Nothing, if the first step is testing whether anyone wants it. Every idea in the Young Founder library starts with a free test, because the fastest way to lose a kid's interest is to spend forty dollars on supplies for a business nobody asked for. Gear comes out of the first paying customer, not out of your wallet.
The fastest way to kill a kid's interest is to spend forty dollars on supplies for a business nobody asked for. Now there is pressure, there is a drawer full of gear, and the whole thing feels like a debt before the first customer shows up.
So every idea in the library opens with a free test instead. Ask five neighbors if they would pay for it. Post the offer and see if one person replies. Do the job once for free for someone who will tell you the truth afterward. The point is to find out whether anyone wants this while it still costs nothing to find out.
Once somebody says yes and pays, the money for gear comes out of that. This is the part that changes how a kid thinks. Equipment stops being something a parent buys and starts being something the business earned, which is a completely different relationship to a forty dollar purchase.
Each starter guide splits gear into what to get and what to skip for now, and the skip list is usually longer. Most of what looks necessary in a video is what a business buys in year two.
Five questions about age, budget, time, and what they actually like doing. Four matched ideas at the end, free, with no email needed to see them.
Take the quizA kid who cuts, edges, and cleans up usually starts between $25 and $40. Professionals charge about $30 to $85 a visit, and a young founder starting below that is being paid less for being unproven, not for being young.
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What should a kid charge to mow a lawn?Ten people who already know them, one prepared sentence, and an easy way for each of them to say no.
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How does a kid find their first customer?Less than almost anyone expects, and for a lot of these ideas the honest answer is nothing until somebody has already said yes to a price.
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How much money does a kid need to start a business?Earlier than most people think, as long as the business matches what the kid can actually handle. The limit is rarely age itself.
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What age can a kid start a business?A program from Founder's Best Friend. Built for kids 8 to 18 who want something of their own.