• Learning and Earning
• Starting Salaries
• Decoding Your Paycheck
• Be Your Own Boss
  • Planning your Business
  • Money & Your Business
  • The Law & Your Business
• Take the Entreprenuer Challenge

Planning Your Business

You can start taking on odd jobs – like cutting lawns in your neighborhood – pretty easily. But if you want to get serious about starting a business, you need to have a plan.  These questions will get you started:

What product do you wish to sell or service to provide?

How much do you already know about this?

Do you need materials or equipment to start up? Will it cost a lot? Where will you get the money?

How much will you have to spend to get the business going?

Where will you run your business? Can you run it from your home?

Who will your customers be?

Why do people want or need what you are offering?

How much time per week will it take? When will you work?

If this is not just a summer business, how will you balance work and school?

How will customers hear about you?

What will you charge?

Is there another business like yours in the neighborhood or area?

What does the competition charge/offer?

Can you do a better job than the competition?

Do you need help from your parents? Are they willing?

Can you do this by yourself or will you need helpers or a partner?

For more ideas, visit the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Teen Business site .