How Kids Can Make Money

In grade school, I was unsuccessful opening a lemonade stand. My brothers kept stealing my product but my main problem was that I lived on a dead end street with only four houses.

When I was 12, the principal at my school gave my phone number to a single mom, and told her I was good with children. That first job grew to over 30 clients that I babysat for the next ten years. Babysitting paid for clothes in junior high, horses in high school and help pay for college.

Whatever you decide to do, make sure you discuss it with your parents and get their permission. The always let them know where you are going to be. Print up flyers and let everyone in the neighbor hood know that you are looking to make some money. DO NOT go door to door to solicit business by yourself. Have a friend or a parent along.

You are going to be self employed! That means you will to have to learn some basic math skills so you can add up hours, make change or to figure out what to charge for your goods and services. You'll also need to learn about public relations, pricing, supply and demand as well as business management. You'll have to learn to speak to up, how to sell yourself and your business, and how to talk to potential customers.

You'll have to always work hard and do the best job you can do. Some adults don't like to do business with kids. They think that kids are lazy and do mediocre work yet still want to be paid big money for sitting on their butts! If that's how you roll, you might get someone to hire you once, but they won't hire you again!

Keep a schedule and make sure that you show up on time. Price your services and products accordingly. EXAMPLE: My little brother, Rock, badly needed some money. He offered to clean out a garage for $30. It took him four 12 hour days! The man who hired him had all other kinds of stuff he wanted done, including some painting! My little brother was too shy to say no and too embarrassed to ask for more money. When the job was finished, the man gave Rock the $30 they agreed on. My brother was furious. He couldn't believe that an adult would take advantage of a little kid. But the old guy said he was "trying to teach him a lesson." When Rock just stared at the money in disbelief, the man laughed and said, "Maybe next time you'll learn to ask for more money." Now, not all adults will try to take advantage of you, but there are enough out there that will and you better be ready for them.

How Kids Can Make Money - Idea #1 Lemonade Stand

Any one can open a lemonade stand. Just don't make the same mistakes I did! You'll need a card table, lemonade, cups and ice. Make sure you price your product so that you can make money, but not so expensive that no one will buy it. Nobody likes warm lemonade, but nobody wants all ice either. Experiment until you find the right balance.

Take some time to make a great sign advertising your prices. Keep the table area wiped clean so you won't' attract bugs. Make sure you have plenty of change on hand. Depending on your age and location, work from in front of your house and make sure you get your parent's permission. Most parents will appreciate your willingness to work and make your own money, but they want you to be safe.

For you older kids, think about having a lemonade stand at a local craft show or farmers market. Check with the show's organizer. Sometimes they will charge you for having a booth, just like every other vendor. Sometimes they won't charge because they think it's a nice convenience for their customers.

Check out the local soccer and baseball fields. They might have a concession stand that they don't want you competing with on game days, but you could have a "drink stand" during the evening practices. You could go every night with a wagon holding a cooler full of water, sports drinks, juice boxes and sodas. And about concession stands, some sports clubs pay kids to work all day in the concession stands because they've found that volunteer adults are not always reliable.

How Kids Can Make Money - Idea #2 Babysitting

Babysitting is one of those jobs that can be done 365 days a year. It's also one of those jobs that will grow with you. Many teachers, daycare owners and directors as well as pediatricians and social workers all started off as babysitters. You can take your babysitting skills to college with you. Have your parents' help you check out your potential clients. Let your teachers, principal, neighbors and family friends know that you're available to baby sit their little darlings. If you have a daycare in your neighborhood, take them some flyers. Parents are always looking for a dependable babysitter.

How Kids Can Make Money - Idea #3 Deliver Newspapers

In some cities you can get your own route. In other cities the newspapers are delivered by adults. Usually Sunday newspapers are unwieldy and often they have to be assembled. There are also paper people that deliver massive quantities to convenience stores, hotels and retail outlets. The can always use help and the pay can be substantial.

How Kids Can Make Money - Idea #4 Pet Care

Do you love animals? Become the one that everyone calls on to walk their dogs. Dog walking can grow into pet sitting or taking care of someone's animals when they are on vacation. Sometimes people just need someone to let their dogs outside for a few minutes. Washing pets can be a good way to make some money as well.

In another direction, you can be the Official Pooper- Scooper. Just make sure you charge enough to make it worth your while.

How Kids Can Make Money - Idea # 5 Lawn Care

There has been more than one boy that started mowing lawns, and by the time he graduates from high school he's making $20, 000 a year and has four or five employees, and his own equipment.

How Kids Can Make Money Idea #6 Holiday Helper

Think seasonal. The holidays bring temporary and part time work. Many people want their houses cleaned for Christmas. They might need some help decking the halls with Christmas decorations. They might need you to help at parties, serving food, taking coats or watching kids. Sometimes people need help addressing Christmas cards and wrapping presents. Keep an eye on your schedule. It will be very easy to become overbooked from Thanksgiving to Super Bowl Sunday.

How Kids Can Make Money - Idea #7 House Cleaning

You might want to start your own house cleaning service. People hire you to come in on scheduled dates, once a week or every other week. My son started a cleaning service when he was in college. In the beginning he took on anybody as a client, but as he got more and more customers, he could "fire" the people that were total slobs.

Do the jobs that adults hate to do.

You might have several people on your block that hate to wheel the garbage and recyclables to the curb on certain days and then bringing the containers back into the garage. What about scrubbing them out once every couple of weeks?

Organizing kitchens. Many moms need to have their kitchen cupboards put back to working order every six months or so. We like to have everything removed from the cupboards and wiped down and then everything put back nice and orderly - only we don't want to do it ourselves.

Clean up kids rooms. You could have a route, spending 2 hours per house. That could be 5 houses on a Saturday. While most kids ei

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