17 year old looking to start own business

[joseph13byrd]

Just like the title says, I’m 17 I have a good bit of money stored away but I need to start working soon and I don’t really want to work 9-5 for someone else. I saw a post one time that said I’d rather work 100 week working for myself and toward something I’m interested and motivated in then work 40 hour week for someone else that I don’t really enjoy. I mow some lawns but it’s for old neighbors only get like 20-25 a house, and haven’t really had any other straight up jobs in my life. Would like a company I could build upon every year and scale to a full-size company one day.

 

[doubtingdisciple]

@joseph13byrd Window washing is another area to consider. Once you know how to do it you can race through a house giving them streak-free windows and charge well for it. Train more people and then spend your time getting jobs and running teams. I did this when I was your age (minus the teams part, lol).

 

[joseph13byrd]

@doubtingdisciple Yeah I saw a guy that made like 10k his first month(which is more then most people would make by a lot) but just shows you what you can do with time and hard work

 

[ammo1113]

@joseph13byrd 20-25 a house, you’re underpricing. I got my 12 year old at 30-35 a yard and that’s underpriced. Indiana so
It’s not a high cost of living market here.

Here’s my pitch for you, same as my 12 year old but I can’t get him to bite yet really. He loves to mow but not the others. So you focus on tree planting, pavers, hardscape shit. Get trees from rural kind for $35 each or so, some mulch and plant/mulch them for $125 a tree, do 3 for $350. Call utility locates before you dig.

Here’s a bonus for you my guy, I like a motivated gen z human. Do mailboxes. Like nice ones, stone or brick. I’m trying to stick to ideas you can do with a trailer and a danger ranger.

 

[joseph13byrd]

@ammo1113 I really appreciate and love the ideas you have, I’ll have to look into that, I don’t live in a great area not a lot of room for some of that but I’ll look into places within driving distances to get into that market, thank you so much

 

[ammo1113]

@joseph13byrd Make you some flyers too and do some door knocking on your off time. I make my kiddo carry a notebook, at the top he will write the street name and then line item the addresses. He’ll keep basic “did they answer? Yes, no, maybe, fuck off” he’ll skip the fuck offs next time and the hard no. The hard no revisit next year. The maybes or no answers we revisit.

If you can talk to someone and hand them a flyer and say “hey I’m Toby, I’m 17 just trying to get my mowing business going. I have been mowing for 3 years now, really have a passion for it and offer a variety of other services like mulching, garage cleanouts, etc. Here’s my flyer if you’re interested.” That right there will carry 100x the weight of a paid Facebook ad. Like they’ll literally have to see your online ad 100 times to get that same effect.

Avoid the folks with the aggressive no soliciting signs even though I’m almost sure they aim those at the window salesmen and not the kid mowing grass. Better to respect folks. Disrespect will never ever gain a customer.

 

[joseph13byrd]

@ammo1113 Alright I’ll work on a good sales pitch for it and start designing a logo and flyer

 

[ammo1113]

@joseph13byrd I’ll let you know if I think of any other ideas. I really do like seeing the next generation motivated and hungry for entrepreneurship.

 

[joseph13byrd]

@ammo1113 Thank you so much

 

[ilh]

@ammo1113 That's not overcharging for old neighbors, though, folks on fixed income may not be able to afford more and you will be more value for you in that relationship than you will be squeezing them for a extra few bucks. Maybe can charge more as a starting rate for new clients though.

Learning a trade (plumbing, HVAC, tree service that includes trimming/telling, etc) will allow you to be your own boss sooner rather than later if you choose to go that route. Once you have the skills, you will get to call your own shots because you will be in great demand constantly.

 

[afaithfulbeliever]

@ammo1113 Depends on the yard size / market / what you're offering to the customer. Our average runs $45 a lawn but we're a company with insurance and use walk behind mowers. Most guys will run through a lawn with a ride on in 5 minutes w/ 3 guys for $35 all day, just some people care more about the quality and such

 

[whitab]

@joseph13byrd What about seeing if your older neighbors need anything else? Like dog walking or errands or help with gardening or landscaping? 17 is perfect time to start as ppl loving helping young ppl and will be more willing to forgive any mistake

 

[joseph13byrd]

@whitab I’ve cleaned the ones gutters and put up Christmas lights at times

 

[loriet]

@joseph13byrd Landscape construction. Lots of money to be made. Company can be scaled accordingly and you can move into higher end markets as you grow and learn. Minimal start up costs, lots of variety.

If I were in your position, I would see landscape construction as the best route.

If you ever want more information, feel free to shoot me a message. Have been in the industry a while.

 

[anamta]

@joseph13byrd Power washing, painting, landscaping, gutter cleaning, mowing, window cleaning. Once you have enough clients to actually call yourself a biz go legit and learn taxes/insurance ect.

 

[613jono]

@joseph13byrd You’re 17 and to be honest, you likely don’t have any trade skills and evidently little or no work experience. This simply won’t get you far.

You can clean windows, but do you know how to clean windows? Do you know what equipment to use? Sure you can start super basic but will people pay you £10 to likely do a poor job at cleaning windows? No.

What you need to do is bite hard on a stick, and get a job. Get experience, real work experience. Some of the most valuable business knowledge I know is from working a 9-5 so please don’t see it beneath you.

 

[caca]

@joseph13byrd Two main categories:

1) sell things for more than it costs you to acquire and Market them

2)provide a service

Manufacturing is a blend of the two.

 

[afaithfulbeliever]

@joseph13byrd Hey there, shoot me a DM if you're interested in connecting for some help. I've done D2D selling a couple of services successfully as well as I currently am running a landscaping company that will do 500k+ its 2nd full year w/ employees. Not the biggest company in the world by any means but most service businesses are very similar in every way except for the service itself.

 

[derrynhman]

@joseph13byrd While youre at it learn skills. Sales ( your case D2D sales) & marketing.
Hit up the wealthier neighborhoods that could use your help and can afford to pay you. I started landscaping when i was 14. Learned a lot and the wealthier neighborhoods was a turn around for me. Had over 30 houses in one area. They wanted to help me out and my prices were reasonable. $30 a yard front or back each time, included weed pulling, grass mowing and edging. Twice a month worked good for them. Today you can charge double that.

 

[crice]

@joseph13byrd I’m 17, doing 15-20K/month doing window cleaning. Its possible!