Summer Businesses for Teens

You want to make some money and do something cool this summer but the idea of having a boss doesn't sound so hot. Here are some ideas for businesses you could start, depending on your interests and abilities:

If you like helping people, consider for one of these:
- dog walking service
- non-medical home care for the elderly, disabled, or ill
- baby sitting service
- house sitting service
- tutoring service
- handyman or handywoman service
- hauling service
- gift buying and delivery service
- food delivery service, representing one or more restaurants
- service that prepares, freezes, and delivers a week's worth of homemade dinners to individuals' homes

If you love organizing and cleaning, put together a small biz that specializes in just that:
- party planner and event coordinator
- small catering service for parties, private dinners, and receptions
- grocery delivery service
- house cleaning service
- car washing, waxing, and detailing service
- door-to-door flyer distribution service
- lawn, yard, and gardening service
- recyclable materials pickup service
- telephone wake-up service
- home and commercial window washing service

For the technically or artistically inclined:
- party disc jockey
- photographer
- site designer and developer
- hardware or software consultant for installations, troubleshooting, and repairs
- street curb house number painting service
- face painter
- word processing service
- silk screen service
- sign painter
- TEVO, VCR, DVD programmer

And for anyone who loves to sell, sell, sell:
- Manage a concession cart that sells food items in a busy part of town.
- Develop and distribute coupon booklets that represent local merchants.
- Door-to-door sales of a product you truly believe in.
- Deal in antiques. Buy inexpensive antiques at yard sales and resell them at antique auctions, flea markets, or antique malls.
- Use your artistic skill to make items (like jewelry, clothing, or leather goods) that can be sold to retail outlets.
- Organize yard sales (also called tag sales) to sell your own and other people's stuff.
- Sell ads on your website or blog.

Enjoy trying out your entrepreneurial talents; and have a great summer!