Chapter Eight

Starting Your Own Business

Starting a business is not for a select group of people, privileged individuals, or only adults. You do not have to come from a family who previously owned a business, and you definitely don’t need to have a business degree — or any degree at all for that matter. Anyone who is motivated and passionate can run a business (I’m looking at you).

Why You Should (or Shouldn’t)

Maybe you’re furrowing your brows at the thought of starting your own business. Maybe you’re smiling pretty intensely. Hopefully you’re somewhere in the middle with a curious brow raise and a slight grin.

Before you get too excited, let’s look at why you should (or shouldn’t) start your own business.

Financial freedom

When you work for someone else, you get paid only for the time you actually work. When you work for yourself, you make money 24 hours a day, seven days a week, especially if you are selling on the Web.

You also get some tax breaks and benefits when you’re doing your own thing, which is nice.

This also goes the other way, though. If you aren’t successful, you aren’t making money.

Flexible hours

When you work for yourself, you have the advantage of creating a schedule that can change as necessary so you can maintain your current school schedule. You can work more during breaks and take time off for exam week (not that you need it).

Your time, your training

When you work for yourself, you decide what is important for you to know. You will earn hands on training in a variety of subjects. In a corporate job, you would be limited to one job and one set of duties and responsibilities.

Responsibility

As your own boss, you are responsible for the successes or disappointments you face. As it stands right now, if you are working for someone else, you are giving that person full control over your situation.

By taking control of your future, you have no one to blame but yourself for your difficulties. On the other hand, you have no one to praise but yourself when you create a successful and marketable business.

Bragging rights

No, we didn’t mean bragging to your classmates (although you could…), we meant bragging on your résumé! Being able to say that you started your own business is a great bullet point and conversation starter when it comes time to interview for that really scary job. It puts you one step ahead of everyone else.

Why other business fail, but you won’t

One of the biggest reasons that small businesses fail is a bad business plan. Business plans are to a business owner like navigational systems are to a ship captain. It is the one thing that will keep you from crashing into business wasteland.

Here are some other reasons why business fail pretty quickly:

First of all, we’re going to look at business options that aren’t really going to cost you any money. Check.

Second of all, the kinds of businesses we have in mind don’t require you to hire any managers. Check.

Third, you’re young and youthful. Stay away from that sick kid, will you? Check.

You’re starting on top. Let’s take a look at some business ideas.

Business Options

So, you’ve decided you want to start your own business. That’s great! That means you can skip the interview process (for now). Here are some ideas of possible businesses.

House sitting

When people go on vacation, what happens to their home? Are their personal belongings safe? You can make sure everything stays in place by offering house sitting services.

Your job would be to stay in the homes or to check in regularly and watch the personal belongings of families or individuals on vacation. You would be responsible for doing things like mowing the lawn, getting the mail, and keeping the home neat and tidy.

I know what you’re thinking. How much money would I make? House sitters can make $200 to $500 per project, depending on the length and time the family needs your services. Many house sitters can make up to $20,000 annually.

This may sound like a great idea in theory, but it is realistic. To get started, talk to homeowners that you know and those in your area. Put up fliers in community centers offering your service.

If this still doesn’t sound like something you could do, look at the site www.housecarers.com to read some house sitting articles.

Pet sitting

Houses not really your thing? What about animals? Professional pet sitting is more than just a walk-your-dog-for-an-hour business. This is like babysitting, but with an animal. The profession has grown into the thousands, due largely in part to the number of households and families getting family pets.

If you decide this sounds like fun, these are some of things you’d be doing:

You don’t need a master’s degree or anything to do this job, but you do need to love animals and have some kind of knowledge about animal behavior and health. If this is something you’re interested, read some books on the subject.

Here are some recommendations:

Pet sitters can make anywhere from $20,000 to $40,000 annually, depending on how many pets they care for in a week. You may be paid on an hourly basis or per project. Negotiate — this is your business after all.

Don’t know where to start? Contact local shelters to offer your services to animals without owners. Contact veterinarians, pet stores, animal hospitals, pet groomers, and animal boarding houses to offer affiliate services with them.

Still not sure if it’s for you? Visit the following websites and take a look around: www.petsit.com and www.petsitters.org.

Tutoring

If you’re really good at a subject, you’re probably used to your friends asking you for help (what’s the answer to question 3 again?). Why not get paid for it?

Tutors work one-on-one with students and individuals in a range of areas. You can be a tutor that will help with all areas or you can be a specialty tutor of one of the following subjects:

“Patience is a virtue” is not just a saying with this line or work. You need to have patience of steel to work as a tutor. You also have to be good at communicating.

For personal instruction, you can charge whatever you want, the standard being from $30 to $125 per hour, or you can charge a per project fee (per project meaning until the person you’re working with understands the material). Annually, tutors can make anywhere from $20,000 to $75,000.

To get started, contact schools and other vocational institutes to offer your services to children or adults in their organizations. You can let the office staff at your school know that you’re interested in tutoring, and to give you some credibility, you can ask your teachers to write you a letter of recommendation. This will let the parents know that you’re actually good at the subject you want to teach.

If you want to learn a little bit more about tutoring, visit www.americantutoringassociation.org and www.reading-tutors.com.

You can also read the book The Teen’s Ultimate Guide to Making Money When You Can’t Get a Job by Julie Fryer, which has an entire chapter on tutoring.

Lawn care

Can’t get enough of the outdoors? Lawn care might be for you.

The basics of lawn care include mowing grass, trimming bushes, weed eating, and taking care of grass clippings and leaves.

The best way to figure out how much to charge for your lawn care business is up to you. However, a proven model when you first start out is to ask your client to set the price. Once you establish yourself, you can start charging a fixed price. A generally accepted fixed price that is competitive, but will still make you money is $35-$45 per half acre and $25-$30 for a small lawn.

To get started, you can go door-to-door and say something along the lines of, “Hi, I’ve been wanting to make a little money this summer. If you need help taking care of your lawn, I’m your guy/girl.”

Word-of-mouth and social media are also going to help you find customers.

To read more on the subject, visit www.postandcourier.com/article/20120603/pc1207/120609873 to read an article about Billy’s lawn care success story.

Growing and selling produce

Now, this sounds like a stretch, but it isn’t impossible. If you live in a climate where you can grow produce, there are people who want to buy it. Think of it as your own personal farmers market.

The best way to sell produce like this is to go around the neighborhood and — you guessed it — go door-to-door.

You can sell fresh produce for comparable prices to the grocery store and in some cases, maybe even a little more. In this case, how much you make will depend on how much you produce.

It doesn’t cost a lot to start a small garden, and you may even find that it becomes a passion.

To learn how to grow fresh fruits and vegetables, read the Back to Basics series on how to grow fresh plants. Some of these books include:

Getting Started

If you have decided that one of these business options sounds like something you can do (or if you have an idea of your own), you need to test out your concept. Your family and friends can offer great insight into whether your business idea will work. Knowing them on a personal level will make it easier for you to explain your concept and how you plan to make your business idea happen. They may even have some suggestions on how to make it better or where to look for some customers.

When you do address your family and friends, you want to be in a casual setting. Ask them about the business as you would ask how your outfit looks, subtle but serious. Here are some questions you should think about asking:

When you finish asking questions and feel confident that you’re ready to get started, you need to create a business plan.

Creating a Business Plan

Creating a business plan doesn’t have to be complicated — especially if you’re running a one-man (or woman) show. After all, you’re not trying to build a corporation here; you’re trying to make a little extra cash.

Making a business plan may seem a little “extra” if you know what I mean, but it’s great practice for the future, and it gives you a clear direction. When you’re asked about your business in the future, say during that coveted interview, how cool would it be if you whipped out a business plan?

The basics of a professional business plan include the following parts (all concepts here taken from the U.S. Small Business Administration website at www.sba.gov):

Don’t be scared of the business plan. If you do make one, it can be a great way to give you and your business some credibility. Trying to get a new customer? Show them that business plan so that they know you’re serious.

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