Kids Kreative Korner
Looking For a Good Business to Start? Here's How You Can Turn Trash Into Cash.
By Bonnie Drew
Taking out the trash is one of those jobs everyone hates to do. A smart young entrepreneur can turn trash into a gold mine.
HOW TO GET STARTED
1. Make some flyers advertising your Trash Can Patrol. List such services as taking cans to the curb, returning cans to the house, or setting out things for recycling pickups.2. Also offer inside trash services. With this service, the night before trash pickup, you go to the house, empty all the household cans, and prepare the trash for the next day.
3. Set rates for all your services. Some young people charge $5-10 a month for two trash pickups a week. That averages out to about 25-50 cents each time you take a can in or out.
4. Be energetic and confident when you go knocking on doors and handing out flyers. Offer free service for a week. This will give you time to demonstrate your dependability and prove the value of your service.
ADDITIONAL SERVICES FOR A TRASH CAN PATROL:
* Recycling services* Washing and deodorizing wastebaskets and cans
* Painting house numbers or last names on cans
Two boys names Ashley and Karsten started a trash-toting business in the apartment complex where they lived. They noticed that their neighbors hated carrying trash downstairs and across the parking lot to the trash bin every morning. So Ashley and Karsten offered to do the job.
They set up a regular route of trash pickups customers. Then they took turns running the route before school every morning. Each neighbor paid them 50 cents for every trip they made to the dumpster.
Bonnie Drew is the author of FAST CASH FOR KIDS (2nd edition), published by Career Press (1-800-227-3371). She is also the creator of the KIDS BUSINESS software for young entrepreneurs, available from Homeland Publications (713-332-9764).
Drew is also Editor of YoungBiz online magazine, published by Kid's Way, Inc., a company that helps youth prepare for business and the workplace of the 21st century. For more information, write to Kid's Way at 5589 Peachtree Rd, Chamblee, GA 30341 or call toll free 1-888-KidsWay (1-888-543-7929). YoungBiz magazine can be found at http://www.youngbiz.com
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