Hot New Business Ideas for the Summer

With the summer vacation nearly upon most students, there will undoubtedly be thousands of eager young people pounding the pavement for summer employment. Perhaps working at McDonalds or Wendy's will suffice for many, but if you want some real experience, and something substantial that you can be proud to have on your resume, you might try generating your own income by means of a small business.

For nearly all students, the desire to make some extra cash over the summer is a driving force. The easy choice is to take a minimum wage job, this is because it costs you nothing but time to start earning. Even if you have the determination to start a business, you may not have any capital, the money you need to start anything up, or the time to invest in "company image" or building a customer base. But don't let these factors hold you back from trying, and you may be surprised at your results come September.

Here is a list of quick and easy business ideas that anyone can immediately start to work at. They are ordered from the least start-up cost to the most (which isn't really that much anyways):

Dog Walker: Insert you rolling your eyes already, but hear this out. These days pets are treated as a full-fledged family member, complete with little feelings and all. Remarkably, there are plenty of dog-lovers out there who would be willing to part with upwards of $I0 to $20 for a "dog-sitter." You pick up the dog early when the owner heads off to work, and then return it with a full stomache and at the end of the day. If you have any experience with dogs, then you'd know how to handle a few of them at a time. Now let’s say you can get five clients who do this for the length of the summer at $20 a day? That's $100 a day for hanging out with other people's pets! Nine weeks later you've made $4,500 lunch money. Not bad. And as a bonus, you could offer other services, such as a weekly wash for an extra $10, or take the dog to the vet. The extras can add up too, and if you are good at what you do, the word will spread!

Window Cleaner: Here's another that requires virtually zero start-up money. You could plaster the residential areas door-to-door style offering free estimates, or for an easier sale, go to the commercial stores that make up little strip malls. Every store owner gets their windows don, either by employees or professionally. Although cleaning a window takes all of 45 seconds, it's a hassle to businesses to do themselves, so most store owners in cities get it done. The amount you actually charge them may seem pretty cheap, perhaps as low as $5 for a window per week, but even 10 clients could make you a substantial income, especially considering how little time it actually takes you to complete the work. Most window cleaners will average at least $40 per hour doing this. If you have a car, you potential clientele multiplies by the area you can cover as well. I know many people who have adopted this line of work as their main source of income.

Pressure Washing Sidewalks: This one takes a little more planning, but the earning potential is very high. All retail establishments with an entrance from a sidewalk end up with a filthy mess of gum, dirt and grime all over their concrete. Especially is this so with fast food joints! Spilled pop and radiated grease gets tracked all over the sidewalk until it literally turns black! If you have access to a pressure washer, most places will have no hesitation to pay to spray it down for them. A washer with suitable volume and pressure can be obtained for around $500, a good one for perhaps just under $1000. Your total start-up costs are normally no less than $1,500, but the demand is great and the pay is too. Most pressure washing businesses operate on about $60-80 an hour, depending on the job and their overhead. Some sample rates: Drive Thru pad and curbs - $90, Dumpster pad - $60 and complete fast food restaurant sidewalk jobs for $200. This is a job that requires a bit more planning, and not as much seat-of-your-pants winging it to get the job done, but if you have the wherewithal to pull it off, then there's a lot of money to be made.

Lawn Maintenance: Mowing the lawn is a task most people know how to do, but simply don't have the time or the desire to do it themselves. Personally, I would rather pay an enterprising youth $20 to do my lawn instead of spending the hour and headaches involved in doing it myself. Multiply that by say, five lawns per day and you have some good money flowing in and the next week you can do it all over again. It's an easy job and if you're lucky, you can snag your parent's lawn mower back home to do it!

Lawn Aerating: More and more people are doing this to their lawns, a process of punching holes in the ground to bring in air, water and to improve the soil. The machine is a fairly specialized contraption which can be rented for the day from most local rental shops for less than $40. Line your business up beforehand and do a blitz. It only takes as long as mowing the lawn would take, but you can make $30+ per job. This is something that goes hand in hand with lawn maintenance and could be added on as an up sale for your clients.

A word of advice though: Bringing a lawn mower with you door to door is not only impractical, but seems unprofessional. Many have done it though with good success, so feeling out your own territory is the best thing to do. And when you're soliciting business, making estimates and otherwise interacting with your customer, try to look respectable. You have no idea how far a tucked in shirt will take you! Try to see through your customer’s eyes and identify with what they’re looking for. Dress like a professional and you’ll get treated like one. Dress like a punk, and you’ll be kicking stones for the whole summer.

Good luck in all your business ventures!