Everyone likes to make money. It’s a fact. And everyone likes to use that money in a different way, whether it’s donating it, treating yourself or your friends, or simply paying the bills.

I had an idea when I was younger. I lived on a golf course at the time, and figured I could sell the golf balls flying into my backyard. I sold them for 25 cents per ball or $2.50 per dozen. I learned that if you charge a cheaper price per ball for more balls, you make more money, which I liked.

From time to time, I would also pick the citrus trees for my two neighbors, one of which had roof rats. I realized that I could charge for picking the citrus off of their trees. Some people can’t pick their citrus, or simply don’t want to, so I figured it could be a useful service. The first two years we only had a few customers, but this year, I decided to market. I created a website and business cards along with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages where I actively market to the Ahwatukee area. I advertized on the local news station social media pages as well as local blog pages. CBS 5 and 3TV then reached out to me and asked if they could feature me in the news and their website. We then had an interview and later that night they put us on the 9 p.m. news on 3TV as well as the 10 p.m. news on CBS 5 Arizona.

You learn valuable skills you can use in the outside world by creating a business. For example, you can learn how to create business cards with VistaPrint or an online template. You can learn to create a website using code or a service such as Wix or Godaddy. You can also learn to manage social media accounts. A kid business is a testing ground and learning place of what’s useful for a business and what’s not.

Of course, starting a business as a kid means that your parent(s) technically own it. If you make more than $600 in gross income per year, you have to file with the IRS and create an LLC. Your parents can give you up to $6,100 per year for you to spend freely. Your parents can put another $5,500 away tax free in a Roth IRA, because there is very little chance that Social Security will still be around when we are elderly. You don’t have the same pay and benefits as your parents but we don’t have to pay taxes.

If you have a business idea, launch it. It’s a risk-free place to try new things to become a better business owner when you’re older.