Small Business Ideas For The Season
Four Small Business Ideas That Will Help You Generate New Money This Summer
By Darlene Meyer
Summer is finally upon us, and with that brings activities that we may or may not do year round, depending on where we live. Some of the first things that come to mind are gardening and mowing the lawn.
This is also a good time to wash all the windows and clean out the garage.
And best of all, many of us take summer vacations, even if they are of a scaled down version this year.
If you think about it, all of these summer activities also bring to mind small business ideas that you can quickly get started on to generate new money for yourself this summer. While many people may enjoy doing these activities themselves, many others may be too busy to add these activities of gardening, mowing their lawn, washing their windows and cleaning out their garage into their already hectic schedule.
That is where you come in. You could start any one of these four small businesses from your home to help these people out:
1. Lawn Mowing and Gardening Business – Mowing the lawn, pulling weeds and trimming around the fence and curbs is typically a weekly activity. Depending on the size of someone’s property, this could take them anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours.
As a business offering this service, you could approach homeowners in a variety of neighborhoods and offer your services to them this summer. Show them how you will save them time that they can then spend going to a baseball game or playing in the park with their children.
Create a list of services and a fee structure for each service that you offer. Setup contracts with your clients that show that you will be there on a weekly basis so that you can create a summer schedule for yourself.
Make your services as convenient as possible for the homeowner. For example, when you mow the lawn, bag the clippings and take them away if your client does not want the clippings left on the lawn. Also, carry grass seed and fertilizer with you so that you can quickly help out a client that has any dead patches in their lawn.
If your client is a new homeowner you may wish to provide them with information on how often their lawn will need watering and how often they should fertilize so that they have a nice healthy green lawn.
This is a great small business to start on your own or with a friend.
You will need:
- a used pickup truck
- lawn mower
- weed puller
- trimmer
- grass seed
- fertilizer
- garbage bags
- rake and shovel
You could also put together inexpensive business cards and educational flyers for your clients. You can quickly and easily create these promotional materials on VistaPrint.com.
2. Window Washing Business – This is a service that you can offer to homeowners on a monthly or twice yearly basis, depending on their needs.
Another great idea is to approach homeowners that have recently listed their home for sale. If they have not already cleaned their windows then you can gain clients by speaking with them about the advantage of having sparkling clean windows when trying to sell a home.
You can also approach offices with front windows and doors, as well as shopping malls. Several times, while sitting in my doctor’s office waiting room I have noticed the window washer come in to do the interior doors as well as the exterior doors and windows. Last week when leaving the shopping mall I also saw two ladies around College age, cleaning the exterior mall doors.
Office and store windows usually need to be washed on a weekly basis or maybe even several times a week.
You could create contracts with a service and fee schedule and approach these locations with the offer to sign a contract that specifically states which days you will be there and what you will clean. That way your clients know when to expect you, and you can create a summer schedule for yourself.
3. Pet Sitting and House Sitting Business – One of the first things I think of when I start to plan a vacation is who will look after our two cats and our house while we are away?
Some people may ask a neighbor to drop in. Others may prefer not to impose on their neighbours, so they look at hiring someone that specifically offers these services. We hire a cat sitter every time we go away. It is easy and convenient and we know we can count on her.
With summer just beginning, this would be a perfect time for you to create a pet and house sitting business.
Again, as mentioned above, create a list of services that you will provide and the associated fees.
The more convenient you can make it for the homeowner, the better. So offer little extras while they are away, like watering the lawn and the garden and bringing in the mail. Perhaps you could buy a fresh carton of milk and juice and put it in the fridge the night before they return. You could also buy some fresh bread or bagels to leave in the kitchen on your last day, along with a thank you note for their business.
4. Garage and Outdoor Living Space Organizing Business – Many people get so busy with their daily schedules that they just don’t have the opportunity to clean out and organize their garage or their outdoor living area.
Then summer comes along and although they do not like the way things look, they find that they don’t know where to start to get everything organized and cleaned up.
That is where your new business fits in. You could offer to either help homeowners with their clean-up and organization needs, or you could offer to do all the work for them.
As mentioned above, create a list of services that you can do and the prices that you will charge. Perhaps you can team up with a friend that is also interested in generating new money this summer and work on this business together.
If the homeowner wants to work with you on organizing their garage you could use this as an opportunity to educate them on good organizational techniques that will work for them for a long time. You could also offer to take any appropriate items for recycling as part of your services.
Explain how being well organized will benefit them in terms of saving them time and money. Once everything is organized it will be easier for them to find things and they won’t end up buying the same item twice, simply because they couldn’t find it or forgot they already had it.
For all of the small businesses above, find neighborhoods that you would like to work in and then walk around in those neighborhoods on Saturday and Sunday afternoons when people are usually outside. Approach people with your business card or a flyer and explain the services that you offer and how soon you can begin to help them out, if they are interested.
You can easily create quick and inexpensive marketing tools for any of the small business ideas that I mentioned above by going to VistaPrint.com or VistaPrint.ca. You will find templates for business cards, flyers, brochures and even t-shirts that you can wear while you work.
A great marketing tool is to get a bunch of nice t-shirts printed and give them to your family and friends for free so that they can wear them when they go for a walk in the park, or to the grocery store, which will provide you with free advertising.
I wish you much success with which ever small business you begin!
Darlene Meyer works exclusively from home where she enjoys researching and finding solutions for people that would like to make more money so that they can live the life they have always dreamed of. To learn how you can Start An Online Business in 7 Easy Steps visit: http://www.generate-new-money.com/online-business.html
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Tags: Fee Structure, Fence, Lawn Mowing, lawn mowing business, Lawn Weeds, Mowing The Lawn, New Money, pet sitting and house sitting business, Pulling Weeds, Scaled Down Version, small business ideas, Small Businesses, Summer Vacations, window washing business
