As a middle school teenager I was always looking for ways to make money. Being too young to drive really put a limit on the things I could do, not to mention all the other factors that stopped an adolescent form making money. This was a problem until I started to realize how much people hated to mow their lawns. Stay with me here, I know you probably have heard this more times than you can count from adults, and if not great! But people who don't have a riding lawn mower despise walking behind a 21 inch blade in the blazing summer heat. So how do you get to making hundreds of dollars a week? I will outline the steps below.
Step 1: Find a cheap self propelled mower. Self propelled means that the mower moves by its self and you only have to walk behind it to guide it where you want it to go. A push mower is a pain in the butt and makes everything so much harder, but if its all you got than follow the guide, make some money, and invest in a self propelled mower. For me this was easy as a lady near me sold used self propelled mowers her son fixed up all the time for around $50-$75 bucks. For those of you not this lucky, Home Depot, Lowe's, Menards, and other home good stores have them for a similar price.
Step 2: Now that you have your mower, find houses in your neighborhood (within walking distance) that show signs that they could use some help. What are these signs? For me, long, uncut, grass was a dead giveaway. Longer grass and people who you know do not own a riding lawn mower are your targets. Additionally, people that you know that have kids going off to college/university soon are great potential customers.
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Step 3: Go to the promising houses that you believe you have a good shot at landing as a potential customer and give them your elevator pitch. An elevator pitch is a quick 20-30 second long pitch explaining yourself and your business to a client. Pretend your in an elevator with another person and you only have until that person gets to their floor to explain yourself and business.
An example of this would be:
"Hi, my name is ______ and I live right down the street and couldn't help but notice your grass was getting long. This summer I am looking to gain some extra cash by mowing some of the neighborhood lawns, would you be interested in my services?"
Another example could be:
"Hello, my name is ______ and I was wondering if you would be interested in my lawn care business. I mow, rake, trim, and weed on a weekly basis or whenever you need me. I am extremely flexible with my hours and would be willing to give you an estimate if you are interested. *Hands business card (extra flair) I can start today if needed.
Both of these are just examples. You can create your own pitch, switching it up from customer to customer, adding specific things about their lawn. Being calm, confident, and articulating yourself are all key things to focus on when giving your pitch.
Step 4: After getting shut down from people who did not need your help, which is perfectly fine by the way, you finally secured a job. You look around their property and give them a price estimate based on how long it will take you and the services they require. Give them what you honestly believe the right amount to charge for their lawn is. For a lawn that will take you an hour or less I wouldn't recommend charging over $35 at the most, unless they need other services as well. You then exchange contact information and start when needed.
Step 5: Doing a quality job. Because this is your first job you learn the ropes, walking over to their house with your mower, mowing the lawn, and collecting your money. Whatever you do, DO NOT skimp out on any task. What I mean is, if there is a stump in the yard that is a pain in the butt to mow over...DO IT. This is your first customer and you can use it as a reference to gain more jobs in the area. Not only is it the right thing to do, especially when you are getting paid, but it will help you out in the long run.
Step 6: Realize how much money you could make. Let's say the lawn takes you an hour and you get $30, imagine if you worked for 5 hours that day, or 5 hours that week, that would make you $150 non taxable dollars. To put that into perspective that would take you (150/7.5=20) over 20 hours to make at a minimum wage job. Repeat the steps as needed and hit every house within walking distance (because your a teenager and can't drive) and you can be making bank this summer. Bonus if you can find someone to help haul your mower if you find someone further than walking distance that needs your services.
Comment below if you have any questions at all. This was a great way for me to make money growing up and can be the perfect solution for teens not old enough to drive or work at a traditional job. Hope this helped, let me know what you think!
