Ideas for Teens to Sell at Entrepreneurs Day

In 2010, teenagers increasingly are going into business for themselves as a hedge against a difficult job market. "The Wall Street Journal" quotes Jack Kosakowski, president of Junior Achievement, U.S., as saying, "for many kids, starting a business may be the only option if they want to make some money." What better opportunity for teens to show their business skills than to participate in Entrepreneurs Day. Although the possibilities are limited only by the imagination, several ideas for teens to sell at Entrepreneurs Day stand out as natural choices.

On-demand publishing makes it easy and inexpensive for anyone to be a publisher. Family-recipe cookbooks, original comics and anthologies of student-written short stories are types of books young entrepreneurs might consider. Teens need only to create their publication, save it in the portable document format, and deliver it to a printer for publication. For Entrepreneurs Day, teens can approach sales in two ways: Have just a couple of copies on hand to use as samples and then take orders from customers, or have a number of copies printed so that the actual books can be sold at the event. Most office-supply stores, a number of websites, and even some shipping stores publish on demand.

Some adults would swear that only teens can do some tasks easily -- programming DVD players and remote controls, for instance, or creating a website or social media profile. Teens who use this idea for Entrepreneurs Day would have no product to sell. However, they could decorate their display area with props (a DVD player, remote control, computer and other electronic items adults struggle with) and book appointments to offer service. This idea's "aha!" value puts it ahead of the types of services typically offered by teens -- babysitting, pet walking, mowing lawns and the like -- because it differentiates teens as being uniquely qualified to perform the tasks.

Beaded, hemp and macrame jewelry are inexpensive to produce and, in the case of hemp and macrame, are popular among young men and women both. Earrings, bracelets -- wrist and ankle -- necklaces, rings, keychains, bookmarks and cell chains are some items that teens can create with a relatively small supply of basic materials. Find instructions in idea books sold in book and craft stores, or online on one of the many quality craft-project websites. By creating the product themselves, teens get experience with the entire entrepreneurial process. A fun way to promote the Entrepreneurs Day display would be to have friends walk around the event wearing the jewelry and passing out invitations to the "trunk show."