies? 
• What are they good at and interested in? 
• How can they take these strengths and gifts and put them to use to earn some money?

Encouraging a child to jump into a "side hustle" can be an exciting and potentially lucrative venture for them. 

It can teach them about the business world and their value in it.  They can learn negotiating (for pay) skills, in addition to social or "people" skills to deal with all kinds of different personalities.

The types of children who naturally possess this entrepreneurship spirit tend to want to figure things out for themselves.  They like to look at existing ideas and figure out how to improve or put their own spin on them.  They have a diverse set of interests and are willing to try new things.  They love to learn new things.  They are problem-solvers and aren't afraid to take a bit of risk.

For kids who do start their own small business, it can open up a while new mindset and world of possibilities to them. 

• It teaches them to use their creativity
• It teaches them tenacity and the ability to keep trying new things
• It helps them look at criticism or failure as a mere setback instead of a devastating blow
• Starting their own business helps them build the confidence to know that they can actually take an idea, apply their skills and make money from it

Click here for my free worksheet to brainstorm a small business idea for children

When you are working your way through the worksheet you will find thoughts and ideas come to you that you might have thought about but not necessarily linked to starting your child's own small business.

My top 10 Small Business Ideas for Children

1.  Tutoring or Coaching

Is there something your child is really good at that?  A skill or talent they could teach to others? 

Whether it is playing an instrument, being a whiz in math or helping a younger child master that tricky basketball shot, if they excel in a certain area, they can make extra money tutoring or coaching. 

Some parents just don't get the "new math," while other kids can explain it easily. 

Other parents are not good at sports or have the time to work with their kids.  Therefore, coaching one-on-one and sharing tips can really help up-and-coming athletes.

2.  Growing / Selling Plants

If your child has a green thumb, why not buy a small, inexpensive greenhouse and some plants seeds. 

Grow the flowers, vegetables or herbs from seed and have a plant sale. 

3.  Services for Hire - Personal

Personal service-type options include helping clients pack or unpack boxes during a move, or running errands for them.  Cleaning the house, watering the plants or house-sitting are other ideas.  What about offering decorating and then clean-up services after a party? 

With a little creativity, offering services for hire can be a fun way for kids to realize their potential earning power.

4.  Services for Hire - Mowing Lawns and Gardening

Who can't use extra help around the yard?  A child who doesn't mind a bit of hard work can make extra cash by finding clients who need help mowing the lawn, weeding, and watering the gardens.

5.  Blogging / Video Blogging / Review Sites

If the kids have a flair for blogging, they can write articles or tips about a favorite hobby.  With some help from mom and dad, some affiliate links can be placed on the blog to make sales. 

If your child likes creating videos, video blogging is another alternative to regular blogging.  By sharing videos of "how-to's" (or walking potential clients through the steps of how to do something), it's possible to gain followers.  From there, followers can click through to a retail store site and your child makes money from the sales.

Another idea for a blog - especially for kids - is to write honest product reviews.  Writing about a new video game or reviewing a new movie can once again gain a following and encourage visitors to donate money to the blog or click on affiliate product banners.

6.  Baby Sitting

What parent doesn't need a good sitter at a moments notice? 

Offering a service to watch younger kids can bring in some extra money. 

It's important for an older child to understand the responsibility of playing/engaging the younger ones.  It's also important to take a babysitting class to add to the resume, which can help increase an hourly pay rate. 

Extra little touches can include tidying up the house or having art projects completed to give to the parents. 

7.  Pet Sitting

For pet sitting, it's important to exercise the pet, make sure to feed, provide fresh water and play with the pet. 

A nice, long walk and maybe a nice brushing will help line up repeat customers. 

If your child has experience with a particular kind of animal such as a guinea pig, bird or cat, that's a specialty area that could result in an hourly rate increase.

If your child has expertise in simple training or grooming, it only adds to their valuable service.

8.  Car Washing / Detailing

Some people prefer a good, old-fashioned hand washing and/or waxing of their vehicles. 

By making sure the car is clean, the windows are spotless and even "detailing" or cleaning out the inside of the vehicle is another great business to start. 

The kids can provide the services at the client's own home, so customers don't even have to move the vehicle out of the driveway to get a good cleaning of the vehicle inside and out.

 9.  Garage Sales

If your child is ambitious, they can find inexpensive items at other garage sales or at a discount store and re-sell the items at their own garage sale.  By re-painting an old set of chairs or re-purposing other items, re-selling at a garage sale can put extra money in their pocket. 

Another option would be to help other people (clients) set up and dismantle their items during a garage sale.  They can help get the word out and bring more potential customers to the sale. 

As an added bonus, it's a great way to de-clutter the kids' rooms as well!

10.  Arts & Crafts

If your child loves creating original artwork, they can try their hand at selling it on a site such as Etsy, or from their own free blog or website.

Anything from creating paintings, pictures frames, photographs, calligraphy, jewelry, greeting cards, coloring books or homemade candles.  Another option would be making custom gift bags, mugs or baskets. 

Offering a gift wrapping service or other specialty craft idea adds originality and ramps up the available services and potential income.

At the end of the day, encouraging children to go for it and start up their own business not only gives them an opportunity to earn their own money. 

It teaches life skills such as responsibility, self-confidence and a special sense of pride and accomplishment that comes along with becoming a successful entrepreneur.

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More reading for Small Business Ideas

1. SmallBiz Ideas for managing your team - a step by step guide to ensuring that you and your staff members know what their priorities are in your small business
2. Unique Home Based SmallBiz ideas - unique ideas for those who are interested in starting a small business from home   
   
3. Proven Ideas to start a Small Business  - a list of ideas that have been tried and true small business ideas                                                                            
4. How to start a home based business - a great article for entrepreneurs looking for start up ideas
5. What small business would suit me

After owning and managing small to medium businesses for over 18 years Tammy Love is Ms Small Biz -- she has a love/hate relationship with business! She knows first hand that it is really exciting to grow something and provide the best possible service/product for customers but yet it can also be tiring, hard and down right exhausting! She also knows how lonely that it can be being a business owner. She is using her website | Facebook page and Twitter to help others achieve their dream of starting or getting through the beast that is small business!

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