birchbark Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 We've thought of baking or making birdhouses. Tried growing and selling mini-pumpkins at the end of the drive and sold not a one. We live too rurally for lawn and yard care. Does anyone have some good suggestions or links to similar threads? :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RahRah Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 If you have a ceramics shop nearby, you could buy unfinished ceramic Christmas ornaments, get them painted and sprayed and go to handicraft weekend sales near the holidays? Also in the line of thinking - handmade Christmas cards? Handmade gift bows or doo-dads or name cards? If you were to do something like that, and were at a sale, you could also offer hand-dipped pretzel rods (chocolate and other things), etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 Try JA sites, there is one called CEO kids, lots of books on this as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalknot Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 My 10 year old makes covers for iPads, portable DVD players, DSs, etc. primarily out of duct tape. His other supplies are inexpensive (padded envelopes, velcro) so overhed is cheap. He uses birthday and holiday money to keep his duct tape supplies up, and puts 80% of his profits back into his product. He makes a decent 'living' at it, and I even charge him a finders' fee when I bring in a sale for him (through work). I also charge him a fee if I have to make a special trip to the store to purchase supplies (as opposed to if we're at the store and he mentions he needs supplies). Last year he also made nylon cord bracelets and sold them to a bunch of other 8-12 year old boys around town. He only charged $5, made multiple colors - including team and school colors, and did great because it was a small enough charge that the kids didn't always have to ask their parents for the money to buy them (and kids bought more than one over time). He talked a local restaurant owner into letting him sell the bracelets at his counter for a period of time, and again - with the agreement to share a percent of the profits. He wants to sell his random stuff online. He has a few friends who also have things to sell, and they want to create a little marketplace for kids "like Amazon" so they're learning how to build a website. He's always been an ideas guy - some are great, many fall flat. During lean times he reads library books n business plans, entrpreneurship, and those written by successful CEOs and companies. He usually ends up with inspiration and a renewed sense of determination. His first book was the freebie my company gave us when we got hired; glad someone cracked it open LOL. This upcoming baseball season he plans to undersell the concession stand on candy and bottled water. We have four boys and a girl doing baseball, so we're at the field all day long on Saturdays ... plus the concession stand isn't always open on weekday games. We've talked briefly about citizenship and ethics, and I plan to go into that more when season approaches but I'll ultimately leave the decision up to him as to whether he follows through with this. (It's not illegal or disallowed, I just wouldn't do it myself.) Do you live within 30 minutes of a golf course? He can collect 'lost' balls and wash them up (only costs soap and an old toothbrush), then re-sell them to golfers. We lived on the course, so we set up shop in the backyard. Huge sign, cute kids, free cookies - hard to resist :D. The kids would spend 30 minutes collecting balls, 30 minutes washing them, and an hour or so in the yard selling. They even started running a credit for people they knew, and printed out a bill at the end of the week. Rather than pay me for a stamp, they hand-delivered the bills and usually ended up being paid immediately and given a treat to eat LOL. They'd clear $75-100 over a weekend for about 6 hours of work (half of it just being in the yard waiting for golfers to pass by) and $1 worth of soap. They'd sell the normal ones for $1/ea and the pro brands for $2/ea. I charged them a rental fee for the back yard space. He could do this by paying you for an hour of your time to take him to sell balls outside a club or driving range. Not all clubs like this, FWIW, but mine didn't mind. Much. Until they found out how much the kids were making, then the adults started collecting balls too :glare:. What are his interests, and what is he good at? That will help us think of things that would be less general and more appropriate to his situation. I know my son can come up with some good ways if he knew more about yours :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birchbark Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 Anyone else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlylocks Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 My children have been raising chickens and selling the extra eggs. Then this past spring, the oldest got the idea to incubate eggs as a science project and we hatched 24 eggs! :w00t: She took the chicks to a swap at the local Tractor Supply. She sold all the chicks within a half hour. She made a good amount... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 I'm sure that your child is clever enough to make any one of a number of worthwhile goods or services. This may sound counter-intuitive, but the first thing I'd think about is not what to sell, but to whom will he sell? Family? Peers? Internet Folks? Roadside Stand? If you can think of a good answer to this question, it can narrow down the options of what he can do. Oh, and if he hasn't already, "The toothpaste millionaire" is a very inspiring book to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristusG Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Pet sitting? If people go out of town, they could bring their pet to your house for your son to take care of it? That is, if you don't mind the pet being there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simka2 Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 He could become a professional soccer player http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/6843531/real-madrid-signs-7-year-old-argentine-prospect-leo ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reesegirl Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 If you belong to a church or have lots of friends, your child can send out an email or hand out a flyer stating that he is willing to pick up discarded things that might be sold in a garage sale, then set it up, do advertising in the paper and sell stuff. My daughter has done this a couple of times....once for a trip to PEI with friends and once for a mission trip. For the trip with friends, she was up front that it wasn't a mission trip and people still donated just to clean out their garages. He will be doing people a service to remove unwanted stuff and still learning skills to make money, selling making change, advertising etc..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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