Great Ideas for Teen Start-Ups

It’s a tough old world out there right now and it’s hard for families, even dual-income families, to provide spending money for their children. Teenagers find it hard to get jobs to help them through college and this lack of employment has an impact on their CVs during and after education. The lack of work experience – even if it’s just a Saturday spent bagging groceries – is a disadvantage, as kids don’t gather the life skills they’ll need when they enter the adult workplace.

It’s not all doom and gloom, however. If there’s one time in life when you can bootstrap yourself into success and fortune (or at least holiday money), it’s when you’re young. The teenage years are ideal for a bit of entrepreneurialism, so here’s a few ideas for young self-starters.

One definite advantage today’s teens have over previous generations is the Internet, which offers endless resources and information and this is why it’s a good place to start…

Become a social media guru

Growing up in the Age of the Internet makes teens natural social networkers and they can apply this almost intuitive expertise to company websites. If business owners are too busy or inexperienced to work their own online presence, they might find a savvy teen the ideal social media consultant. Offering to improve and maintain the Facebook or Twitter accounts of local companies is an easy way to make regular money.

Get on Etsy

Most teenagers love craft – be it jewellery, soap, customising clothes or painting – and there’s loads of opportunities on selling websites like Etsy and eBay. “Distressing” old clothes can be quite lucrative. Make greetings cards – look around for cheap inkjet cartridges, you’ll find them cheaper if ordered online in the end – and set that printer to work.

Become a babysitter

Babysitting has virtually no set-up costs and if your social circle features a few families with young children, you’ve pretty much got instant clients. Once your toddler-wrangling skills become common knowledge, you can get references and expand your market. Later on, you can do First Aid courses and even some basic childcare training to stand out from the crowd and command higher fees. Click here to read more about First Aid.

Teach IT skills to seniors

You probably can’t remember a time before the Internet, so it may come as a shock to you to learn that some older people haven’t got a clue about IT. You can pass your skills onto your elders – for a modest fee – by offering one-to-one tutorials or even group classes. You’d be surprised how many older people don’t know how to send an email or get onto Facebook.

Run errands

People of all ages are increasingly pressed for time, so if you can fill in for them – walking their dog, walking their children home or even getting a few groceries in for them – you will be most appreciated.

You might need a bike for this, as you need to be able to fit in as many errands as possible, but this is a great way to learn logistics and time management.