3D printing<\/a> business as an \u201cinfinite money cycle\u201d, Levi is confident: \u201c3D printing is the way I\u2019m going to make the most money.\u201d He plans to print key chains and badges to sell at festivals and online, and start to repay his parents when sales take off.<\/p>\n\u201cWhen I grow up, I want to start off being employed and learning things from an older person,\u201d he says. \u201cAfter that, I might start my own business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lila, seven: \u2018I feel super happy every time I sell a toy\u2019<\/p>\n
She may be only seven, but Lila has already earned \u00a3800 from her business, L\u2019il Toybox, which sells 3D-printed characters on Etsy and at markets and fetes.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt fairs, my dad and I saw other people selling 3D-printed toys, and we thought: \u2018We can do better,\u2019\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Lila\u2019s father, a web designer, started her off with an initial investment by buying their first 3D printer \u2013 a single-colour version \u2013 for \u00a3200. He helped her get to grips with the technical knowhow of designing and printing each character. Once she had made some profits, Lila\u2019s earnings were enough to upgrade to a multicolour 3D printer, which cost about \u00a3500.<\/p>\n
Lila, who lives in Norfolk, spends about 10 hours a week researching online to see what other people are printing, as well as watching YouTube videos to stay on top of the latest trends. \u201cI also practise playing with things we create to make sure they are good quality and don\u2019t break,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Lila sells her 3D-printed characters at markets, fetes and on Etsy. <\/p>\n
Lila and her father have created a variety of animals such as pandas and geckos, and base some of their creations on what is topical, for example, making and selling skeletons and pumpkins before Halloween.<\/p>\n
Each character takes up to 10 hours to make, although the printer can be left on and unattended. The materials for the smaller ones can cost as little as 50p and Lila sells each piece for between \u00a33 and \u00a38.<\/p>\n
She has taken \u00a3950 from sales and repaid some of the cost of the printer purchase \u2013 she repays some each time she attends a fair, and also makes a contribution towards the maintenance costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel super happy every time I sell a toy,\u201d Lila says. \u201cI like making things with my dad because we get to spend lots of time together.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving a business, running the stall and taking payments helps me understand maths. It also helps me feel more confident talking to grownups.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rodgean, 12: \u2018Dealing with cash helps me in maths\u2019<\/p>\n
Rodgean\u2019s reselling business was fuelled by an urge to declutter. He asked his mother whether he could sell old things that were taking up space, such as unwanted toys and clothes and shoes he had outgrown. She was planning to give or throw them away, so she agreed.<\/p>\n
He markets on Vinted and at car boot sales and sells at least one item daily, basing the price on the quality and age of the item and how many people are interested in it.<\/p>\n
Rodgean\u2019s business really took off over the summer holidays, when he had more free time to spend on listing and selling items. So far he has made more than \u00a370.<\/p>\n
He now creates bracelets and scarves to sell alongside his secondhand items, and even plays the ukulele at car boot sales to draw\u00a0in the crowds. \u201cIt feels like a reward at the end of the week to be able to have fun and sell my items,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Rodgean, who is from the Midlands, puts most of what he earns into a savings account for university and uses some of it to reinvest in his business, buying glue and craft equipment and scarves to decorate. He allows himself money for the occasional treat. He also regularly allocates a portion to send to Cancer Research UK.<\/p>\n
Rodgean markets on Vinted and at car boot sales.<\/p>\n
Rodgean says his business and his schoolwork go hand in hand, and he has learned valuable lessons such as about supply and demand. He also learns from the money lessons on his GoHenry app.<\/p>\n
\u201cDealing with cash and change helps me in maths, while haggling and negotiating helps my confidence in debating club,\u201d he says. \u201cI use the money skills that I learn from the car boots for my academics, because it helps me understand things in a different way. For example, I increase the value if there are more people, and then I lower it once it settles down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rodgean also highlights the environmental benefit of buying and selling secondhand. \u201cIt\u2019s not just financially better, it also helps with the environment and prevents waste,\u201d he says. \u201cSelling secondhand is really useful, sustainable \u2013 and fun, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Skyla, 16: \u2018It helps set you up for managing your time\u2019<\/p>\n
When Skyla from London was given a \u00a330 Snazaroo face-painting kit for her 15th birthday, she could not have imagined how business would be booming only a year later.<\/p>\n
She began practising on her little brother, and took some pictures, which her mother posted on Facebook, offering Skyla\u2019s services for \u00a330 an hour for birthday parties.<\/p>\n
Soon, Skyla had her first job and it snowballed from there, with glowing reports of her skills spreading by word of mouth. Social media has been instrumental in spreading the word.<\/p>\n
Skyla (left) built a business after receiving a face-painting kit on her 15th birthday. <\/p>\n
Skyla also works as a waitress and does a few face-painting parties every month, with business booming over the school holidays. She now charges \u00a360 an hour, and has made profits of about \u00a32,000 so far.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to be an artist in the future, so having this business helps me artistically, but it\u2019s also good experience knowing how to promote myself and how to speak to people professionally,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cRunning your own business helps set you up for managing your money and your time in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Setting up a business<\/p>\n
There are no specific laws preventing children from running their own sole trader businesses, although you cannot register as a company director until you are 16.<\/p>\n
While the children\u2019s wellbeing and schools bill, which is going through parliament, aims to update child employment laws, it does not regulate small businesses or side hustles.<\/p>\n
Everyone needs to pay tax regardless of age, and children have the same annual tax allowance and liabilities as adults.<\/p>\n
Like adults, children are entitled to a personal tax-free allowance up to \u00a312,570. This is how much income you can earn before you need to pay tax.<\/p>\n
HM Revenue and Customs has an online calculator<\/a> to work out if you owe any tax.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Most adults look back on their childhood earnings and think of pocket money, Christmas gifts or a Saturday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[64,63,99,198],"class_list":{"0":"post-162712","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-entrepreneurship"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}