Philip Wolny - Money-Making Opportunities for Teens Who Are Handy

Published in 2014 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

Copyright 2014 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wolny, Philip.

Money-making opportunities for teens who are handy/Philip Wolny. First edition.

pages cm.(Make money now!)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4488-9382-9 (library binding)

1. Repairing tradesVocational guidanceJuvenile literature. 2. Building tradesVocational guidanceJuvenile literature. I. Title. HD8039.R469.W65 2014 331.7020835dc23

2012049003

Manufactured in the United States of America

CPSIA Compliance Information: Batch #S13YA: For further information, contact Rosen Publishing, New York, New York, at

O n a quiet Saturday afternoon, while other teens might be at the mall or the park, one fifteen-year-old is busy earning money in her parents garage. With money saved from allowance and birthdays, she runs a bicycle-repair business she established a year before. She started biking at an early age, and her father taught her basic bike repair and maintenance when she was only ten years old.

This afternoon, she has two bikes to work on and must update her bookkeeping for the previous weeks work. She uses some tools borrowed from her parents and ones she purchased on her own, plus a free, downloaded spreadsheet program she taught herself. After finishing the days physical work, she plans out the coming week: printing more flyers to hang around town; responding to queries on Craigslist, Facebook, and e-mail; and buying more supplies. She works most weekends and a couple of days each week after school, with more time during the summer. Ultimately, she plans to apply for a job at a bike shop with the experience she has gained.

Teens who are handy have many opportunities to earn money. Whether being their own bosses, earning wages at a local business, or even volunteering to gain experience for future work, they can pick and choose the path that suits them best. There are many types of work to pursue as well, requiring different skill levels.

Gaining experience through physical labor opens up a world of opportunity for those with the patience and talent to pursue such work. Earning money doing handy jobs is a great way to develop skills, problem-solving abilities, and discipline.

A young man examines a bicycle wheel on the job. Being handy can be a fulfilling and profitable path for teens, and it can prepare them for lifelong careers.

Teens who love to tinker with machines, or simply prefer working with their hands, also position themselves for various jobs, careers, and professions. These include engineering, physics, architecture, and other professions, as well as highly valued skilled trades such as carpentry, electrical work, construction, auto repair, and many similar vocations.

Even those who do not pursue these career paths have much to gain. They learn how to manage time and money, whether self-employed or as an employee, acquire valuable experience and skills, and get the satisfaction of earning their own money. Many teens love such work for its own sake, too. For them, fixing a simple household appliance can be as fulfilling as playing sports, writing a poem, or going to see their favorite musical artist in concert.

Learning about and preparing for these opportunities are among the most important steps in the journey. Teens must learn about the many local labor laws that affect them, learn to network and advertise, and perfect their job-seeking and interviewing skills. They should also learn how to handle money and clients or customers. At the same time, they must carefully consider what jobs they are ready to do, and how their work fits in with their plans for the future. Doing their best, they can enter the world of money-making opportunities for teens.

W hat does it mean to be handy? As the words imply, handy people are skilled in working with their hands. Their abilities usually go beyond just physical labor. Being handy means much more and can include many different types of work. Handy people are also known for being good with tools and machinery.

There are many reasons that working with ones hands can be a good choice for both the present and the future. In the short term, it is a great way to earn extra cash. In the long term, one learns valuable life and work skills that can be useful in many different career paths. These include a future in the skilled trades, such as being a mechanic, carpenter, electrician, plumber, and many more possibilities. Being handy also opens the door to other profitable and rewarding fields like engineering, computer science, and architecture, among others.

Handy people may realize early on that they are especially good at doing physical and technical tasks. Even very young children can demonstrate a true love of using tools and figuring out how the physical world around them works. Just as young writers or artists may start out writing in their diary or drawing, a handy kid might be fascinated with taking apart a telephone or other common household item.

Some teens may find out they like these kinds of hobbies better than artistic or other activities. They may actually even love so-called creative pursuits, too. In fact, handy people also often show great creativity, imagination, and problem-solving skills through physical work. The two worlds are not exclusive.

Even if they may not pursue a skilled trade or technical career as adults, young people can use their special abilities to make money in many different ways. A good deal of them do not realize they have this talent until later in life because they do not try it out or do not have the opportunity.

An insurance agent may realize at age forty that she or he loves woodworking and start a business making furniture, while an executive vice president might discover a love of repairing and maintaining table lamps.

For those who have the talent and inspiration, being handyand making some cash as a resultcan be not only financially fulfilling, but also emotionally satisfying.

Although science and technology such as the Internet have provided society with great convenience and connectivity, many feel alienated (or separated emotionally) from the work they do every day. While it is certainly not true for everybody, many workers feel disconnected from the technology that surrounds them today.

A teenager drills a piece of wood in a shop class. Many young people first discover their love of hands-on labor early on, often in school.

Some teens considering a future career may find the idea of sitting in an office cubicle or working in retail, for example, unattractive. As motorcycle mechanic and writer Matthew Crawford wrote for the