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Questions

Straight answers about kids and business

The things parents and kids actually ask before they start. Age, money, the legal questions, how to price it, and where a first customer comes from.

Parent

Are business kits for kids actually worth it?

It depends on what the kit ends with, so ask that directly: a real customer paying real money, or a completed workbook? Much of the category is a simulation at a similar price. Also check whether it tells a kid what to do on Saturday, whether the parent ends up teaching it, and whether it handles the asking, which is the actual obstacle. None of them work for a kid who is not interested.

Parent

Can a 12 year old start a business?

Yes, and twelve is one of the better ages for it. A twelve year old can set a price, explain what they do, follow up with somebody who did not answer, and track their money. Transport is the one they cannot hold, and electronic money and unfamiliar houses still need you. The failure mode at this age is not capability, it is letting every conversation route through a parent.

Parent

Can a kid use Venmo, Cash App, or PayPal?

It depends on the app. Venmo offers Teen Accounts for 13 to 17 set up by a parent, and Cash App has sponsored accounts for the same range. Apple Cash covers under 18 through Family Sharing. Zelle and PayPal both require users to be 18 or older with no minor option. Under 13, the realistic answer is cash with a written log.

Parent

Can a minor get an EIN?

Yes, and most kid businesses do not need one. A sole proprietor with no employees can use a Social Security number instead, which covers almost every kid mowing lawns or babysitting. An EIN becomes useful when a bank asks for one, when your kid hires somebody, or to keep a Social Security number off paperwork handed to customers. It is free from the IRS.

Parent

Can a minor have a business bank account?

Not on their own. Anyone under 18 is presumed to lack the capacity to enter binding contracts, and a bank account is a contract, so banks require an adult. A joint or custodial account, a teen checking account, or a parent-opened business account with your kid as an authorized user all work. At small amounts, a separate envelope and a notebook does the same job.

Parent

Can my kid open a Roth IRA with business income?

Yes, and it may be the most valuable thing here. Self-employment income from mowing lawns or babysitting counts as earned income, which is the only requirement. It works as a custodial Roth with you as custodian and the money belonging to your kid. The limit is the lesser of their earned income or $7,500 for 2026, and anyone can supply the money, so you can match what they contribute.

Parent

Can my kid sell food they made at home?

Usually yes, under your state's cottage food law, and this is the one area where guessing is a bad idea. What varies by state: which foods qualify, whether registration or a food safety course is required, where you may sell, and whether there is a revenue cap. Shelf stable items are generally fine and anything needing refrigeration generally is not. Read your own state's agriculture or health department page.

Parent

Can my kid use a lawn mower or power tools?

There is no single age, so use a standard: a kid should be able to tell you what would go wrong before they do it. If they cannot name the failure mode they are not ready to work unsupervised. Mowers get treated too casually, pressure washers are the most underestimated item on the list, and ladders and heights are worth a flat no that survives a good argument.

Parent

Can two kids share one kit?

They can share the novel, the Parent Guide, and the Door Knock Guide. They cannot share the workbook, which is written in, or the consumables, which get used up. Two kids on one business rarely works at this age, since the point is owning something and a shared thing is nobody's. Most families want one kit plus a second workbook and consumables rather than a whole second box.

Parent

Customers contact me instead of my kid, what do I do?

Adults default to the adult, and they are being polite rather than dismissive. The problem is that a parent who relays every message is holding the customer relationship, and a kid who never hears from a customer directly never learns scheduling, tone, or how to handle somebody who is unhappy. One sentence redirecting the customer, plus a way for your kid to actually be reached, fixes most of it.

Parent

Do child labor laws apply to a kid running their own business?

Generally not to their own work. Federal child labor rules govern an employer-employee relationship, and a kid running their own business is self-employed, so hour limits and work permit requirements typically do not apply. Two qualifications: some states are broader than the federal standard, and the moment your kid hires another minor, the full range of protections applies to that worker.

Parent

Does my kid have to pay taxes on money they earn?

Probably. A kid who clears $400 or more in net self-employment income in a year has to file a federal return and owes self-employment tax, regardless of age. That is net after expenses, not gross, and it is separate from income tax, which generally does not apply until earnings pass the standard deduction. Mowing, babysitting, and dog walking all count.

Parent

Does my kid need a business license?

It depends on where you live and what the business does, so check your city and county rules before your kid takes money. Many small kid services fall under the thresholds that trigger registration, and food is the most common exception. One call to your local clerk's office beats an afternoon of searching, and anything you read online, including this, is a starting point rather than a ruling.

Parent

Does my kid need an LLC?

Almost certainly not. A business with no paperwork is already a sole proprietorship, which is free and is the right structure at this scale. An LLC costs money to form, costs money most years to maintain, and protects assets that for most kids amount to a bike and a savings account. It becomes a real question with real revenue, employees, genuine liability exposure, or a customer who requires it.

Parent

Does my kid need insurance for their business?

For most kid businesses, no. The more useful question is what your homeowners or renters policy already covers, since these typically exclude business activities and most families assume more protection than they have. Call your agent and ask whether your kid is covered when damaging something during paid work. Power equipment, ladders, vehicles, and hiring anyone are where it becomes worth real consideration.

Parent

Does my kid's business income affect financial aid?

It can, though most kid businesses are too small for it to matter. Aid formulas treat student income and assets less favorably than parent money, but there is an income protection allowance below which student earnings are disregarded, and a few hundred or a few thousand dollars usually sits well inside it. Federal aid rules were recently overhauled and figures change annually, so verify the current year before acting.

Parent

Does this work if my kid already has a business?

Yes, and the value lands differently. A kid who already earns moves quickly through choosing and testing an idea, then spends the real time on pricing, asking somebody new, repeat customers, margin, and taking over the parts a parent has been holding. Two cautions: if they are stuck on one specific thing a whole program may be more than you need, and if they are happy without wanting to grow it, this will feel like homework.

Parent

Does Young Founder work for homeschool?

Yes, and homeschool families are who it was built around, though it is not an accredited course and carries no credit of its own. It runs as a ninety day project with a book, a workbook, and a real business at the end, which families usually log under electives, life skills, or economics depending on their state's categories. It also works well in a co-op.

Parent

Do I report my kid's business income on my tax return?

Generally no. A child's earned income belongs on the child's own return, filed in their name with their own Social Security number. The provision that lets a parent report a child's income covers interest and dividends, not money earned from work. Claiming them as a dependent is separate and usually unaffected.

Parent

Do we need to buy anything else?

No, and the kit is built so that stays true as long as possible. All twenty five ideas lead with a free way to test before spending anything, because a kid who buys equipment first has proof they were serious and no evidence anybody wants it. When money does get spent, it should come from what the business earned. Some ideas need an adult involved for tools, food, or online selling, and the cards say where.

Parent

Do you ship outside the United States?

Not for the first run. The box is heavy, and shipping it to Canada runs roughly triple the domestic cost with overseas four to five times, on a kit where shipping is included in the price. An international buyer also usually gets a customs bill at the door, which is a bad thing to build into a gift. There is a waitlist, and a US shipping address works now if you have access to one.

Both

How can a 14 year old make money?

Fourteen is awkward for jobs and good for working for yourself, since most employers will not hire you and nobody has that rule about mowing a neighbor's lawn. Nearly the whole list is available at this age: outdoor work like lawns and detailing, quieter options like babysitting and tutoring, and resale which works year round. Start with anything you can test for free before buying equipment.

Both

How can a 16 year old make money without a job?

A job pays predictably on somebody else's schedule; working for yourself pays less at first, more later, and fits around school. What changes at sixteen is the radius, since driving removes the walking-distance limit. Charge adult rates for adult-quality work, and grow through repeat customers, density, and price rather than more hours. Hiring somebody becomes possible here too.

Both

How does a kid find their first customer?

From people who already know them, and by asking directly rather than advertising. The first customer is almost never a stranger; it is a neighbor or a relative who says yes partly because they like the kid, and that is how most businesses actually begin. Ten specific people asked out loud will beat a hundred flyers.

Both

How does a kid get customers to come back?

Mostly by asking, and the moment is right after a finished job while the customer is looking at it and feeling pleased. The sentence is short: do you want me to just come every week? What you are selling there is not the work, it is not having to arrange the work. Beyond that it comes down to turning up when you said, doing one small thing nobody asked for, and being easy to reach.

Both

How does a kid hire a friend without ruining the friendship?

Most of what goes wrong was never said out loud. One sentence before the first job does most of the work: at work I will sometimes have to tell you what to do, and that is not me being bossy. Agree the terms and the exit while everybody is cheerful. Say something when the work is not good enough rather than quietly fixing it. Pay on time even when a customer has not paid you yet.

Both

How does a kid track profit?

Two columns and a date. Money in with who paid, money out with what it was for, written the same day because doing it later never happens. Profit is one minus the other. This matters because a kid who tracks only what came in believes the whole price is profit, so the business looks far better than it is and every decision made from that number is wrong.

Both

How does a kid turn one customer into a weekly route?

Three moves. Convert the one-off customers you already have by asking whether they want it regular. Name a fixed day and hold it, because a vague arrangement is one-off work with extra steps. Then grow sideways rather than outward, since ten houses on one street is one trip and ten across a town is four. Switch to monthly billing once there are four or more regulars.

Parent

How does this work in a homeschool co-op?

Well, and better than it works alone. Reading and workbook happen at home; group time is for what needs other people: practicing the ask on somebody who is not a parent, reporting numbers to each other, rehearsing rejection, and the week five conversation where everybody admits they wanted to quit. Steer kids toward different businesses so the group is not competing with itself.

Parent

How do I do this with two kids at different ages?

Two separate businesses works better than one shared, because the point is owning something and a shared thing is nobody's. Within two years they can work the same week together. Three or four years means same material at different speeds. Five or more is effectively two separate projects. Watch for comparison, and measure each kid against where they started rather than each other.

Parent

How do I get my kid off their phone and doing something?

Taking it away produces a bored kid rather than an enterprising one. The phone is winning a competition nothing else entered, so whatever replaces it has to offer something a phone cannot. A specific thing they want, with a price on it and no current way to buy it, is one of the few things that qualifies. Do not frame the business as the alternative to screens, or it becomes a punishment.

Parent

How do I grade a homeschool business project?

Grade the work rather than the results, since revenue depends on weather and luck as much as effort. Assess whether they did the reading and tracking, how many people they actually asked, whether they know their numbers, and a written reflection on what they would do differently. Do not grade money earned or whether the business survived. A business that failed and was properly analyzed is an A.

Parent

How do I help my kid without taking over their business?

Ask instead of answering. When your kid hits a problem, the useful move is a question that hands the decision back to them, and the damaging move is solving it faster than they could have. A kid who set their own price will defend it to a customer. A kid whose parent set it folds the moment someone pushes back.

Parent

How do I keep my kid safe selling online?

The account belongs to you since platforms require adults, and your kid does the work: photos, descriptions, pricing, messages. Meet-ups happen in public in daylight with you there, ideally a police exchange lot, never at anyone's house. Check every photo for house numbers and identifying backgrounds before listing. Name the common scams in advance so your kid recognizes the shape under pressure.

Parent

How do I know if my kid's business is actually working?

Four numbers cover almost all of it: how many customers, how many came back, what came in, and what went out. Revenue is the least useful of the four and the one everybody looks at. A kid with five dollars of profit and three customers who keep rebooking is doing better than a kid with two hundred dollars from twelve strangers who will never call again.

Parent

How do I teach my kid the value of money?

Not by explaining it. Allowance teaches budgeting but not worth, because the amount was not connected to anything they did. What changes a kid is somebody with no obligation to them paying for work. After that, three things teach: spending it badly, which is the lesson rather than a failure of it, seeing what the business costs to run, and learning to price things in their own hours.

Parent

How do I teach my kid work ethic?

Not by talking about it or assigning more of it. Work ethic is a belief that effort connects to outcomes in a way you can feel, and a kid who has never seen that connection has no reason to work hard. Work a stranger chose to pay for makes it visible, as does turning up on a day they did not feel like it. Rescuing cuts the connection every time.

Parent

How do siblings split the money fairly?

Decide before the first dollar arrives, because splitting money afterward is a negotiation and splitting it beforehand is just a rule. Equal is only fair when contribution is equal, which it rarely is. Three options work: whoever does the job gets that money, one hires the other at a set rate, or an uneven split agreed up front by role. Costs come out before anything is divided.

Parent

How many credits is a business worth on a homeschool transcript?

The usual convention is roughly 120 to 180 hours for a full high school credit, with a half credit at about half that. A kid spending three or four hours a week across a year reaches half credit comfortably. Count the reading, planning, jobs, customer conversations, and bookkeeping, since families routinely undercount. Do not inflate it, and check your state's rules, which vary widely.

Parent

How much can a kid earn before they have to file taxes?

There are two thresholds and confusing them is the usual mistake. Self-employment income triggers a filing requirement at $400 net for the year. Wages from an employer track the standard deduction, which is $16,100 for 2026. That is why a kid with a lawn route can owe tax at $400 while a kid with a summer job owes nothing at $8,000.

Both

How much money does a kid need to start a business?

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.

Parent

How much time does Young Founder take each week?

Two numbers. The reading and the workbook take about an hour a week and that part is predictable. The business itself takes longer and varies a lot, because your kid is launching something real rather than completing an assignment. Early weeks are light, the middle weeks are heaviest as customers arrive, and it settles as they get faster. The asking has to happen when people are home, which is the real scheduling constraint.

Both

How should a kid decide what to charge?

Start from what the job is worth to the customer, not from what feels polite to ask, because most kids underprice by pricing their own discomfort. Find what an adult business nearby charges, count the real time including travel and cleanup, then set a number your kid can say out loud without flinching. If they flinch, the problem usually is not the price.

Both

How should a kid get paid if they are too young for payment apps?

Cash is fine and the record is the problem, so write down the date, customer, and amount the same day. Under thirteen there is no good payment app option, so cash or a parent's account with a running log is the realistic answer. Say when payment happens before the job rather than after, and bill monthly rather than weekly for anything recurring.

Both

How should a kid price something they are reselling?

Start from what similar items have actually sold for rather than what people are asking, then work backwards to decide what your kid should pay for it. The profit in reselling is created at the moment of buying, not at the moment of selling. Cleaning the item and photographing it in daylight against a plain wall is usually the highest paid twenty minutes in the whole business.

Both

How should a kid price something they made?

Work out what one item costs to make by dividing a whole batch of supplies by how many it produced, then look at what similar handmade things actually sell for. The number usually lands around three to four times the cost to make, and often more for small items. A kid selling to neighbors is not selling a factory product, they are selling something a specific person they know made by hand, which is worth more rather than less.

Parent

Is it safe for my kid to knock on doors?

With rules, yes. Daylight only, streets they know, never go inside, somebody knows the route, and a way to reach you. Go along the first time and stand at the sidewalk, visible and uninvolved. Practice an exit sentence in advance so it is available under pressure. Above all of it: a bad feeling is enough to leave, with no justification owed to anybody.

Parent

Is my kid's lawn mowing a real business or just chores?

The line is not size or income, it is who decides. If your kid sets the price, finds the customers, owns the schedule, and knows the numbers, it is a business at any revenue at all. If those four sit with you and your kid supplies the labor, it is a job you are managing, which is a perfectly good thing and is not the same thing. The useful news is that the gap is four specific handovers rather than a quality your kid either has or does not.

Parent

Is there an entrepreneurship curriculum for homeschool high school?

Several exist and they split into two groups: curriculum that teaches about business, which is academically solid and easy to grade, and programs where the student actually starts something and ends with real customers. Both are legitimate and fill different gaps. Ask whether it ends with a real customer, who does the teaching, whether the hours fit your credit structure, and whether it handles the asking.

Parent

My kid gets upset when someone says no, what do I do?

A kid hears no as a verdict about them while an adult hears it as information about the other person, and that gap closes with volume rather than reassurance. Make rejection countable with a tally, because a number is easier to carry than a feeling. Rehearse the harsh version at home so the first real one is a rerun. Do not get visibly annoyed on their behalf, since that confirms something bad happened.

Parent

My kid is embarrassed to ask people for money, what do I do?

Almost every kid is, and it is the hardest part of the whole thing. Usually it is one of two beliefs: that asking for money is begging, which the trade reframe fixes since both sides come out ahead, or that saying the number is enormous, which practice fixes. Say the price and then stop talking, because most kids fill the silence with an apology. Asking on their behalf removes the rep.

Parent

My kid keeps forgetting their jobs, what do I do?

A forgotten job is a systems problem before it is a character problem, and most kids have never been shown a system for anything they own. One visible calendar that the kid chose fixes most of it. What does not fix it is becoming the reminder yourself, because a kid with a reliable human alarm clock never builds the habit and never feels the cost of missing one.

Parent

My kid only has two customers and will not ask for more, what do I do?

Usually they do want more customers and do not know what to say, which is a script problem rather than a confidence problem. Give them one prepared sentence and one easier target, a referral from somebody who already likes them, and most of the wall comes down. Asking on their behalf is the one move that guarantees it never gets easier.

Parent

My kid quits everything they start, what do I do?

Look at when the quitting happens. Right at the start is usually fear of something about to be difficult. Once it stops being new is the common one and it is not a character flaw, since everything runs on novelty until the novelty goes. When it gets hard is often surprise, because nobody told them hard was expected. One genuinely finished thing changes the story a kid tells about themselves.

Parent

My kid's business is affecting their schoolwork, what do I do?

Set the boundary as a standing rule rather than a response to a bad grade, because a rule made in advance is a condition of operating and the same rule made after a report card is a punishment that gets argued with. Check whether the conflict is really total time or really scheduling, because most of the time it is scheduling, and the fix is moving the work rather than reducing it.

Parent

My kid's business is inconsistent, how do I help?

Inconsistency is almost always a demand problem wearing a motivation costume. A kid with three customers works when those three happen to call and stops when they do not, which looks like losing interest and is actually an empty calendar. The fix is a standing arrangement rather than a conversation about effort, because recurring work removes the need to feel motivated on any particular Saturday.

Parent

My kid's business is taking over our weekends, what do I do?

Usually the problem is the driving rather than the work. Your kid puts in two hours and the household absorbs six, and nobody has counted it out loud. Naming your availability as a fixed constraint turns it into a business problem your kid can solve with density, batching, or a higher price, and every one of those is a better lesson than being told to do less.

Parent

My kid spent all their business money, should I step in?

Spending it badly is how anyone learns what money is worth, and the amount will never be smaller than it is right now. The thing actually worth fixing is not the purchase, it is that they spent the money the business needed to run, which is a working capital lesson rather than a character one. Separating the two pots is the repair, and replacing the money is not.

Parent

My kid wants to buy expensive equipment, should I let them?

The test is whether the purchase comes after demand or instead of it. Gear bought because customers are waiting is an investment. Gear bought because it would make the business feel more real is usually a way of avoiding the asking, which is the actual bottleneck. Have them work out how many jobs it takes to earn it back, and whether they have that many booked.

Parent

My kid wants to quit but has customers depending on them, what do I do?

They can stop and they cannot vanish, and those are two different things. Finishing what was already promised and telling each customer directly amounts to a couple of uncomfortable conversations, and those conversations are the most valuable part of the entire business. Passing the customers to another kid is worth offering, because it turns an ending into something a neighborhood remembers well.

Parent

My kid will not raise their prices, what do I do?

They are not being modest, they are avoiding a specific feeling, and telling them the number is too low does not help because the number was never the problem. Have them look up what an adult business charges and let the gap do the arguing. Raising it on new customers first removes most of the fear, since it takes no conversation at all.

Parent

My teenager has no motivation and no job, what do I do?

Motivation usually follows action rather than preceding it, so a kid with no evidence they can earn money has no reason to start, and that loop looks exactly like not caring. Underneath it is usually one of three things: no idea what they would do, fear of the asking, or a belief that nobody would pay them. Making the general case does not help, because their resistance is specific rather than general.

Both

Should a kid charge family members?

Yes, usually, and the exception should be a decision rather than a default. Family is where a kid learns that a price said to somebody who loves them is still a price. Doing a grandparent's yard for free on purpose is generosity. Automatically discounting for anyone related is a habit of pricing the relationship instead of the work, and it follows a kid into every negotiation after this one.

Both

Should a kid charge more in summer or winter?

Yes, when the work is genuinely harder or the timing is genuinely worse, which is what adult services do routinely for holidays, last minute jobs, overgrown yards, and heavy snow. Say the seasonal number in advance so nobody is negotiating in a driveway in the dark. Charging more for a harder job is fair. Charging more because somebody has no choice costs more than it earns.

Both

Should a kid ever do work for free?

Sometimes, and the test is whether you chose it or folded. Small unasked extras cost almost nothing and are why somebody mentions you to a neighbor. Giving away the whole job because saying the price felt rude is a flinch, and it teaches that customer your real price is nothing. Free work is also fine as a trade for a review, a referral, or a standing arrangement.

Both

Should a kid help another kid who competes with them?

Usually yes, and it is arithmetic more than nobility. A price war between two kids ends with both doing the same work for almost nothing. Talking opens options fighting does not: split the streets so you both get density, cover for each other so neither loses a customer to a missed Saturday, and pass on overflow when you are full. Two kids who coordinate both earn more.

Parent

Should I charge my kid for gas and equipment?

Yes, once the business is earning steadily, and the reason has nothing to do with the money. A kid who never sees a cost believes the entire price is profit, which is the most common misunderstanding in a first business and the hardest one to unlearn later. Keep it simple, start it after there is revenue rather than on day one, and tell them what it is for.

Parent

Should I lend my kid money to start a business?

Usually they do not need it, since almost every kid business can be tested for free first. A kid asking for equipment before anybody has agreed a price is usually avoiding the asking rather than short of funds. If demand is real, make it a real loan with an amount, a schedule, and consequences, and have them do the payback math first. Do not quietly forgive it.

Parent

Should I make my kid keep going with their business?

You can hold them to what they promised a specific person, and you cannot hold them to wanting it. Obligations are enforceable and enthusiasm is not, and trying to enforce the second teaches a kid that starting something is a trap. Finish what was committed, then let the decision be real, and consider a pause with a date on it before treating it as an ending.

Parent

Should I pay my kid for chores or have them earn outside the house?

Both, and they teach different things. Work that is part of belonging to a household should stay unpaid, because pricing every task lets a kid decline when the rate is unattractive. A separate list of bigger optional jobs can pay. What outside earning adds is a price somebody else agreed to, the real possibility of being told no, and a ceiling the kid controls.

Parent

Should my kid go inside a customer's house?

For some work, yes, and the real distinction is known versus unknown rather than inside versus outside. A family you know is ordinary; somebody who answered a flyer needs you involved first. Have the address, the timing, and a way to reach each other, and meet a new family before a first job. Door knocking is the firm exception: never inside, ever, as an absolute rather than a judgment call.

Parent

Should my kid save, spend, or reinvest what they earn?

Three pots and the order matters. The float the business needs to keep running comes out first and is not profit. Then reinvestment, but only when customers are waiting on it rather than because gear feels like progress. What is left is genuinely theirs, including what they spend badly. Imposed savings rules tend to backfire because they quietly turn the kid's money back into yours.

Parent

Should my kids start a business together?

Usually not, because a business teaches ownership and something two kids own together is not owned by either in a way they can feel. Partnerships work when the roles are genuinely different and each kid owns a specific part. A fifty fifty split of everything is where it goes wrong, since the effort is never equal and it becomes a sibling argument with money attached. One kid hiring the other is clearer.

Parent

Should my teenager get a job or start a business?

Different things and the right answer depends on the kid. A job gives predictable money, a schedule somebody else invents, and a reference, and it is easier to start. A business works below hiring age, flexes around school, and pays more per hour eventually, but it is slower and less certain. A kid who needs a specific amount by a specific date should probably get a job.

Parent

What age can a kid babysit alone?

Most states set no minimum age for babysitting, though some publish guidance on leaving a child home alone, so check locally. Since the law mostly does not decide it, readiness does: can they handle a boring emergency calmly, will they call early rather than waiting, and have they done it with an adult home first? Red Cross training for roughly eleven to fifteen year olds helps, and parents like seeing it.

Both

What age can a kid start a business?

Most kids can run a simple service business by eight or nine, as long as an adult handles the money transfers, the scheduling, and anything involving a stranger's home. What changes with age is not capability, it is how much of the business the kid owns. A twelve year old can set a price and talk to a customer. A sixteen year old can hire a friend and manage a schedule.

Parent

What age is Young Founder for?

Eight to eighteen. The novel follows a twelve year old and a sixteen year old at the same time, so a younger reader has somebody to follow and so does an older one. What changes across the range is not the material but how much a parent holds: at eight to ten you are reading together and driving, by sixteen they run it alone. Wanting something of their own matters more than the number.

Parent

What are good Christmas gifts for an entrepreneurial kid?

Christmas has one advantage and one trap. The advantage is that it lands right before January, when unstructured time and a new year make starting something feel natural. The trap is weather, since most obvious kid businesses are outdoor and seasonal, so a lawn setup given in December means four months of looking at it. Give something that works in winter, or give the choosing and testing part and let the doing start in spring.

Both

What counts as a business expense for a kid?

Anything the business used up or needed to do the work, and the test is whether you would have bought it otherwise. Fuel, bags, supplies, materials, and printing all count. Things you wanted anyway do not. Equipment that lasts years should be spread across the jobs it will do rather than charged to one weekend. This matters for tax too, since the $400 filing threshold is net after expenses.

Parent

What do I do when my kid wants to quit?

First work out whether they are quitting the business or quitting a bad afternoon, because those need opposite responses. If it is the afternoon, they need a break and a next step small enough to feel possible. If it is the business, let them close it on purpose, tell the customers, and count what they made, because a deliberate ending teaches more than a slow fade.

Parent

What do you get a kid who already has a business?

Do not buy them another idea. A kid who already mows three lawns has solved the hardest problem, and handing them a fresh start quietly says the thing they built does not count. Ask what slows them down most and buy that, because it is almost never the main tool and usually something small. Cards with a real number, or a match on what they earn, both land better than gear.

Parent

What do you get a teenager who is obsessed with making money?

Take the interest seriously rather than trying to balance it. A teenager who talks about money constantly usually wants some and has no way to get any, so the gift that lands is a route to earning rather than a lesson about earning. Mindset books go unread and investing apps are useless without income. A tool for the work they keep mentioning, or a match on what they earn, works far better.

Parent

What happens after the 90 days?

They have a business. Ninety days is long enough to choose an idea, test it, price it, get customers, and get through the week it stops being fun. It is not long enough to build something large and does not pretend to be. Most kids keep going, some close it properly, and some start something different, which is always easier. There is no renewal or level two to buy.

Parent

What if my kid damages a customer's property?

Your kid tells the customer immediately, not you and not later, and that single thing matters more than everything else. Then work out who pays: the business if it can, you if the damage is beyond what a kid can absorb. Check whether your homeowners policy excludes business activities before you need to know. Photographing a property before starting prevents most disputes.

Parent

What if my kid gets hurt working for a neighbor?

Most of what happens is minor and gets treated like any other injury. The thing to settle before it comes up is insurance, since homeowners policies commonly exclude business activities and most families assume more coverage than they have. One call to your agent answers it. Make sure your kid knows to stop, tell the customer, and call you rather than hiding it out of fear of losing the job.

Parent

What if my kid loses interest halfway through?

They will, somewhere around week five or six, and the kit is built assuming it happens. The cause is usually that the work stopped being new rather than got too hard. The chapter where everything falls apart lands in the same week they are living it, and there is a live call for kids and parents timed for that window. If it turns out to be genuinely over, that is allowed and it is not a failure.

Parent

What if we miss the cohort start date?

You take the next term. There are three a year, Summer, Fall, and Winter, and moving between them is a normal request. Current dates live on the kit page since they change each term. Start dates exist because a kid who can start any time starts never, and everybody beginning the same week means other kids are on the same chapter on the same Tuesday. If your timing is awkward, take the later term.

Parent

What is a good birthday gift for a 12 year old who likes business?

Twelve is a good age for this, so match the gift to what a twelve year old can actually hold. They can set a price, explain what they do, and track their money. Scheduling, stranger's homes, and electronic payments still need a parent. The failure mode at this age is buying equipment for a business that does not exist yet, which makes a kid feel watched rather than backed.

Parent

What is a good gift for a kid who wants to start a business?

Ask one question first: does this survive contact with a real customer? Play money and toy registers do not, which is why most of these gifts end up in a drawer. What works depends on which kid you have. A kid who has not started needs ideas rather than gear, because equipment bought before demand creates pressure. A kid who already earns needs whatever removes their actual bottleneck.

Parent

What is in the Young Founder box?

Four books: the novel, the matching workbook, the Parent Guide, and the Door Knock Guide. Plus twenty five idea cards with QR codes to starter guides, the door logs and worksheets the ninety days run on, a sprint map, and a certificate. Shipping is included. No equipment for any specific business, because every idea leads with a way to test it free first.

Parent

What records should I keep for a homeschool business project?

Enough to reconstruct what happened a year later. Five things cover it: a rough weekly time log, which is what credit hours are calculated from, the completed workbook, the money records, photographs of jobs and products, and a written reflection at the end. That reflection is the most valuable document in the file and counts as composition too. Check what your state's reviewer expects.

Both

What should a kid charge for babysitting?

A young teen sitting for neighbors usually starts between $12 and $18 an hour for one child, adding two to four dollars for a second. Adult sitters average $26.24 an hour nationally in 2026, and the gap is for being unproven rather than for being young. A CPR certification and a record of families who rebook is what closes it.

Both

What should a kid charge for pet sitting?

A kid doing drop-in visits for neighbors usually starts between $10 and $18 per visit, adding a few dollars for each extra animal. Professional sitters charge $20 to $35 for the same thirty minute visit, and the gap is for being unproven rather than young, because somebody is handing you a key to their house. After one trip where nothing went wrong, that reason is gone.

Both

What should a kid charge for pressure washing?

A kid using a family or borrowed washer usually starts between $40 and $75 for a driveway or patio. Professionals charge $100 to $300 and set minimums of $100 to $150, so a small patio has no professional option at a sensible price. Look for oil stains before quoting, because pros charge twenty five to fifty percent more for them.

Both

What should a kid charge for tech help?

A kid setting up devices, sorting out wifi, or teaching somebody how something works usually starts between $15 and $25 an hour, with small jobs better quoted flat. Residential tech support runs $50 to $150 an hour, and nobody will come out for a twenty minute job, so the kid is often the only option. Patience is the real product here, not technical skill.

Both

What should a kid charge for tutoring?

A teenager tutoring a younger student usually starts between $15 and $25 an hour, at the top of that for math, science, or test prep. Private tutors charge $25 to $80, and the gap is for being unproven rather than young. Being close in age is actually an advantage here, because you took the class two years ago and remember exactly which part was confusing.

Both

What should a kid charge to clean trash bins?

A kid scrubbing and rinsing usually starts between $10 and $20 per bin, less for a second bin at the same house. Bin cleaning companies exist but coverage is patchy and nobody sends a truck for two bins, so in most neighborhoods the kid is the whole market. Do it on trash day, when the bin is at the curb and empty.

Both

What should a kid charge to detail a car?

A kid doing a thorough clean inside and out usually starts between $35 and $60 for a sedan, more for an SUV or truck. A professional detail runs $150 to $300, and the gap is partly about being unproven and partly a real difference in the work. Getting genuinely good and building a wall of before and after photos is what closes it.

Both

What should a kid charge to mow a lawn?

A kid who cuts, edges, and cleans up usually starts between $25 and $40, set by what it is worth to the customer rather than what feels polite to ask. Professionals charge about $30 to $85 a visit, and a young founder who starts below that is being paid less for being unproven, not for being young. Once you have twenty lawns behind you and neighbors who vouch, that reason is gone and the price should go up.

Both

What should a kid charge to rake leaves?

A kid raking, bagging, and taking it to the curb usually starts between $30 and $60, with heavily wooded yards above that. Professional fall cleanup runs $160 to $400 and most companies will not come out at all for under $150, which means for a small yard the kid is not the cheap option, they are the only option. Always walk the yard before quoting.

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Young Founder

A program from Founder's Best Friend. Built for kids 8 to 18 who want something of their own.

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Young Founder, 2026