#1. Farmer’s Market

Farmer’s markets are big these days, so if you have any fresh produce you could possibly sell it might be a good idea. Squash and pumpkins would be huge this time of year. These girls were able to sell organic honey and have donated over $160,000!

#2. Sell Microsoft Office for Mac

Apple is becoming very popular these days, and more and more students are turning to MacBooks when it is time to go to college. Most colleges and universities require up-to-date versions of Microsoft Office in order to submit homework and projects electronically. The problem is that Office for Mac can only be bought with three product keys, while you only need one for your own computer. Find some friends with MacBooks and sell the other product keys for reasonable prices that will give you a profit.

#3. Haircuts

Most underclassmen at college have trouble getting off campus because transportation is a hassle. How are you supposed to get a haircut? Many students would easily throw some cash at you to give them a quick buzz in the dorm bathroom.

#4. Grave Grooming

Here is an interesting one. Grave grooming is the process of cleaning up and “beautifying” graves with flowers and decorations. If this sounds intriguing to you, advertise your services around your neighborhood and craigslist and see what comes up!

#5. Babysitting

Good old fashioned babysitting can bring in some serious cash. If your neighborhood is full of young kids, chances are business will be good. You may want to consider being trained through the Red Cross before beginning this business venture. Create ads and stick them in your neighbor’s mailboxes!

#6. Leaf Removal Service

As previously posted, this time of year provides you with a great opportunity to pick up leaves for people. Charge by either bags of leaves collected, or by time. Do your heaviest advertising in areas that have lots of leafy trees.

#7. Selling Firewood

If you have some trees on your property that could be chopped up, bundle it up and sell it! Pile it up in your front yard with a big sign that lets passerby’s know what you are up to. Make sure to cover the pile with a tarp so that the wood stays dry. People will use the wood in the winter time for their wood stoves, and in the summertime for campfires.

#8. App Bank

As previously posted, App Bank is currently being tested by some of our guinea pigs, and we will let you know our results ASAP. There is nothing like making a little money while using Facebook! According to the site, the top ranked application is raking in over $800 a month!

#9. Mobile Grocery Shopping

Also previously posted, the mobile grocery shopping business is a great idea, especially when the snow starts falling and people just want to stay within the comfort of their own home. We are starting a guinea pig trial of this in a few weeks and we will post our results.

#10. Neighborhood Car Detailing

If you are into cars and such, advertise around your neighborhood for your car cleaning and detailing business. The best part is you can do it from your garage at home! If you do a thorough job and your customers are happy, word should spread quickly.

You have to check out this interview! Joe Cicero sits down with 19 year old Mike Brown via Skype to learn all about the up and coming group called BedRoc. Mike talks about the group’s quest to make it big, and it sounds like they are well on their way. We are very excited to watch and report their accomplishments in the future. Mike gives great advice in the interview, and he even shows off his skills with a surpise FindingBenjamin.com freestyle rap! CHECK OUT THEIR WEBSITE AT BEDROCMUSIC.COM

FindingBenjamin.com interviewed Jason O’Neill , the inventor of the Pencil Bug! Jason is only 13, and already very successful. He started Pencil Bugs when he was 9 years old, and is still going strong with lots of ideas for the future.

Q: What are Pencil Bugs?

A: They are cute, bug-like, handmade pencil toppers that consist of two googly eyes, two spring-like antennas on a hand-painted round head with a pipe cleaner fuzzy body wrapped around the pencil.  Pencil Bugs come individually wrapped, in eight different colors, with their own Certificate of Authenticity which gives their birth date, name, and care and training instructions.  With the help of my Mom and Dad, we have been hand making them for almost four years but we are working with a manufacturer to mass produce them.

Q: How did you come up with the idea?

A: My mom was doing a craft fair in 2005 and I wanted to help her with her product. She said that I had to come up with my own idea.  So I did.  After giving it a lot of thought and drawing out different ideas, Pencil Bugs were finally born.

Q: How have your parents supported your business?

A: Mom takes care of most of the day-to-day business like marketing, accounting, website updates, etc. but she has taught me all aspects of the business so I do it when I have time.  My dad helps me when it comes to the big financial decisions since his background and job are in sales.  But both of them believe it’s important that school comes first, then having time to play and still be a kid.  I’m glad I know how to do all the functions but glad they make sure I stay balanced.

Q: Do you have future plans for Pencil Bugs?

A: The first thing we’re working on getting done is the manufacturing of the Pencil Bugs themselves.  It is very time-consuming to hand make them.  Once we have a solution for production, I can expand into bigger retail stores.  The next related product for mass production is my greeting cards.  I have five designs so far for birthdays and other occasions.  Just three more designs to go and all eight Pencil Bugs characters will have their own special card that people can give.  To go along with that, I am working on getting Pencil Bugs licensed so when you go into a party store looking for plates, napkins, cups, party favors, etc. you’ll see Pencil Bugs characters as an option.  And since original Pencil Bugs aren’t meant for little kids, I am having a plush toy version of them made.  Those are the plans for the short term.  Long term, I already have a working prototype for a board game and a concept for a video game but those will take a lot more planning and work to get them produced.  Some day, I envision a cartoon series and maybe even “Pencil Bugs: The Movie.”   Why not?  If SpongeBob can have it all, then Pencil Bugs can too.

Q: Congratulations on your story in The Richest Kids In America. How did you get involved with Mark Victor Hansen?

A: One of Mark’s staff sent an email one day and asked if I was interested in doing an interview with Mark.  Of course, I said YES.  I was surprised they found me but really honored to be included in his book.  We were told what the book title was early on but it isn’t just about financial wealth.  Many kids were interviewed at different stages of their business.  I was the youngest to be included.  I’m no millionaire yet but it’s never too early to start.  All of the kids in the book also have one important thing in common.  They all donate part of their money to help other people.  My charity right now is Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego, California.  It was amazing to work with Mark and be in his book.  Because of that connection, I’ve been able to speak with him and other celebrities on stage at various events to large audiences.

Q: What is the best thing about having your own business?

A: A business enables you to learn a whole different side of life.  The people you meet and some of the things you experience can only be taught hands on.  I also really like the public speaking part.  No matter what size the audience is or what age they are, I like encouraging people to try their ideas and remind them that you can’t get anywhere by sitting on your ideas.

Q: What is the hardest thing about having your own business?

A: As with anything, you may want to quit sometimes.  For a lot of kids and probably many adults, it’s hard to keep going because you might not be able to see that far down the road.  It’s important to have supportive people to remind you what your goals are when things get tough.

Q: Any tips for other young entrepreneurs?

• Try your ideas because you will never know what might have happened.
• Be open to possibilities and opportunities even if they don’t fit into your master plan.  Some of the best experiences I’ve had came about by accident because I was open to possibilities.
• Don’t give up.
• Get a parent or another adult to help.  It’s not necessary to reinvent the wheel.  If you’re willing to listen, you can learn a lot from other people who have already gone through it.

FindingBenjamin.com reporter Joe Cicero sat down with Omar Soliman, the founder and CEO of College Hunks Hauling Junk via Skype. Unfortunately, the recorded video quality did not turn out very well. We decided to transcribe the entire interview, which can be seen below.

Q: Omar, could you start off and tell us a little bit about your company and give an overview of what you guys are all about?

A: We are a full-blown junk removal company. People call up to have furniture, debris, and yard brush removed. We show up at the house with our trucks and provide the labor. We’ll go inside the house, we’ll go around to the back yard, we’ll go into the basement or attic and remove all the unwanted items. The way that we charge is based on how much space the junk fills up.

Q: So you’re not a moving company, you just take what people don’t want?

A: Exactly.We are not a moving company, we are a junk and trash removal company.

Q: What do you do with all the junk?

A: We recycle and donate about 60% of the junk that we remove. We sort through everything and donate and recycle what we can, and the rest goes to different transfer stations and landfills in the area.

Q: How did the company start up?

A: My buddy Nick and I grew up together and we were looking for some ways to earn some extra money. My mom had a beat up cargo van that she used for her furniture store, and we borrowed the van, put up some flyers around the neighborhood that said College Hunks Hauling Junk. 6PM that night my cell phone started ringing with people that needed service, so that’s how the light bulb went off and we realized there was a demand for this kind of service. My senior year of college I wrote a business plan for a year-round junk removal company called College Hunks Hauling Junk, and it won first prize in the University of Miami business plan competition. I started the company after college, invested some money, and bought a truck. Our operation in D.C. grew from one truck to eight trucks in less than two years.

Q: How many employees and locations do you have?

A: We have 23 franchise locations, plus our corporate office in Washington D.C. In terms of system wide employees, we have about 200 that work for the franchisees of College Hunks Hauling Junk.

Q: We watched you guys on ABC’s Shark Tank the other night, and we see that you have plans for a new business called College Foxes Packing Boxes. What exactly are your plans?

A: We haven’t officially started that business yet, which is essentially a sister company to College Hunks Hauling Junk, but it is a “move preparation” and a professional organizing company. If someone were getting ready to move, instead of packing their things themselves, they would contract out College Foxes Packing Boxes to sort through all of their materials and pack up boxes. They will come prepared with all necessary materials, too.

Q: What stage are you at in establishing College Foxes Packing Boxes?

A: It’s in the preliminary stages right now. Part of the reason we went on Shark Tank was to raise some money to get the business started. We are pretty tied up with College Hunks Hauling Junk so it’s hard for us to do two things at the same time.

Q: So even though you didn’t take the deal, do you still think the Shark Tank experience was a good one?

A: It was an awesome experience. You hear all these things about reality television not being real and being scripted, but that was all real. It was real emotions, real business people, and it really showed what it’s like to go in front of venture capitalists. They aren’t going to be nice to you, they are going to be up front and in your face. All around it was an awesome experience though and I would definitely do it again if I could.

Q: Did it give you a lot of exposure? Did you see any impact from being on the show?

A: We got a lot of exposure, definitely on the franchise side of things. It got our name out to people all over the country that still haven’t heard of College Hunks Hauling Junk. We are a pretty affordable franchise to start out with compared to other franchises like 7 eleven or McDonalds. In this type of economy, a $70,000 investment is nowhere near as bad as, let’s say a Subway, which costs $500,000 to $1,000,000.

Q: Do you have any other future plans?

A: Right now, our goal is just to continue to grow College Hunks Hauling Junk. We really think we can be a 50 million dollar company in the next five years.

By Staff

Apple’s iPhone is all the rage these days, and the number of applications that can be downloaded and used with it is growing like crazy. Thanks to the multitude of resources available on how to create an iPhone app, including Apple’s own iPhone Developer Program, it’s becoming considerably easier to launch an iPhone app, and possibly even make money from it. iPhone app development still has its hurdles – you do have to have some programming knowledge to be able to write your own application, or the funds to hire a developer or outsource your idea to a programmer. Then there’s the matter of submitting your design to Apple and getting it approved, which has a fee attached and isn’t always a walk in the park. One team of developers had a list of 40 ideas before they came up with one successful application. But as with anything, persistence usually pays off, and if you keep at it and come up with an original idea, chances are good that you’ll have an app accepted. If you decide to create a “paid” app, Apple takes 30% of the sales revenue, and you get 70%, which works out pretty nicely for you. 

Because the iPhone and its applications tend to appeal to a young and definitely tech-saavy crowd, more and more young people are breaking into the developing industry by launching their own apps. While there are many young entrepreneurs out there who’ve been successful, we’d like to highlight four who have recently made the news headlines with their ideas and products:

Lim Ding Wen – Doodle Kids

Lim is a 9 year-old from Singapore and is the youngest person to develop an iPhone application. He created the Doodle Kids app, a program that lets users draw pictures on the screen with their fingers. While his father is also a programmer and Lim is probably a bit of a prodigy it still goes to show that it’s never too early to start doing what you love! Lim is currently working on another iPhone app. 

Owen and Finn Voorhees – MathTime

These 9 and 11 year-old siblings developed an application called MathTime. It’s a flashcard-type app to help kids hone up on their math skills. These two also designed the app all on their own, and after being accepted by Apple, MathTime is now ranked one of the top paid educational apps.

Allen Wright – A Note to God

This 17 year-old doesn’t have the developing knowledge that Lim and the Voohees brothers did, but that’s not stopping him from going forward with his iPhone app idea. Instead, Allen has submitted his proposal for an app called “A Note to God” to a company that developed the program and then presented it to Apple under Allen’s name. The app is currently still waiting approval, but they expect to hear the decision very soon. Read the full story about Allen’s idea here.

Cameron Banga, Michael Phelps, Jeff Lange – BatteryGo!

These three college guys decided to give iPhone app developing a try instead of getting a “real” job over the summer. The app they came up with, BatteryGo!, lets users know how much talk time they have left on their phone. Though this team didn’t know much about creating an iPhone app, they were able to familiarize themselves by spending lots of time taking online tutorials. BatteryGo! is now among the top 100 paid apps in Apple’s app store. 

Photo credit: nialkennedy

FindingBenjamin.com kicks off its closet sessions series! We have tons of interviews lined up for filming directly out of the closet at home. Our debut interview was with Jason Sadler of IWearYourShirt.com. He came up with an ingenious idea to wear company’s shirts and advertise them for a whole day all over the internet. He makes a pile of money and seems to have loads of fun with it! It is a very informative and inspiring interview for all entrepreneurs. Enjoy!

 
After writing the TerraCycle article the other day, I came across a great local business that also uses worms to create revenue. 

The business, Worm Power, is based out of Avon, New York. They currently house over 8 million worms which makes Worm Power the largest vermicomposting facility in the Eastern United States. Vermicomposting is the process of literally feeding worms decomposing food and manure, and then out comes vermicast, otherwise known as worm castings. Worm castings are an excellent organic fertilizer that serves as “the best long-term, natural soil fertility enhancing product available”. 

For all you gardeners out there, you can purchase their products online.

I was walking through Target the other day when I came across pencil cases and folders that seemed to have been made from old potato chip bags. After closer inspection, I learned that they truly were made from old garbage by a company called TerraCycle.

Turns out that TerraCycle was a company started by two college kids in 2001. Their initial product was a liquid plant food made from worm waste, but now they have dozens of products ranging from backpacks made of Capri Sun drink pouches to plant pots made of crushed computers and fax machines.

TerraCycle has been all over the media, as the once tiny startup is now a full-fledged booming business. They currently have a program where individuals, schools, and non-profit organizations can collect used products (ex. Capri Sun pouches, candy wrappers, yogurt containers) and TerraCycle will donate $0.02 per item to the charity of your choice. 

Referring back to our Trash To Cash article, this is a great example of somebody who found great success with upcycling. Come up with your own unique upcycled product to help put some benjamins in your pocket while helping the earth at the same time.

By Chris 

No joke. I recently received a check for $8,000 from the U.S. government. It’s now sitting in my bank account. All I had to do was buy a house. Maybe you could do the same thing.

As part of his economic stimulus package, President Obama decided to offer first-time homebuyers an income-tax credit of up to $8,000. Being 19 years old, I’ve never owned a home, and my income is below the $75,000 cut-off, so I’m eligible to grab the credit. It’s based on 10 percent of the purchase price. My house, a solid three-bedroom colonial built in 1917, cost me exactly $80,000 and so I was able to max out the $8,000 credit.

The best part about the credit is that it is “refundable.” That means you get a check for anything over and above your income tax liability.

The deal here is that I have to use the house as my residence for at least three years. If I do that, I get to keep the eight grand. If I don’t, I have to pay it back to the government. But it should all work out. I’m less than two miles from my college campus and if all goes according to plan, I’ll graduate in 3 years and be free to sell the house and keep my stimulus money along with any appreciation in value.

In the meantime, I have my own spacious crib, which to me is a lot better than the 30 square feet of space they call a college dorm room. I’ve invited a couple of my friends to move in and share costs.

You may be wondering where I came up with the money to buy the house. After all, no bank is going to give a full-time college student a mortgage. This is where parents come in. Mine were willing to take out a home-equity loan on their own house and re-lend the money to me. I pay my parents about $400 each month, including interest, just as I would pay a bank on a 30-year mortgage. I also have to keep the $8,000 in a separate account as added “security” for them.

Owning a house looks to be cheaper than on-campus living, at least in my situation. My college charges $6,550 for a bed in a dorm room, and that’s just for an 8-month school year. The total of my mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance, and repairs and maintenance should come in lower than $6,550 after figuring in what the housemates are kicking in. What’s not to like?

If you are interested in this idea, you’ll have to act fast. The credit is available only for home purchases completed before December 1, 2009. If you cannot get a bank or relatives to give you a mortgage, your other option is to request “seller financing.” (But most sellers are not willing to do that.) You can get more information about the credit from the IRS website.