Comments on: To Improve Business Profitability, Bring Back the Paper Boy

By: Jeff Knight

Jeff Knight — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:50:29 +0000

What is $38 a month in today’s dollars? Apart from parents worrying about the safety of paperboys, and the general culture against small jobs like that one, I bet the economics don’t support it any more. Love the idea, though.

By: Ed Hooper

Ed Hooper — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:59:21 +0000

I think the Opportunity is still there……for example your young businessman can “cut,blow and go” lawns and “undercut” the Pros out there ….On my street the rate is $60-80/mo. I am sure a budding entrepreneur could make a go of it for $40…..thing is nobody has ever asked me….if I want a youngster to say look after my dog I have to find them….and I typically pay $8-$10/day. I think the lack of entrepreneurial spirit comes from their parents.

By: Chris Grayson

Chris Grayson — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 04:29:03 +0000

I have to say, to Chris Hall that I was with you on your first comment, I’m not entirely with you on your second one. Every generation thinks they were the hard workers and the next are all lazy bums. It’s been that way since Socrates. They’ll turn out just fine. Right now the youth of today are entering a recession not of their making and will inherit the largest debt in the history of the world, also not of their making. I hardly think the generation that’s “running things” now is in a position to judge.

By: David Hall

David Hall — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:06:37 +0000

The problem with today’s youth is everything is given to them. We are living, or were living in a very prosperous time. Parents feel they need to help their kids and give them everything they want to make them happy. Therefore for the child there is no need to work. They are lazy, spoiled brats who have no desire to succeed because mommy & daddy will give it to them.
I watch neighbors, clean out their garage, wash their cars, do all the yard work, while the whole time junior is inside playing X-box.
I have 3 children. My oldest is in college. My friends think I am insane for making my children pay for their own car & their own hobbies. My parents did the same to me and probably most of you who are reading this as well. My oldest is home from college and is working 2 jobs plus selling bike parts on E-Bay. My middle son at 16 has set himself up with 10 families who use him for baby sitting, several of these families pay him $10 an hour, and has a lawn mowing business.
I agree we need to teach our children to be more entrepreneurial, but more importantly they need to learn a work ethic. What my Dad taught me is “Do a job right or don’t do the job at all.
They need to be observant and see a need and figure out how to fill it.

By: Richard Constant

Richard Constant — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:07:04 +0000

I did the “paper route”, it was also my introduction to owning and running a business! As a 14 yo I learned customer service (some customers asked for the paper between the doors, not in the driveway). With this special treatment also came nice “tips” @ Christmas time. I may have categorized these customers as “pains in the ass” at the time, but they were the ones who appreciated it the most. But, I’m still big in customer service!
Yes, grabbing a shovel the morning after a big snowstrom and doing driveways around the neighbohood for hours is a lost art………..

By: Joan Ramstedt

Joan Ramstedt — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:11:00 +0000

I have been a board member at Youth Employment Service of the Harbor Area (helping youth prepare for an find jobs ages 14-22) for over five years. I have also worked in the career transition field with adults and youth for over three decades. In this time, I have observed young people find meaning in their lives and building self esteem through work related experiences. There is nothing more empowering or educational than a positive work experience for young individuals. Many of the kids who come to Youth Employment Service work to contribute to their family’s overhead… What they do is depended upon and important to their own survival. They learn the lessons of profit and loss at a very young age. As a parent and community leader I believe it is essential for adults to create opportunities for our children to learn how to “stand on their own legs” and empower themselves through work related experiences. One of my daughter’s first work experience was to assemble a group of neighborhood kids who offered a early morning coffee bar right on our street corner. They made their investment back, pocketed some money and created lots of smiles from the neighborhood. There’s never been a question in my mind that one way to adult independance is for my child to learn how to take care of herself through employment. It is up to me as a parent to not “do for” but to help her “do for herself”.

By: Sherry Fischer

Sherry Fischer — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:40:38 +0000

I agree! I too was a young entrepreneur. I went house to house selling seeds. Vegetable and flower. I knew how many packages of those seeds I had to sell to get what I wanted. I raised my kids the same way. When I was 14 I got my working papers and my first job was at a jewelry store, where I learned about mark up and profit and loss. I also worked one summer where a block in our town had burned down and had to be completely cleaned up and a park was constructed. I brought my kids up the same way, but I too fear that young adults are not getting the knowledge they need to be successful. Responsibility at a young age breeds business success.

Sherry Fischer
Marketing Coordinator
S & B Staffing

By: Jacqueline Noble

Jacqueline Noble — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:01:20 +0000

There has been much written about the skills 21st Century lack to be good employees. Much of it relates back learning to take responsibility and working with others. In our neighborhood, you can’t get the kids to shovel your driveway or mow your lawn. They don’t like to work and they don’t even help their parents!

By: kevinliebl

kevinliebl — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:23:47 +0000

Excellent perspective. Thanks for sharing. Maybe the jobs have changed, but opportunities are similar…

By: Chris Hall

Chris Hall — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:35:03 +0000

Kevin,

I think that there are more ways for kids to start a business today then there ever was in the 80s, when I grew up.

For example, if your story took place today… the four kids that you beat out for the paper route could:

- Create an open source blogging platform
- Start a myspace layout business
- Create and sell an iPhone app
- Start a T-shirt company on cafe press
- Make and sell music
- Make and sell web sites
- Make and sell MMORPG characters
- Become a YouTube celeb and sell advertising
- Find things cheap locally and sell them on eBay

The sky is the limit today, in my opinion.