Looking for the best small business ideas for teens to help them generate an income? Here are the best teen business ideas your teens can get into easily.
Nowadays, people from various age ranges can start their own businesses, even teenagers. Teens are now more exposed to technology and are more open-minded toward entrepreneurship, allowing them to implement small business ideas despite their young age.
Look at Mark Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook when he was just nineteen. We all know how massive Facebook has grown over the years, and it all started with Mark’s brilliant idea. There’s also Blake Ross, who established Mozilla Firefox at nineteen years old.
And oh, let’s not forget Fraser Doherty, who started selling Super Jam at fourteen years old, using his grandmother’s recipe. Today, that jam business is worth two million dollars.
This proves that a teen’s business idea could blow up and become successful. While we are talking about bigger ideas here, beyond the classic lemonade stand youran in your childhood, these young entrepreneurs only prove that it all starts with a business idea.
Why run your own business as a teenager?
Table of Contents
Teens have a lot going on in their lives. They have school, extracurricular activities, and social lives. So why throw running a business into the mix?
Supporting your teenagers to implement their business ideas allows them to acquire essential life and business skills.
Running a small business firsthand gives your teens a real-life practical lesson on entrepreneurship. Not only do they learn how to charge a fair rate for their products or services, they also learn how to market their business, connect with potential customers, and scale their business.
Given some time, your teens will realize if entrepreneurship is right for themand may decide to pursue business-related degrees. Otherwise, your teen has had the experience of running a business;such an experience could help them decide on their path in the future.
Best Small business ideas for teens you can start right now
You don’t have to wait until your teens become adults to allow them to start a business and support them in running that business. Here are the best business ideas for teens to start today with low upfront costs.
- Photography business
Running a photography business is a great business idea for teens. If your teen has an interest and potential talent in taking pictures, this business idea would be most suitable. At most, your teen would need a decent digital camera to capture high-quality portraits, but smartphones with great camera resolution work just as well. Teens can work as assistants for wedding photographers, so they could be paid to cover family events and celebrations.
Alternatively, they may offer shops and local businesses services for their social media campaigns.
- Graphic design business
There’s always a huge demand for graphic artists. The best thing about these gigs is that most clients don’t care about one’s diploma or age — provided that = the graphic designer can provide effective graphic content.
This is one of the best business ideas for teens, as the work is often flexible. Teens could work with clients and agencies needing logos, social media materials, posters, and more. Apart from local businesses, teens may be able to find outsourced graphic designer jobs through social media platforms and job marketplaces like Fiverr.
Need inspiration? This teen leveled up his graphic design hobby and started to earn money by putting his designs into hat clips and pins.
- Social media influencer
Teens are heavy users of social media platforms. But instead of just using these for socializing online, your teen could earn extra money by being a social media influencer.
Social media influencers are online personalities who promote brands on social media channels like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube. To become a social media influencer, you need to increase the following on your social media page and put up relevant content. This is one of the most lucrative business ideas for teens that can help them earn money while doing what they love.
- Print-on-demand business
If your teens want to sell online, a really cool small business idea they could start is a Print-On-Demand or POD. This is a business model wherein your teens create designs that can be slapped onto different merch products, like shirts, hoodies, mugs, caps, and journals.
POD is a really good business idea because minimal upfront costs are involved. Your teens will run their own shop, which means theycan be more flexible and have enough time for their studies and personallives.
- Delivery service business
Many business ideas don’t require specialized skills. For example, your teens could create a delivery service business wherein they run errands for other people.
To execute this business idea, your teens must tell people they are happy to deliver stuff for others. They might be asked to deliver packages or pick up stuff from restaurants, pharmacies, and stores. Older people who aren’t physically fit and busy moms who don’t have the time to do these things are some of the best customers for this business.
- Lawn care business
Lawn care is one of the best business ideas for teens, as many young people have proven. Zach Cox of Ohio is a 14-year-old who runs a thriving lawn care business in his neighborhood. He started providing lawn care services at ten years old, and his small business has grown since then, allowing him to hire his friends.
Your teens can start promoting their business online and through word-of-mouth. Theycan start with one to two clients, and after providing exceptional services, they should get busy with more clients. Adding extra services, like landscaping, fertilizing, and pressure washing, should help them get booked more frequently.
- Childcare services
Providing childcare services is also one of the cool business ideas for teens. Many parents look for childcare services, especially when they need to buy time for themselves or are too busy with work.
If your teens have experience looking after younger siblings, this is a great small business idea for them. Apart from child care, your teens could offer extra services, such as tutoring young kids, allowing them to charge an extra fee.
- Personal shopper
One of the best business ideas your teens may find cool and enjoyable is personal shopping. A personal shopper helps customers at all or various points of the shopping journey, from identifying the best products and processing orders to delivering.
One of the best personal shopping platforms your teen can join is Instacart. The company requires personal shoppers at least 18 years old, so this is a great teenage business idea as soon as your child is eighteen,
- Dog walking business
Pet owners need to exercise their dogs and take them outdoors, but they don’t always have the time or energy to do that. This is why dog walking services is a brilliant small business idea for teens. Walking dogs is fun, does not require skills, and it’s a service your teen can readily offer to neighbors and friends.
Apart from dog walking services, your teen may also offer related services to pet owners as the business grows, such as pet grooming and lodging (when owners need to be away from home for a few nights). This is a great idea for teens who are passionate about animals, as caring for pets comes naturally to them.
- Car washing service
A car washing business is also an awesome way for teens to earn extra cash and an easy business idea for teens that can be implemented right away. Teens may offer car washing services to neighbors and family friends to start. They may take on more clients during weekends and school breaks.
Starting a new business in car washing also does not cost much. At the very least, your teen needs to prepare some cleaning materials, like buckets, sponges, and squeegees. If your teens want to earn more money, they could also offer light housekeeping.
- Craft-making business
If your teens have a flair for making handmade crafts, this could be one of her best business ideas. They could create embroidery, jewelry, tote bags, home decor, seasonal items, and more. They could also start their own candle-making or soap-making business. Indeed, there are plenty of ideas for teens to explore within this niche.
Marketing is a crucial component of a business’s success. Teens can set up an online business to sell their products on Etsy and similar platforms. It’s also good to leverage social media and market there as well. Additionally, they could consign their items to a craft fair vendor and display the products during local craft fairs.
- Tech support business
Nowadays, teens are so tech-savvy that they could even start their own tech support business. This is an excellent small business that teens can do, whether face-to-face or remotely.
Many people are falling behind the fast-paced technology, and this is where your teen’s tech support business comes in handy. They can be technology tutors and help people learn new apps and programs.They could also troubleshoot computer issues. Once they establish themselves as the go-to persons for techy things, your teens could quickly build up a thriving customer base in your community.
- Music Lessons
Teens who are excellent in music can take advantage of this wonderful small business idea: teaching others how to play musical instruments.
Music lessons can be a great way for musically talented teens to make money. They can teach violin, guitar, cello, or any other musical instrument that they’reskilled in to younger kids and even adults who want to learn music in their free time. They can also teach one-on-one or charge a different rate when teaching a group of students.
- Web designing business
If your teens have incredible computer and internet skills, they could make money as web designers. This is, in fact, one of the best business ideas for teens right now.
Your teens can approach local stores and businesses and offer to create basic websites for them. Professionally designed websites are often expensive, but your teens can still acquire customers by charging a fair price. This can be an excellent opportunity to make extra money while your teens further hone their talent in web design.
- Playing video games
It’s common to see teens playing video games in their spare time, but why not urge them to make money from their skills instead? There are plenty of money-making opportunities in this field.
First, your teens may live-stream their games on YouTube, Facebook Live, and Twitch. These are some platforms where your teens can make money from views, ads, and even cash sent to him. Also, he could become a game tester. All he needs to do is sign up for a game testing program, test an online game, and then make money!
Related:
13 Ways to Get Paid to Watch Netflix and Other Videos Online
- Social media marketing business
Teens are probably the savviest people on social media because they grew up with it and are heavy users of it. That also means that your teens may better understand how to market a business on social media.
Running a social media marketing business is indeed one of today’s best business ideas for teens. They can help small businesses or local stores gain more visibility online, improve reach, and increase sales by implementing various strategies. This highly rewarding job can equip your teen with lots of practice should he or she want to pursue a field of digital marketing later on.
- Cake-making business
Your teens could also run their own cake-making business, bake cookies or brownies, or indulge in other food-related business. Let them tap into their entrepreneurial spirit, find joy, and make extra cash, making and selling delicious goods.
Your teens could offer to bake a cake for a friend’s birthday and, from there, build up theirbusiness through word-of-mouth. Soon enough, people in the neighborhood would reach out to them to bake cakes and cupcakes for their events.
Again, putting up their own website and social media channels also significantly helps build up exposure for theirsmall business online.
- Make an app or online game
App or game development may seem sophisticated and daunting, reserved for those with advanced knowledge. But let me tell you, some teens have built apps and games and made money from them.
For example, 19-year-old Josh Tint of Arizona developed an app that helps people explore their gender identity. He won the 2022 SWIFT Scholar and had the opportunity to meet with Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, for a demo.
It’s also worth mentioning that in 2013, a teen named Nick D’Aloisio, who was 17 years old, sold his news reading app to Yahoo for a whopping $30 million!
So, if you see your teens invested in building their own apps or online games, support them . Theycould sell online and build a successful business at an early age.
- Retail arbitrage business
Young entrepreneurs understand the concept of “buying low, selling high,” and this suitably applies to a business model called retail arbitrage. Retail arbitrage is finding products sold at low prices in flea markets, garage sales, local stores, and other places and then selling with a profit on other platforms and online marketplaces.
Take Max Hayden of New Jersey, for example. At the height of COVID IN 2020, the 16-year-old teen discovered retail arbitrage. Upon learning that gaming consoles and inflatable pools were selling like hotcakes, he sought these in-demand products, purchased them, and resold them on Amazon and other online marketplaces. He ended the year earning over 2 million in revenue.
- Laundry service
Providing laundry services to busy people is also an excellent business idea for teens. Some people get so busy during the week that they can’t do their laundry. Your teen can earn money by offering to do laundry for them in their free time or during weekends.
As the business scales up, your teens may also offer to pick up and drop off laundry services at additional costs. This is a great idea as it can help offset the costs of supplies and resources required to run the business.
- Design and sell greeting cards
If your teens are artistically inclined, designing and selling their own greeting cards can be a viable business idea.
This business picks up during specific seasons, such as Valentine’s Day, Mothers Day and the holidays. Since many people still opt for physical cards instead of digital greetings, your teens can leverage theirtalents and set up their ownonline business.
- Tutoring younger kids
Is your teen exceptionally good at certain subjects like Chemistry or Algebra? Some students find these subjects challenging, so their parents hire tutors to help them with their lessons.
This is an opportunity for your teen to make money from his or her academic gifts. She could do face-to-face tutoring sessions with other kids at night and on weekends. Your teen could also charge a little more in helping other kids prepare for important exams, such as the SATs.
- Cleaning services
Some people don’t have the time to clean their homes, which, thankfully, creates a job market for teens. Your teen could offer cleaning services, whether cleaning an entire property for a couple of hours or tidying up someone’s room.
Your teens need to invest in some cleaning materials and supplies.They ‘ll also have to advertise their cleaning services in one way or another to help them build a customer base. In most cases, a referral from one happy customer to another works best, so providing exceptional cleaning service is paramount in this business.
- Video editing services
If your teens are skilled at creating beautiful videos, this is another business idea worth exploring. Many people need video editing services, such as wedding photographers, event planners, and even small businesses that need marketing collateral.
Your teens could upload a portfolio on an online platform like YouTube or Vimeo. This is a good way to showcase his or her video editing skills. He may also contact local businesses and give them his contact information.
- Vlogging
With people consuming videos more than ever, a new market for vlogging has opened up over the past couple of years. And the best thing is that teens can become vloggers and make money from this hustle.
Your teens could explore a vlogging niche they are most passionate about. They may use YouTube to showcase their passions or interests, show slices of their life, or even run a faceless channel if they are shy. Their channel can be monetized in many ways, including ads, sponsored videos, and affiliate partners’ payments.
How can a 13-year-old start a business?
There are several business ideas that a 13-year-old could start, including babysitting, car washing, lawn mowing, running errands, pet sitting, dog walking, and more.
What businesses can I start in high school?
If you’re in high school, you could start businesses on tutoring, cleaning, making and selling handmade crafts, video editing, teaching music, graphic designing, and more. Or you could also become a YouTube vlogger or social media influencer.
Conclusion
Starting a small business at a young age helps teens learn valuable life lessons that come in handy as they grow into adulthood. As parents, it is best to provide guidance and support to teens showing an early interest in entrepreneurship.
May this article be a valuable resource in letting your teens set up and run their own successful businesses. Which small business ideas did you find most suitable for your teens? Let’s connect in the comments.
