If you are a teenager looking for the best micro-business ideas for your startup, you reached the right place. Below we are going to discuss the 6 best micro-business ideas for teenagers that you can consider too.
Let’s start!
1. Child Care
The time-honored profession of teenagers is babysitting, but a micro business can offer something new or different. A unique twist to a typical babysitting job might be to add extra services such as doing laundry, pet-walking or light housecleaning for an extra fee.
Or a teenager could offer to babysit regularly. One teenager made her babysitting micro-business unique by advertising to neighbors that she was hosting a regular babysitting service every Tuesday evening from 6:00 to 8:00 pm in her home. Her customers could plan ahead knowing they had childcare that evening.
Karen (Spunky Homeschool) Braun’s daughter, Kristin, combined her love of reading and childcare. She assembled a small group of children and, in a two-hour block of time, read them a story, planned a craft, and fed them a snack. She charged $5 per child per week, offered a sibling discount, and averaged $45 per family for a six-week summer mini-camp.
2. Lawn Care
Lawn-mowing, mulch-spreading, and snow shoveling are great micro-business ideas. A teenager may already have the equipment needed to start. If not, he or she should purchase only what is needed to get started.
Lucas Rice bought his first riding lawn mower at a garage sale when he was 12 with savings from a paper route. As his business grew, he was able to buy more equipment. “Allow your business to grow, and then grow your equipment into your business,” he advises.
3. Cleaning
It’s not a pleasant job, but houses, garages, yards, cars, and pets all need to be cleaned at some point. Some clever teenagers sell coupon books of cleaning services or offer to wash a neighbor’s car on a regular basis, say once a week for six weeks, in a package deal.
One family with five daughters trades housecleaning for piano lessons. As one student has her piano lesson, the others clean the teacher’s house. Everyone is happy with the results of the trade.
4. Pet Care
Walking dogs, cleaning the yard of their messes, and pet-sitting for neighbors on vacation are great ideas. There is a man in my town who charges $10 a yard to clean up after a dog. It is not the nicest job in the world, but it could be a great option for a teenager or even a pre-teen.
My friends, the Wonsers, care for other people’s pets while they are away from home. They keep the pets at their home in their large backyard. The Wonsers have rabbit hutches and dog runs to keep their animal guests safe and happy. Your family could house rabbits, cats, and dogs for friends on vacation in a home-based pet hotel.
5. Music
There are several micro-businesses for musicians, such as giving lessons, accompanying, and performing. Is your teenager a drummer? Eric Cieslewicz, a teenager in Ohio, teaches eight drum students every week. A teenager can use his knowledge of any instrument to teach children in a micro business.
Pianists are always in demand as accompanists for events or performances. My daughter, Emily, was paid for her time to rehearse and perform as an accompanist to a teenage cello player for his school music competition.
Some talented musicians are paid to play at weddings or social gatherings. Harpists, violinists, and pianists are the most popular, but garage bands can also be paid for a gig.
6. Tutoring
Teenagers can teach many school subjects, such as math, grammar, and Spanish. They make excellent tutors because they have recently studied the subject themselves. My oldest daughter was hired to tutor a 14-year-old girl in study skills to help prepare her for high school.
But tutoring does not have to be limited to academic subjects. Teaching art, swimming, and sewing all lend themselves to great micro businesses. Teenagers might consider teaching a small group of children at the same time to maximize income.