In my last post, I explained how to “sell” the services that you can offer this summer to earn some cash.  Now, I want to focus on some examples of the kinds of services you might offer. 

What is your special talent?  Like kids? Start a summer camp.  Loved your film class?  Offer to help a small business shoot a film about their business or a product they are trying to showcase on YouTube.  Good on the computer?  Help someone set up a  Facebook page or Twitter account.  Getting the picture?  Okay – here are a few “other” thoughts to get you thinking:

Pooper-scooper the back yard weekly or daily for families that let dogs do their business at home.  Offer to walk the dogs during the day when the owner is away at work.  Summer is a great time for this and owners will love that their beloved pet is getting playtime outside.

Semi-house-sit by offering to get the mail and keep things tidy while your neighbors are away on summer vacations. 

Offer to plant planters for a homeowner who just cannot find the time to do it themselves.  Offer to do this for your own family first for just the cost of materials so you can take a few pictures to show potential clients the kind of work you are capable of doing. Check out local nurseries for ideas.  Take a few pictures of what the professionals have done and copy the work.  Who knows, working for the nursery could be your next summer job – especially if you can show them the work you have done this summer.

Be a parent helper.  Run errands or help with the kids so mom and dad can have some time to tackle projects.

Clean out basements or garages and help organize a garage sale for a homeowner.  Agree to a 60/40 split of the profits with the owner.

Let me know if you hear of any other creative and entrepreneurial ideas that I have not thought of.  Share them here so we can get our kids working so they can help us and themselves at the same time.

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Written by Susan Beacham
Susan Beacham founded Money Savvy Generation in 1999 after almost two decades in private banking and investment management complemented by considerable time teaching at the elementary level.

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