Clean up with Your Own Yard Work Business

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Teens can make clean up and make good money doing yard work with the right tools and determination. To get started, you’ll need to get permission from your parents since you’ll be working for strangers. Make sure they know where you’ll be at all times. Keep a cell phone on hand as well, if you have one, for added safety.

Before deciding to do yard work, you’ll have to choose what type of work you want to do, such as raking leaves or mowing grass, or both. Then you’ll need to be sure you have all the tools you need to do the jobs you chose.

If needed, ask your parents for money, or use your allowance to purchase the tools you need. A new lawn mower is expensive, but you can easily find an inexpensive used mower to get you started. You might also be able to ask your parents if they’ll let you borrow their mower until you’re able to purchase a used one of your own.

Purchase a rake and hedge clippers. You might also want a bag to carry them in. You’ll also need gloves and large trash bags. Be sure to keep plenty of bottled water with you at all times so you won’t get dehydrated working out in the heat.

Decide what you’ll charge for your work. Consider how much time it takes for you to mow a yard or rake leaves. You’ll want to make at least minimum wage. You can ask possible customers what they’ve been paying for the services you offer and charge accordingly. Just be sure to charge enough to make a good profit, without charging so much you can’t get any customers!

You might want to ask a friend to help you. For instance, while you’re cutting the grass, your friend could trim the hedges and pick up leaves. Of course, you’ll have to split the money you make. But splitting the work means you can do more jobs in a day, so it may work well for you.

When looking for your first customers, walk around your neighborhood and ask the people you know if they could use your services. Since your neighbors know you well, they might expect a lower price. But explain that this is a business and you have to make money. Most people will understand that.

Advertise your new business by putting a low-cost ad in the paper and posting flyers around town. You can also ask the principal at your school if it’s okay to post flyers there for the teachers to see.

When advertising, make sure you put all your contact information on the flyers and in the ads. Include your name and telephone number, and even an email address if you have one. You might want to use a cell phone to take business calls so you won’t have to keep your home phone tied up.

Keep a notebook of all the people who want to use your services. Note down the name, address, and phone number for each one. You might want to keep two copies so you have a backup, and let your parents know where the second one is so they can find you, if needed. Schedule the number of yards you’ll do each day so you don’t overwork yourself.

Whenever possible, do as many yards as you can early in the day. Be sure to take a break when you need it since this work can be tiring and you can easily get overheated when on sunny days, especially.

And be sure to take some time off! It’s not good for anyone to work everyday. If a customer needs a job done on your day off, let them know you’ll do it as soon as possible, but that you never work on certain days.

Treat your yard work like a business. Act professionally with your customers. Be polite. Be on time and dependable. If you can’t make it, let your customer know as much in advance as you can.

If you enjoy the work, you could turn this into a full-fledged lawn care service before you know it. If not, you can still enjoy the extra money you earn and build a good reputation for yourself. Whatever you do, have fun while earning extra money doing yard work in your spare time.

Tags: Business Ideas, Business start-up, Teen Business Ideas, yard work business