Ally Woodrum's Making Money Blog

This idea is for kids, but with modifications would work for anyone. It’s basically the way Paula Deen (of the Food Network) originally started her business many years ago. Mom or Dad, you will definitely need to be involved and help the kids out with this idea.

What is the idea? It’s simple — what kind of homemade treats do you like? Make them, wrap them in individual sized portions, and sell them to your friends before or after school or at practice or games or other places.

Let’s get into this a little further — Mom/Dad buys the ingredients at the store, then helps you make the treats, package them, and decide how much to charge. You take them with you to school or other activities, and sell them to other kids. (Be sure not to sell the items on the school grounds, you’d get in trouble for this.) Once you’ve sold your first batch, pay Mom/Dad back for the cost of the ingredients. With some of the money that’s left, buy more ingredients, make more treats and sell again.

Some Tips:
1. Make several different kinds of treats and see which ones sell the best.
2. Get Mom/Dad to help you price the treats. You need to make enough to cover the cost of ingredients and make a small profit.
3. Start out small, make one batch of treats and take 3 or 4 per day, don’t try to sell too many at once. If your treats are good, kids will tell other kids, and your business will grow.
4. To start, do this one day a week, so your friends will have something to look forward to. If it goes over well, you can add more days if you’d like.
5. Make sure you price the items so that you don’t need to carry a lot of change.

Mom and Dad — this is a great way for kids to make a little spending money, learn to cook, and learn how to figure costs and profits. You need to make sure that the kids only sell the treats in appropriate places. Think about covering the cost of ingredients once, to help get the kids started, then after that let them pay you for the ingredients. Remember, this is a way for kids to make spending money and at the same time learn some valuable life lessons about working, about business, and about the value of money.

Here’s a great resource for more money-making ideas for Kids.

Suitable For:  Kids of all ages — maybe someone will do this at work!

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