Finding a business to start as a parent can be tricky. You can either look for an opportunity that gives you enough free time to spend with your kids, or you can start a business with your kids. The second option lets you build a true family business and teach your kids valuable lessons about entrepreneurship. If you’re interested in starting a business with your kids, here are 50 ideas to consider.
Businesses You Can Start With Your Kids
Lemonade Stand
The quintessential business for kids, a lemonade stand can be more of a legitimate business opportunity with your help. You can have your kids help you with a recipe that you can sell at a stand or in stores or restaurants.
Candy Sales
Candy is another product that’s popular with kids. So you can work with them to come up with a unique candy product that you can sell wholesale or online.
Cookie Sales
Cookies are also relatively easy to create and sell online or in stores. Work with your kids to come up with unique recipes and decoration ideas.
Bakery
You could also set up a more all-encompassing bakery. And while you’ll need to adhere to health codes and other workplace standards, you can have your kids help you with recipe creation and ideas for new products.
Ice Cream Shop
Similarly, you can set up a small ice cream shop or even mobile ice cream truck where you can work with your whole family.
Family Diner
You could also start a more full service food business with a family friendly diner.
Family Farm
For families with a lot of land, there are plenty of different farming and agriculture businesses you can run with the whole family.
Farm Stand
Even if you have a smaller garden or food production business, you can set up a small farm stand to sell those products alongside your kids.
Flea Market Sales
Or you could sell secondhand or handmade products at local flea markets and have your kids help you set up the stand and deal with customers.
Craft Fair Sales
If your kids enjoy making crafts, you could help them sell their creations at local craft fairs.
Etsy Shop
You could also set up an Etsy shop where you sell their handmade products, or products you help them make, online.
Art Sales
More specifically, you could help your kids create paintings or illustrations that you could sell online or in art exhibits.
Clothing Line
If your kids are particularly fashion savvy, you could have them help you design a kids’ clothing line that you could produce together or have manufactured.
Jewelry Design
You could also opt for smaller products like jewelry that you can make by hand with supplies from the craft store.
Paper Goods Sales
Or you could sell paper goods like journals or greeting cards that your kids help you design.
T-Shirt Design
There are plenty of online platforms that let you add designs or illustrations to t-shirts and other products. So you could create and sell those products using artwork that your kids create.
Toy Sales
You could also focus on creating toy products, either making them yourself or designing prototypes and working with a manufacturer.
Children’s Book Sales
Maybe your kids are creative storytellers — if so, work with them to write children’s books and self-publish them.
Ecommerce Shop
Ecommerce businesses are easy to start on platforms like Amazon and eBay. Find a product niche you can collect with your kids and then set up a storefront online.
Tutoring Business
If your kids do well in school, you could help them start a tutoring business where they provide guidance to other students.
Educational YouTube Channel
You could also help them set up a YouTube channel where you could share lessons or educational content.
Online Course Sales
Or you could set up official online courses that you could sell to students online.
Family Blog
Blogging is a business idea that can work in many different industries. You can start a family blog where you and your kids share parts of your daily life and make money through ads or sponsored content.
Family Podcast
Similarly, you could start a podcast with your kids where you talk about family related topics.
Family Band
If your kids are musically inclined, you could start a band and play at local events or parties.
Magical Act
Or you could focus on another type of entertainment, like a magical act that you perform at kids’ birthday parties or similar events.
Comedy Performance Business
You might even consider starting a family friendly comedy routine that you can perform with your kids at local events.
Party Planning Business
You could even start a business where you help people plan birthday parties for kids or other family friendly events.
Child Care Business
If your kids are old and responsible enough to help with child care tasks, you could start an in-home daycare business.
Summer Camp
Or you could start a seasonal business like a summer camp where your kids can help out as counselors or support staff.
Educational Influencer Business
You can also build a business as a family of influencers. It could be particularly effective for you to work with educational products and brands.
Travel Influencer Business
Or you could document your family travels on a blog or social media accounts and work with travel brands as a family of influencers.
Social Media Consulting Service
For older kids who have some knowledge of social media, you could start a social media consulting business where you help businesses trying to appeal to kids and teens.
Computer Setup Service
Another idea for tech savvy teens and their parents, offer a service where you help people who have recently bought new computers or devices and need help setting them up.
IT Help Service
Or you could start a more general IT help service where people can call or chat with you and your kids for answers to tech related questions.
Gift Shop
You could also start a family friendly retail store, like a small gift shop that your kids can help out with.
Secondhand Store
Secondhand stores can also be a good undertaking for the whole family. Your kids can help you sort through items, stock shelves and help customers.
Bicycle Tours
If you live in an area that’s popular with tourists, consider starting a tour guide service where you give walking or bicycle tours so your kids can tag along.
Dog Grooming Service
For families that love dogs, you can start a dog grooming service where you travel to your clients or have them bring their dogs to you.
Dog Training Service
Or you could opt for a more in-depth training service that your whole family can offer to pet owners in your community.
Used Book Sales
For families that love to read, you can collect old books and sell them online or in a retail location.
Book Rental Service
Or you might opt for a more unconventional book business where you rent out books in a particular niche.
Movie Rental Service
Similarly, you could collect movies and rent them out to customers in your area, especially if those movies aren’t readily available from popular streaming services.
Video Game Rental Service
Gaming families could also apply a similar concept to video games, renting them out to other gamers in the area.
Voiceover Business
Voiceover artists provide audio content for ads, audiobooks, television programming and more. You can start a business where you provide those services alongside your kids to offer clients even more of a variety of voices.
Subscription Box Service
Subscription boxes are becoming increasingly popular. To start this type of business with your kids, focus on toys, healthy snacks or other products that interest the whole family.
Interior Design Service
For those with design savvy kids, you can start an interior design business where you design interior spaces for other families.
Landscaping Service
If you prefer spending time outdoors, you could start a landscaping business where your kids help out with the yard work.
Laundry Service
Laundry is also a fairly straightforward process that you can have your kids help with.
Holiday Decorating Service
During the holidays, some families prefer to pay others to put up their decorations. So this is something you could potentially offer with the whole family.
Mother and Son Photo via Shutterstock
This article, “50 Small Businesses You Can Start with Your Kids” was first published on Small Business Trends