[WhoYoDaddy]

Originally Posted by paul2145r

Well, can't minors technically have hobbies? Forget the micro-VC's and all of that- I'm talking about pooling resources and helping others their age. Those of you with experience, offer consulting to kids your age for a very low price, or even free... Band together and start a consulting site specifically for the 12-18 crowd...

There are many things that you can do that can earn you money without having to go into the legal side of things- If I'm not mistaken, you can earn up to $600/yr in a specific job and not have to claim it on your taxes.. Well, what about working ten jobs and earning $550 in each? Either that, or look for other caveats and opportunities- you don't necessarily have to jump into giving your (or your parents') money away to make a little more than what you put in.

Lawn-care is another great business for minors to get into- people have turned small one-mower operations into multi-million dollar companies.

At the end of the day, you have to do what truly motivates you. When you hit a wall in a business venture, you have to make sure that you have the personal momentum required to jump over the wall, or even break right through it.

Make a list of things that you love to do.

Narrow that list down to five things.

For each of those five choices, think of problems or concerns that can arise with those topics.

For the problems/concerns, circle the ones that you can not find a solution to.

If you are lucky enough to be able to circle one or two of those problems/concerns, figure out a way that you can solve them.

Then, take into consideration all of the steps required to market that solution, write them down, do a little more research, and come up with a rudimentary business plan.

Viola! You have just completed one of the hardest steps of entrepreneurship- the initial planning & conception stage. After that, any questions that you may have, refer to me. (Shameless plug, i know ;-))

good general advice

except the tax part? 10 jobs at 550 each...is that supposed to be some kind of loophole?

if your self employed and make over $400 period...you usually need to file

plus your parents claim you as a dependent...so if they are wages, when you TOTAL about 5000 or so, you need to file a return

always talk to a tax attorney or CPA when dealing with your taxes

[paul2145r]

Well, I'm not saying that you should take that advice and run with it (by no means), but from what I understand, you have to file a general return for a specific job only if you are earning over $600 a year. I substituted for a couple of months, and included the earnings on my taxes (<$600), and my CPA pretty much said "Why Bother"... Again- someone please verify that before taking that advice, because I wrote that post early this morning after working a 12'r and being up for the last 30+ hours :-)

[WhoYoDaddy]

beware any cpa who says "why bother"

lol

[paul2145r]

Lol, yeah, I know, but we've had a pretty good relationship- He was saying that as a joke more than anything. I'll have to dig up my tax paperwork, but again, as far as I know, minors that earn money doing hobbies don't normally get audited by the IRS- take lemonade stands and selling candy in schools, for example- I don't know of too many kids that incorporate or set up LLC's to protect their home and personal assets... Correct me if I'm wrong, however.... Although that would make for a good kids movie ;-)

[WhoYoDaddy]

lol protecting their assets BWAHAHAHAHA!

[jandmsolution]

Remember before starting write something on paper. It could be a business plan or just ideas. Sometimes after you write on paper you get more ideas and sometimes you see that what you thought of was not reall a good idea. But I appluad you young guys for going into the business and when someone laughs at you just use that and remember when you do make it than you laugh at them.