LaunchLeague

For students

Business ideas for 15 to 17 year olds

At this age you have a real choice: a part-time job at minimum wage, or something of your own that pays more per hour and is still yours after graduation. Most people take the job because it is easier to start. That is the only reason.

Job or your own thing

The honest comparison

A part-time job is not the wrong answer. But nobody lays out the trade properly, so here it is.

  • A job pays the same every hour and pays it reliably. Your own work pays more per hour and pays it unevenly. Early on, reliability is worth a lot.
  • A job gives you a schedule somebody else set. Yours has to be built around school, and that is genuinely harder than it sounds in exam season.
  • A job teaches you to be managed. Running something teaches you to price, to ask, to be told no and to go back the next week. Employers and admissions officers can tell the difference.
  • At 16 you can usually open a bank account in your own name at most Canadian banks, which makes getting paid much simpler.
  • You can do both. A lot of people fund the equipment for their own work with six weeks of a job.

Pick one

The 9 that open up now

These need height, a licence, a bit of equipment or somebody trusting you alone in their house — which is exactly why they pay more than the work you could get at 13.

What it costs to start
How old you are
What kind of work

9 ideas

  • Under $200From 15

    Pressure washing

    Driveways, decks and siding. Rent the machine before you buy one.

    First dollar: A weekend.

  • Under $200From 15

    Phone and console repair

    Screens, batteries and joysticks. Practise on dead ones first.

    First dollar: A month.

  • Under $50From 15

    Putting up holiday lights

    November work, plus taking them down in January.

    First dollar: One November weekend.

  • Nothing to startFrom 15

    Moving help

    Boxes and furniture on the last weekend of the month.

    First dollar: End of any month.

  • Under $50From 15

    House cleaning

    Weekly or biweekly, for people whose time is worth more than the fee.

    First dollar: Two weeks.

  • Under $200From 15

    Small woodworking

    Cutting boards, planters, shelves. Shop class counts as your workshop.

    First dollar: A month.

  • Nothing to startFrom 15

    Simple websites for small businesses

    One-page sites for trades and shops who have nothing but a phone number.

    First dollar: A month.

  • Under $200From 16

    Eavestrough cleaning

    Ladder work. Only with training, gear and an adult present.

    First dollar: A weekend.

  • Under $50From 15

    Backyard rink building

    Build and maintain rinks for families who want one and have no time.

    First dollar: Early December.

Everything available at 12, 13 and 14 still works, and some of it pays better once you can drive to it. See all 50 ideas.

Next

Then what happens

  1. Get to five regular customers

    Five people who book you without being asked is the point where this stops being pocket money.

  2. Put your numbers on one page

    Price, cost per job, profit, hours per week. You need this to know whether to raise prices or take on less.

  3. Decide whether it outlives high school

    Some of these end at graduation and that is fine. Some can be handed to a younger sibling, sold, or taken with you.

Launch League is free, and the provincial competition is open to anyone from 12 with a plan and three short videos. See the categories.

Free, for students

Want help actually starting one?

Launch League is free for students from age 12. Pick an idea, work through eight short modules, build a one-page plan, and go and get your first paying customer. If you want, enter it in the Ontario competition at the end.
Start freeSee the competition

All the ways to make money 50 business ideas Getting your first customer