Teen Money Making Ideas » teen business

20 Creative Ways To Advertise Your Lawn Care Business in Your Neighborhood

Steve / moneywizkid — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 13:26:36 +0000

The following article is from TeenMoneyMakingIdeas.Com:Lawn care is a great business idea for teens to make money. But without advertising, you don’t make any money. One of the first places you should advertise your lawn care business is in your neighborhood near where you live and where you’ll be mowing lawns. So if you’re at a loss for ideas for how to get customers or market your lawn care business, I’ve gathered all the related tips that we’ve written about in some of our previous marketing articles in this article on 20 creative ways you can advertise your lawn care business in your neighborhood:

One of the very first ways you should advertise your lawn care business is by telling your family and friends about it. They are your first pool of support and moral boosters. Tell them about what you are up to during visits or even call them out of the blue to say hi and update them on what’s happening with you. Let them know how much you appreciate their help and make them feel that they are a big part of your growth as a budding entrepreneur.
Ask your family and friends in your neighborhood if you can borrow their window spaces. Design their windows for free in exchange for putting your advertisement up there. Use bold signs, big letters and bright colors to attract attention. Make sure that it can be seen from afar.
Put up a sign in your lawn. Make it big and use creative pictures.
Create key-chains or key-rings with your name and logo on it to give them away at locksmiths, car shops, gasoline stations, etc in your area.
Get custom apparel like caps or shirts and wear them whenever you go out. You could also give some of these away as in the above example as well.
Get a lot of balloons, tie your information on the strings, and let them all just fly away or better yet, stand on the corner and give them away.
Design creative bumper stickers to give away that people can put on their cars too. For example “Baby in car” or “Student driver” – they are useful to a lot of people. You can design this with your website or name of your lawn care business in a much smaller font at the bottom or at the top.
Offer discounts during important events or seasons and then distribute them throughout your neighborhood
Distribute Missing or Wanted posters all over the neighborhood that goes something like this: “WANTED: A client who wants their lawns mowed for a cheap price”.
Go door-to-door in your neighborhood and let people know what you are all about. Give away some of your keychains/key rings, tshirts, baseball caps and balloons discussed above.
Walk around in your area in a costume and give out flyers or business cards or some of the free gifts discussed above.
Join school organizations or attend community events and tell people about your business.
Have a garage sale. Every time someone makes a purchase, make sure that you include your business card in the bag or a flyer advertising your lawn care business.
Put your flyers about your business on parked cars in your area and in at the parking lots in your neighborhood
Visit restaurants in your neighborhood and drop your business cards in the customer drop box.
Visit your local library and discreetly insert your business card or flyer in DIY or home fix-it books.
Make free bookmarks and distribute them in bookstores and libraries near where you live for free. You can even insert them in random books. Just make sure that you don’t get caught! You can also discretely give them to people sitting in the library. Put all your information on the bookmark, but make sure that you also create cool designs so a lot of people will like it.
Visit restaurants in your neighborhood and drop your business cards in the customer drop box.
You should be marketing your lawn care business all throughout the year. So during halloween, when kids go trick or treating, give them candy and slip them your business card as well. They might not be interested in it, but their parents might be!
Once you do have customers, offer them a discount in exchange for promoting you or referrals.

[photo credit]For more information like this, visit TeenMoneyMakingIdeas.Com.

4 fun or Profit: How to Get A Jumpstart on Making Candles With Candle Making Kits

Erica — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 08:47:31 +0000

The following article is from TeenMoneyMakingIdeas.Com:As a teen I loved candle making because it’s such a fun hobby to engage in. In the past I would make candles and give them as gifts to my friends and family. Their eyes would light up and many of them couldn’t believe that I made them all by myself. When you know how, you can make all kinds of beautiful candle and give them as gifts or you can start up a candle making business and sell them in your spare time. It’s easy when you know how. But for some people, they are a little intimidated to get started and wish they could find an easy way to get started with candle making. In addition to the numerous step-by-step articles that we’ve posted in the candle making business section of this website, you may also want to consider candle making kits as a quick way to get started.

You can purchase a candle making kits in your local craft or hobby store but personally, I prefer buying them online because you can get a wider selection of choices and cheaper prices – and we all know teens are on a tight budget. So, anyhow, when you buy a candle making kit you get everything you need to make several candles. This might include, the mold, wax, coloring agent, wicks, fragrance, etc. Some, like the one talked about below even come with a DVD that you can watch and follow along as you make your candles. Kits will also have a guide sheet which will give you step-by-step instructions on how to make the candles.

Candle making kits will differ depending on what kind of candles you’re supposed to make with it. For example some of the candle making kits available include, tea-light candle, gel candles, soy candles, aromatherapy candles and a lot of others. So while you’re searching for candle making kits you will need to decide which one you’d like to start off with.

Tealight candle making kits are one of the easier projects to begin with because they are great for beginners. They are small and you can make them quickly. Also you can make a lot of them in one kit which gives you a chance to perfect your skill. I love candle making kits for beginners because in just a short time you will have a great product that you created with your own hands.

Below are just a couple candle making kits that you might want to consider:

Tealight Candle Making Kit: Learn how fast, easy & fun it is to make your own tealight candles. Perfect for beginners!

Learn how fun & easy it is to make your own candles!
Kit includes everything you need to make 100 tealights!
Great for beginners – no experience necessary!
Save $$ making your own candles.
Earn extra $$$ selling the candles that you make!

Includes everything you need to make your own highly-scented, long-burning tea light candles.

Kit Includes:
Instructional DVD
Instruction Sheet
Wax
Tea Light Cups
Pre-Tabbed Wicks
Stirring Stick
Scent
Red, Yellow & Blue Dye Blocks
Burning Instruction Labels

Rating: (out of 1 reviews)

Price: $ 59.99

CANDLE QUICK

Just drop in an old candle to make it look like ne
Melted wax drains into a new container
Makes a brand new candle or retops pillar candles
Pays for its self in just one use
Electric, UL Listed. Plastic, 8 x 7 x 7″

Candle QuickTM restores used candles. Just drop in an old candle to make it look like new. Recycle in one easy step! Melted wax safely drains into a container of your choice to make a brand new candle or “retop” pillars. Perfectfor anyone who loves candles… and likes saving money! Candle Quick® can pay for itself in just one use. Electric, UL Listed. Plastic, 8 x 7 x 7″.

Price: $ 24.98

Metal Candle Wick Centering Device, 1 – 99 quantity, priced each

Metal Candle Wick Centering Device, 1 – 99 quantity, priced each.

Adjusts to many size containers. Pre-bent groves range from approximately 2.25″ to 3.25″ and can be used on slightly larger and smaller containers as well.

Has multiple holes to allow centering on single wick candles and perfect spacing for multiple wick candles.

Heavy duty metal construction to give you many years of reliable service with this simple yet valuable candle-making tool!!

Price: $ 0.91For more information like this, visit TeenMoneyMakingIdeas.Com.

6 Fun Candle Making Projects – So Easy Even a Kid Could Make!

Erica — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 11:01:06 +0000

The following article is from TeenMoneyMakingIdeas.Com:Candle making is a great hobby for teens. It’s so rewarding to make something that you know is going to bring a lot of joy in in someone’s life. Also, handmade candles are unique craft items that a lot of people love to have in their homes. They light up our lives with their beauty and ambiance. But what a lot of people don’t know is that candles are not that difficult to make at all. In just a few hours you can have candles that you can give as gifts to your friends and family or that you can make sell. In our 4 fun or profit candle making tutorials, we show you how easy it is to make your own candles and where you can sell them. Here are 5 candle making projects that we’ve written about here on TMMI that are so easy, even a kid could make them:

Aromatherapy Candles – these are some of the most sought after candles today, not only for their fragrant aroma but because they are great for de-stressing after a hard day. We show you how to make your own aromatherapy candles in 10 easy steps here.
Votive Candles – maybe you’ve never heard of votive candles but they are often used in religious ceremonies or to light up a patio at night time. When people buy votive candles they usually buy several of them at a time because they are smaller than ordinary candles. This makes them a very lucrative candle making business to get into. Votive candles are also easy to make and we show you how in 9 easy steps.
Scented Candles – these are some of my favorite candles to light up. I love to light up my lavender scented candle about 30 minutes before I go to sleep because it helps me to relax. They’re the latest “in thing” in candles and we show you how to make them in 12 steps here.
Molded Candles – probably one of the most fun to make are molded candles. I love to make these because they make really beautiful, decorative pieces to have in your room. I love giving them as gifts too. Plus, they’re not that hard to make. We offer an easy tutorial here.
Neat Candle Making Ideas – in this article we show you how to make some fun candle making projects such as number shaped candles and candles in different containers. These tutorials all have a video so you can watch them over and over until you feel confident enough to try.
Candle Making Kits – perhaps the easiest way to get into candle making is with a candle making kit because it gives you everything you need to get started.

The above are all handmade candles that you can learn to make in no time. You only need a little imagination and creativity to get started. So what are you waiting for? For more information like this, visit TeenMoneyMakingIdeas.Com.

4 Fun or Profit: How to Make Easy Charm Bracelets

Erica — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 05:29:35 +0000

The following article is from TeenMoneyMakingIdeas.Com:Here at TMMI we’re all about offering you ideas about things that you can make that are not only fun but profitable. As a teen, we have an eye for what’s cool and trendy.

But we also love to create things. So how do we go about combining our love for fun, fashion and profit? Well, one way to do this is by designing simple, but cute charm bracelets that are fun to make that we can sell to put some cash in our pockets! That’s just what I thought about when I saw these:

Most of the Charm bracelets above are handmade and some of them are being sold by young entrepreneurs just like yourself on etsy.com (just think, that could be you!) Charm bracelets are not only beautiful they can be very easy to make. And once you know how to make them, you can sell them to your friends and family or even at bazaars and flea markets. If you don’t already know how to make charm bracelets, then you need to start off with an easy pattern to follow. Here’s one that you can make as simple or as fancy as you like:

Instructions:

Tie a double knot on the end of a piece of stretchy cord for making jewelry. String on beads and charms using the photo above as a guide. Tie ends together. That’s it, you’re done!

You can buy all of the individual supplies you need from MakingFriends.Com, or you can buy their complete kit for under $1. Imagine that! Less than a $1 to make something as cute as a charm bracelet that you can sell and make money on. Have fun making these. I think they’re an awesome way to spend your free time profitably!

photo credits: [photo 2, photo 3, photo 4, photo 5, photo 6, photo 7]For more information like this, visit TeenMoneyMakingIdeas.Com.

4 Fun or Profit: How to Make Aromatherapy Candles

Roxanne — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 12:49:08 +0000

The following article is from TeenMoneyMakingIdeas.Com:If you want to start a candle making home-based business, you should learn how to make aromatherapy candles. Aromatherapy candles are the hottest products in the candle making industry. In today’s day and age, people lead stress filled lives and have lots of aches and pains. These candles can help people feel rejuvenated and so, lots of people are interested in buying aromatherapy candles due to their therapeutic qualities.

You will require the following materials to make aromatherapy candles. These materials are available at Northstar3c.com and Southern Scentsations.

hot plate or stove top
double boiler setup
1 to 1.5 lbs of soy wax
candy/candle thermometer
candle wick
candle mold
mold sealer
work space clear of inflammable items
newspaper
long thin rod (e.g. knitting needle, chopstick, pencil etc.)
candle color of your choice
candle fragrance oils like vanilla, clove, lavender, orange chiffon, rose petals, pumpkin cheesecake, water blossom ivy, grapefruit, peppermint, lemongrass, eucalyptus etc. You can find a wide range of candle fragrance oils at fragranceoilsuppliers.com
toothpick
baking soda (to put off fire, if need be)

Here is the guide on how to make aromatherapy candles.

1. Prepare a workspace clear of inflammable items, by laying down old newspapers. If the molten wax spills over, you can just throw the newspapers once the candle making process is complete.

2. Insert about 0.5 inch of the candle wick into the hole at the bottom of the candle mold. Now roll this section of the wick around your finger. Using some mold sealer, seal the hole and cover the coiled wick. This is to ensure that molten wax does not ooze out of the hole.

candle molds

mold sealer

3. Pull the other end of the wick upwards such that the wick is taut and then, tie it to a long thin rod like a pencil or knitting needle. Place the long rod on the candle mold’s top.

4. Set up the double boiler on a hot plate or stove, and drop the soy wax chips/chunks into the double boiler. I prefer to use soy wax, as it comes out of the candle mold easily and is ideal for making aromatherapy candles.

Simple double boiler using an old sauce pan containing water, and a
meting pot

Soy Container Wax

5. You will find that the wax melts between 150-200 degrees. You would have to use a candy/candle thermometer to check the temperature of the wax in the double boiler. Once the wax melts, turn off the stove.

Pouring Pot

candle thermometer

6. Prior to removing the molten wax from the heat, add the candle color and the fragrance oil of your choice. About 1/8 cup (30ml) of essential oil is normally enough. You can use candle fragrance oils like lavender, vanilla, clove, rose petals, pumpkin cheesecake, water blossom ivy, grapefruit, peppermint, lemongrass, eucalyptus etc. It’s great to select candle colors as per the fragrance oil you plan to use. For instance, blue lavender candles, red or pink rose candles, cream colored vanilla candles, purple jasmine candles, deep maroon clove aroma candles and so on. You can find a wide range of candle fragrance oils at fragranceoilsuppliers.com.

7. Remove the molten wax mixture from the heat and continue to stir till all the ingredients blend.

8. Pour the mixture into the candle mold and allow it to cool naturally for about 30-45 minutes. When you see that the top layer has thickened, make holes near the wick using a toothpick to allow the air to escape.

9. Once the candle has cooled completely, remove the mold sealer from the bottom of the mold. Uncoil and stretch the 0.5 inch wick. You can then easily pull the aromatherapy candle out of the mold.

10. Untie the wick from the long thin rod and cut off the excess wick, leaving about 0.25 inch. Cut the excess wick from the candle’s bottom.

Now that you know how to make aromatherapy candles, there are some fire safety instructions that you must never forget.

Workspace must be free of inflammable items at all times.
Never melt wax on the stove top/hot plate directly. Use a double boiler setup.
Never leave the wax unattended, while melting it in the double boiler.
If the wax catches fire, never douse it with water. Make use of baking soda.

You can get tons of marketing ideas to sell your aromatherapy candles at the following two links.

50 Free Ways to Market Yourself Offline

25 Free Ways to Market Yourself Online

If you liked this, I am sure you would love to check out how to make a votive candle and how to make a molded candle.For more information like this, visit TeenMoneyMakingIdeas.Com.

5 Upsells for Your Lawn Care Business to Make Maximum Profit

Steve / moneywizkid — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 10:12:44 +0000

The following article is from TeenMoneyMakingIdeas.Com:As a teenage entrepreneur, you want to make the maximum profit in your business. The lawn care business is no exception to this. Apart from mowing lawns there are a lot of other ways to make more money on your existing customers if you know how to upsell. Even if you don’t know what upsell is, you probably encounter it at least once every day.

Picture this: you’re in Starbucks ordering your favorite drink when the cashier casually suggests to you that for $1 more you can get the next larger size. And without thinking about it, you agree. Another example is when you order a Big Mac in McDonald and just before you pay for your order, the cashier asks you if you would like to add a drink to your order for an extra dollar. Without much thought, you dig a little deeper in your pocket and pull out an extra dollar. Guess what? You’ve just been zapped by the magic of an upsell!

Like most people you probably know the concept of what an upsell is, but you’ve never really understood it. But mastering this strategy means that you’ll be able to make extra money from your existing customers. If you already have lawn care customers, here are 5 additional service or upsells that you can offer your customers to increase the profit from your lawn care business:

Offer driveway edging – edging is when you trim away the excess grass and dirt over the sidewalks and driveway to leave the yard looking neat and manicured. A lot of people love the way their lawns look when the edges of their lawns have been trimmed, so this should be an easy upsell.
In the fall, offer to rake leaves. This one is huge – so don’t overlook it! In the fall when there are a lot of leaves, no one likes to rake them up. So this where you can come in.
In winter you can offer your lawn care customer to shovel snow for them.
Offer to plant trees, flowers, or bushes for your customers.
You can offer to trim existing shrubbery on your customer’s property.

As I’ve pointed out before, if you’re out of school for the summer or even after school, the lawn care business is a great idea for you. Don’t think that because there are a lot of commercial lawn care businesses out there that you won’t make money at it. Trust me, there is still plenty of business out there for you.

Also, another good thing about the lawn care business is that if you live in a residential area, your parents probably already have of the equipment you need to get started. Just make sure you take care of their things so they allow you to continue using their equipment.

Just today, my kid brother made $100 in just a few short hours of yard work near where we live. Plus, he’s set up another job for $40 for next week. You can do it too. You just need to get out there and make it happen!

credits: [photo 1] [photo 2] [photo 3]For more information like this, visit TeenMoneyMakingIdeas.Com.

4 Fun or Profit: How to Make A Friendship Bracelet Made of Hemp

Erica — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 16:08:04 +0000

The following article is from TeenMoneyMakingIdeas.Com:Hemp is a soft fiber made from a plant. It can be used to make all kinds of things including fabric, building material and fuel. One of the more fun things that you can use it for, however, is a friendship bracelet made of hemp. Searching around on the internet, I found a site called ijitsa.com that designs and sells friendship bracelets made from hemp on their website. Some samples of the kinds of bracelets they sell are below:

As you can see, they’re really beautiful! And they sell them on their website for between $7 and $10.

I think friendship bracelets are a great craft idea to make and sell. Kids, teens, and even adults love friendship bracelets. And they’re really not difficult to learn. If you don’t already know how to make friendship bracelets, here is one simple pattern from makingfriends.com that you can learn to make using hemp in a natural color.

You can buy all of the material you need for making it from makingfriends.com for between$10-$15. And for that little, you’ll be able to make dozens of bracelets that you can sell!

Here’s a basic pattern that you can add beads to like in the 2nd photo above.

To make this friendship bracelet made from hemp, you need:
–6 Yards #20 Hemp
–Misc. Beads
–Masking Tape

1. Cross strand 1 over strands 2 & 3 and under strand 4.

2. Bring strand 4 under strands 2 & 3, then up through the loop created by strand 1. Tighten.

3. Cross strand 1 over strands 2 & 3 and under strand 4.

4. Bring strand 4 under strands 2 & 3, then up through the loop created by strand 1. Tighten.

Adding Beads:
Any kind of beads can be added at any point on the bracelet. You can string them on one, two or all four strands. On the bracelet shown above, beads where strung only on strands 2 & 3.

[beads]

Finishing:
When you reach the desired length, make a knot to match the other end. Remove tape. Trim ends, leaving enough to tie on wrist. Make a knot on each strand end to keep from fraying, adding a bead if desired.

Don’t forget the old saying, “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again”. So if you make a mistake the first time, just start over and keep practicing. In no time at all, you’ll be able to make beautiful friendship bracelets made from hemp that you can sell to just about anybody!

How To Make Hemp Bracelets on Howcast

For more information like this, visit TeenMoneyMakingIdeas.Com.

How to Set the Right Prices in Your Lawn Care Business

Steve / moneywizkid — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 14:25:42 +0000

The following article is from TeenMoneyMakingIdeas.Com:I’ve already shown you how someone can make over $100,000 in the lawn care business by using the example of Emil Motycka who started his own lawn care business at the age of 9. Most teens have experience mowing the lawn at home so starting up this kind of business should be a piece of cake for a teen who isn’t afraid of breaking a sweat. But the one thing that a lot of you might have trouble with is setting the right price for each job that you take on. Well, being the investigative reporter that I am (*clears throat*), I searched around the internet to see what other people are charging and came up some averages that you can use to set your own prices.

First, there are a couple of ways to set prices. You can either set hourly rates or you can set rates by the job. Let’s look at the average hourly rate first. On the lower end, I found that in places like Orlando, and Chicago, the rate is between $15-$25 per hour. But on the higher end, the rate is between $25-$40 per hour in places like San Francisco and Cincinnati. This should give you an idea of what you might want to charge in your own area. But before making a final decision, do a little research a little more research by talking to people near where you live and even talking your prices over with your parents.

The second way of setting your prices in your lawn mowing business is by the job. However, this isn’t really recommended until you have a lot of experience at accurately sizing up a lawn and setting the price. The last thing you want to do is to underestimate a job and end up getting paid a lot less than the job is worth; nor do you want to overestimate the price because if you do that, you’ll end up losing customers to the next guy who is charging a lot less. With enough experience completing hourly jobs, you should be able to look at a lawn and tell how long it’s going to take you to finish it. So, for example, if you think the lawn is going to take you about an hour to mow, then you might charge $35. Eventually, when you get really fast, you might be able to cut down the amount of time it takes you, thereby you’ll be able to make more money in less time.

One research tool that I highly recommend is a site like www.craigslist.org to see what other people are charging in your area. I’ve said this before about starting other kinds of business: start out by charging a little less than what other people are charging in your area; this way you have an advantage over your competition. Once you have several customers, then you can level out your prices a bit to what other people are charging.

Good luck and happy lawn mowing!

For more information like this, visit TeenMoneyMakingIdeas.Com.

How to Step up the Game on Your Dog Walking Businesss to Earn Even More

Steve / moneywizkid — Fri, 28 May 2010 07:04:26 +0000

The following article is from TeenMoneyMakingIdeas.Com:Dog walking is a great business for a teens to start and we’ve already shown you how to set up your business and then how to market it. Well now I’d like to show you how to step up the game on your dog walking business so you can earn even more money.

With any business you start, your goal should always be how to take it to the next level and help your business to grow and expand. The same goes for the the dog walking business. Think of it in this way: the dog walking is the main course, but what about the appetizers and the dessert? You want to be able to make money in other ways too, not just on the main service that you offer – which is the example of the main course. The more add-on services you offer people, (appetizer and dessert), the more money you can make.

So just what are some add on services that you can offer? Well there are lots. Pet Sitting, for one thing, is a great additional service that you can offer to your customers. There are so many times that pet owners need to be away from their animals for extended period of time and they have no one to care for them. On top of that, they hate the idea of putting their pets in a kennel. They would much rather leave their pets with someone who is going to give them the one-on-one attention they would like them to have.

This is where you can come in. Your pet sitting service can include staying with a customer’s pets – either dog or cat (if you’re a cat lover as well), for an extended period of time in their home or yours. Of course you will need to discuss this with your parents ahead of time to get permission to do this and figure out exactly how it will all work.

During the time that you’re pet sitting, your responsibility will be to keep the pets entertained, take them outside for exercise, feed them and give them water. How easy is that! And how much fun is that – especially if you love pets anyways! Oh and don’t forget that you will also have to clean up any mess that dog or cat makes as well. That’s not so much fun, but it goes with the territory. You will also need to decide if you’re going to administer meds the the animal may be on while your customer is away. I wouldn’t suggest that you accept to pet sit any animals that you have to administer medication to, because I think that’s just too much responsibility that you would have to shoulder if anything was to go wrong.

The pay for pet sitting ain’t to bad either, I might add. According to PetSitters, the average rate per visit is $14 but other people suggest a rate of $50 per day visit. If it’s an overnight stay, the rate goes up significantly; around $60 per night according to PetSitter, and some people charge as high as $100 per night. To figure out what you should pay in your area, check out your local Craiglist to see what other people are charging. You can beat the competition by charging $5 or more less than what everybody else is charging.

If you’re going to be doing pet sitting in the customer’s home, other services you can offer are watering their plants, collecting their mail, picking up their clothes from the dry cleaners; maybe even some lite house keeping such as dusting. If someone is going to be away for a day or more they may need all those things done, and it’s a chance for you to make more money. If you’re going to offer these extra services, your rates, of course, will be higher than the ones I quoted you above. You can add on anywhere from $5 on up depending on the number and complexity of the tasks you’re going to be doing.

Other services that you could offer are feeding of other small animals such as fish, birds and cats!

If people are animal lovers it wouldn’t be unusual for them to have any of the above additional pets in their homes. You can offer your services to care for these animals as well.

And while you’re at it, what about a bit of lite yard work such as mowing the lawn or clipping the hedges? There are so many ways to make extra money from what you’re already doing, that you’re only limited by your imagination! If you have dog walking customers, there are tons of other ways that you can step up the game on your business by offering customers that you already have other valuable services. And I’ve only scratched the surface here in this article. Now it’s up to you to take what I’ve said here and put it into action so you can earn even more.

credits: [photo 1] [photo 2]For more information like this, visit TeenMoneyMakingIdeas.Com.

How to Make Over $100,000 in the Lawn Care Business

Steve / moneywizkid — Thu, 27 May 2010 06:38:35 +0000

The following article is from TeenMoneyMakingIdeas.Com:As summer approaches many teens begin to think about ways to get a job and earn some spending money. After all, school is out and you have more time on your hands. But if the idea of working long hours for someone else doesn’t appeal to you, then why not consider starting your own business? One business idea that does really well in the summer months is lawn care.

In the summer, lawns tend to grow a lot faster than they do in the winter months. And we all know how most people feel about mowing their own lawns. It’s just not a job that most people enjoy.

In addition to this, people tend not to have as much time to take care of their own lawns because they would much rather spend their summers going to the beach, shopping, vacationing and other fun activities.

Also, according to news-record.com, “Americans spend $30 billion a year on their lawns, more than the gross national product of dozens of countries”. For a teen with an entrepreneurial spirit, those figures should spell opportunity. The lawn care business is a booming business so why not get in on it now while the opportunity is still there? If you enjoy the outdoors and want to earn money working for yourself, the lawn care business may be just thing for you.

So what doe this have to do with earning over $100,000? Well, by starting your own lawn care business, you will be joining the ranks of people like Emil Motycka who “began mowing lawns at the age of nine, after a teacher challenged students in his elementary school class to figure out an alternate way to pay for college”. Emil later formed his own company and by the time he was a senior in high school, his company earned over $135,000 from it!

Who would have guessed that you could make over $100,000 mowing lawns? The truth is, with determination and drive you can make more money than you can imagine .

One of the keys to Emil’s success was the help of his parents who he credits for accompanying him to make sales calls and driving him to his lawn mowing jobs when he was too young to get his license. So if you’re a teen and you’re interested in starting this kind of business, it’s important to get the support and help of your family because they can be an important key to your success.

In addition to this, you should also be prepared for the type of work that lawn care entails. Mowing laws involves a lot of long hours and manual labor. However, if hard work doesn’t intimidate you, then you may be just the type who can easily make over $100,000 in the lawn care business.

To be successful, you should also research the area you live in to locate people that are in need of your services. Your neighbors are a good place to start and from there you can branch out a little further. Of course, the further out you venture away from home, the more in need of help from your family you will need. Again, try to get the help of your parents or older sibling.

Having the right equipment is also important to your success. Without it, well, you just wouldn’t get very far in your quest for riches. So be sure to get your equipment together first before starting out. You should be able make a deal with your parents to use the family equipment until you make enough dough from your earnings to save up to buy your own. Or, as Emile did, took out an $8,000 bank loan which his parents cosigned for so he could buy his own equipment. Of course most people aren’t going to agree to give you a loan or to cosign for one without evidence that your business has potential to make a lot of money. So the first thing you need to do is get your business off the ground first. Some of the basic equipment you need include:

lawnmower
rakes
gloves
safety glasses
work shoes
proper clothing

Last but not least, if you’re going to make a lot of money in your own lawn care business, you need to market yourself well because no one is going to hire you if they don’t know you exist! Making up fliers and slipping them under people’s doors is one of the cheapest ways to do this. You should also get up early on weekends when most people are out mowing their lawns. This is an excellent opportunity for you to go though your neighborhood and introduce yourself and your services by handing out your fliers. Also post your fliers in places like supermarket bulletin boards, libraries, laundries and dry cleaners.

Although it’s a lot of work, having a lawn care business is very rewarding. At the end of a job, you you can look and see your accomplishments. Also, you’ll have all the benefits of working for yourself and watching your lawn care business grow. Now in his 2nd year of college, Emil Motycka’s business grew from a tiny neighborhood service into Motycka Enterprises, LLC in which he now offer year-round property services. With a little hard work and patience, your business can be a success too.

photo credits: [photo 1], [photo 2], [photo 3]For more information like this, visit TeenMoneyMakingIdeas.Com.