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15 profitable business ideas for teens in 2025
Making money as a teenager used to mean babysitting or delivering newspapers, but times have changed, and so have the business opportunities. Unlike before, teenagers now have business skills and tools that most adults don’t even understand, and that’s exactly what makes this the perfect time to start something.
While adults love giving advice about lemonade stands and lawn mowing, teens today want creative, modern ideas that actually work. That’s why we’ve gathered some fresh business ideas for teens that match how young people actually live, think, and work today, ideas that go way beyond the usual suggestions and tap into what teens are already good at.
Best 15 business ideas for teens
Here are some creative and profitable business ideas for teens that you can start right away:
Design websites and online stores
Web design and online stores is a service where tech-savvy teenagers build and customize websites, online shops, and blogs for small businesses, creators, organizations, and individuals looking to establish or upgrade their digital presence. With website builders and ecommerce platforms now more intuitive, young entrepreneurs can easily help local community members unlikely to attempt DIY technology projects alone.
By offering web design aligned with clients’ brands and goals, young professionals provide valuable online infrastructure to artists, hobby stores, nonprofit groups and other potential digital advertisers lacking time or skills.
How much you can make: $50K – $200K annually
How much does it cost to start: $1K – $5K
How long does it take to build: 1-3 months
Dog walking
Dog walking is a neighborhood pet care service where student walkers offer dog exercise visits while owners are occupied. Providing reliable midday relief walks, helps hardworking pet owners keep their companions happily energized. Early marketing to nearby homes and veterinary clinics builds an initial customer base convenient for walking routes.
With regular scheduling through an online portal, dog walking sustains positive pet relationships when owners juggle busy work and school demands too. Beyond dependable exercise for friendly residential pets, customers also benefit from the added home security of trusted teen helpers keeping watch.
How much you can make: $20K – $100K annually
How much does it cost to start: $100 – $1K
How long does it take to build: 1-3 months
Car washing
A car washing business offers cleaning services for vehicles. It’s a straightforward business idea that doesn’t need complex skills or huge investments to start. This service is always in demand since cars get dirty regularly and many people lack the time or desire to clean their vehicles themselves. The business works well because cars need cleaning in every season. Rain brings mud, summer brings dust, and winter brings salt and grime. Plus, car owners care about keeping their vehicles looking good to maintain resale value.
A car washing service can be basic or include extra options like interior cleaning, waxing, or detailing. The business can stay simple with just basic washing or grow to include more premium services. It can also be mobile, letting customers get their cars cleaned at home or work.
How much you can make: $20K – $100K annually
How much does it cost to start: $1K – $10K
How long does it take to build: 1-3 months
Freelance writing
Freelance writing is an independent writing service where student writers offer customized content creation skills to clients online. By ghostwriting blog posts, school essays, creative stories, or marketing materials for buyers seeking writing talent, it provides flexible income and experience.
With samples showcasing their abilities across writing types, freelancers connect with need fits through online marketplaces or local connections. For cash-strapped clients like small shops, contracted writers supply affordable solutions receiving payment per project.
How much you can make: $30K – $150K annually
How much does it cost to start: $100 – $1K
How long does it take to build: 1-6 months
Social media influencer
Social media influencer involves creating social media content around personal interests to attract a loyal audience and partner with brands. By consistently posting content like photos, videos, writing, etc. on platforms like Instagram or TikTok, an authentic creative voice and style can emerge.
When teenage creators grow credible follower bases who like and share their posts, opportunities arise. Brands with aligned products may offer financial or product perks to endorse goods or services to that engaged network. The teen gains valuable marketing experience plus income, while brands reach target demographics organically.
How much you can make: $10K – $1M annually
How much does it cost to start: $100 – $1K
How long does it take to build: 6-24 months
Podcaster
Podcaster is an audio content creation service where hosts develop serialized shows sharing their voice on topics from news commentary to hobbies. By distributing episodes through platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcasts, compelling amateur voices build loyal audiences akin to talk radio engagement. While requiring just microphones and editing software versus broadcasting infrastructure, creative podcasters showcase talents and turn passions into professions from anywhere with internet access.
For listeners seeking to enrich commutes or shifts with storytelling beyond top 40 rotations, rising on-demand audio across countless niches quenches cognitive curiosity gaps. From examining politics to reviewing films, podcasters transform casual conversations into commercialized entertainment and education.
How much you can make: $10K – $500K annually
How much does it cost to start: $500 – $5K
How long does it take to build: 3-12 months
Blogging
Blogging is an online media business centered around regularly publishing articles and content on a specific topic. By creating value for readers seeking insights or entertainment around a theme, blogging builds audience engagement over time. For example, bloggers may focus on travel stories, creative projects, business lessons, or lifestyle advice.
The website updates then attract loyal followers and customers for related offerings like ebooks, courses, or affiliate products tied to the central content expertise. For writers, blogging allows developing a personal brand and community to earn income directly from the knowledge they enjoy sharing.
How much you can make: $10K – $500K annually
How much does it cost to start: $100 – $1K
How long does it take to build: 6-24 months
Graphic designer
Graphic designer helps clients promote their brand image and messaging through customized graphic content creation. By designing logos, marketing materials, website assets, signage, packaging, and more, it enables businesses as well as nonprofits and community causes to connect their vision with target audiences. For new ventures seeking professional polish to convey credibility amid competition, graphic design elevates messaging for stronger first impressions.
Over time, content and collateral from business cards to email headers to uniforms help ensure internal values shine through consistently at every opportunity. Relative to hiring an in-house designer, outsourced studios offer more versatile solutions that small teams can implement faster while keeping their top strategic focus.
How much you can make: $30K – $150K annually
How much does it cost to start: $1K – $5K
How long does it take to build: 1-6 months
Cleaning
Cleaning is a residential and commercial cleaning service that provides regular or one-time cleanings to maintain tidy, sanitary homes and workplaces. By handling deep cleaning tasks from vacuuming to bathrooms rather than clients taking valuable personal time, it brings convenience and health safety.
With reliable scheduling or emergency visit options, cleaning assistance lifts burdens during already busy seasons whether family holidays or corporate budget planning. The certified crews and non-toxic products also assure quality standards modern customers now expect for sustainability and allergen control. While often considered a basic service, meticulous attention to detail on repetitive upkeep makes appreciable lifestyle enhancements felt daily.
How much you can make: $20K – $100K annually
How much does it cost to start: $500 – $5K
How long does it take to build: 1-3 months
Photography
Photography helps individuals and organizations commemorate life events, and promote products, properties, or services visually. By providing skilled photography and editing for weddings, family portraits, commercial projects, and more, it enables customers to benefit from quality visual content showcasing them authentically.
For the photographer, understanding objectives before shoots allows for delivering images tailored to each purpose rather than a one-size-fits-all stockpile. While smartphone cameras provide basic snapshots readily, professional equipment, lighting, and locations produce magazine-quality images clients proudly display for years.
How much you can make: $30K – $150K annually
How much does it cost to start: $1K – $10K
How long does it take to build: 3-12 months
Baking
Baking is a culinary service that bakes and sells cakes, pastries, breads, and other flour-based goods to customers seeking fresh artisan quality conveniently. Offering custom baked goods for birthdays, holidays, weddings, and casual gatherings, it provides gourmet confections without clients requiring extensive experience with kitchen equipment or expertise themselves.
For consumers, ordering from local independent kitchens is an alternative to mass retailer grocery cases or shipping delicate desserts sight unseen. For bakers, focusing squarely on preparation mastery versus complex service operations allows more room for creativity and responsiveness. Bake sales build community while celebrating life’s sweetest moments.
How much you can make: $20K – $100K annually
How much does it cost to start: $1K – $10K
How long does it take to build: 1-6 months
Candle maker
Candle making is a small-batch candle production service hand pouring soy, beeswax or other specialty wax blends into vessels with complementary scents. Relative to mass-manufactured candle options, deliberately crafted candles allow deeply connecting homemade gifts, workspace wellness enhancers, and boutique decor items. For hobbyists reaching side income thresholds or sustainable living proponents, molded designs elicit intentional experiences through aroma-therapeutic crackling candlelight.
Demand increases as consumers prefer ethically sourced clean-burning candles fitting simplified lifestyles. Beyond retail sales, creative workshops also inspire purposeful community connections. With low startup costs, candle making’s hands-on rewards sustain artisan producers through skill-building to serene self-employment.
How much you can make: $20K – $100K annually
How much does it cost to start: $1K – $10K
How long does it take to build: 1-6 months
Live-streaming gamer
Live-streaming gamers broadcast gameplay and commentary to viewers through internet live-streams. By cultivating loyal audiences around specific games from Fortnite to retro classics, the player provides regular interactive shows tailored to niche interests. Fans not only watch skills unfold, but they also influence journey outcomes directly through chat discussions, champion selections, and play-by-play reactions.
Over donation-funded careers, full-time streamers evolve tight-knit communities around once-solitary gaming pastimes. With a work identity rooted in passion, the livelihood doubles as leisure while lower overhead versus traditional media lowers barriers to benefit from original voice. As gaming viewership explodes across Twitch, YouTube and Reddit, bespoke channels serve demand beyond edited replays and broadcasts of elite tournaments.
How much you can make: $10K – $500K annually
How much does it cost to start: $1K – $10K
How long does it take to build: 3-12 months
Data entry
Data entry is an administrative service that handles data formatting, processing, and transfer tasks for companies lacking specialized staff or technology. Preparing documents, spreadsheets, presentations, surveys, and more for efficient analysis, enables organizations to focus on core functions instead of tedious digital buildouts.
Whether an independent consultant or specialty firm, on-demand data handlers offer essential data hygiene and migrations that let stakeholders derive insights faster. For new businesses without extensive IT teams or robust data infrastructure, flexible data labor helps launch operations smoothly while monitoring growth indicators to scale wisely. Seasoned data entry pros also ensure continuity, safeguarding accuracy when acquiring new systems.
How much you can make: $20K – $50K annually
How much does it cost to start: $100 – $1K
How long does it take to build: 1-3 months
Transcription
Transcription is a service that converts audio recordings like meetings, interviews, and speeches into written document formats. By producing transcripts, clients save significant administrative time from repeatedly relistening to extract key information.
Written files also enable searchability, sharing with wider teams, and abstract analysis impossible with audio alone. Skilled transcription uplifts oral communication into usable assets. With automated speech recognition technology still progressing, human discernment ensures quality accuracy. For individual entrepreneurs, niche focus areas like legal, medical, or academic transcription build subject matter fluency over general commercial work.
How much you can make: $20K – $50K annually
How much does it cost to start: $100 – $1K
How long does it take to build: 1-3 months
Conclusion
Now that we’ve come to the very end, let us remind you that Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook in his dorm room, and Stripe was founded by two brothers in their early twenties. Your billion-dollar idea could be next, so grab one of these business ideas for teens, put your own spin on it, and who knows, maybe you will grow your startup into a global enterprise in a few years.
More must-read stories from Enterprise League:
- How to ask for a deposit in a contract without being awkward or losing a client.
- Have a look at the best countries to start a business as a foreigner.
- Things to consider before deciding on a business location.
- Get entertained and educated with some of the best business movies.
- Learn about all the tips and apps you need to successfully manage a remote team.
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