Youth business idea: phone clinics

Young man helps abuela with a cell phone

Easy summer business for teens: helping seniors with their cell phones.

Looking for the perfect instant summer business idea for young entrepreneurs? Try phone clinics.

I saw this idea pop-up in a meeting that involved a cross section of the town of Cathlamet, Washington. People of all ages were there: students from the high school, county commissioners, chamber of commerce members. One of the adults was lamenting that they didn’t know how to fix a certain annoying problem with their phone.

“That’s easy,” one of the students said. “I’ll help you after this is over.”

Immediately other adults spoke up. They had phone issues, too! Could they get help?

That’s a business idea! With just a sign and a couple of chairs, any tech savvy person could set up a booth at an event. Set a price by the job or by time.

There’s plenty of demand from older adults who are online and need some tech support. Maybe not a full time class, just a quick solution.

Especially in small towns, there aren’t a lot of established alternatives, so there’s not too much competition.

More help with Youth Engagement

Deb Brown and I are sharing what we’ve learned from working with students and youth in small towns. Learn more about our Connecting with Kids video here.

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About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.