Hi! I’m having to find a way to pay for showing and was wondering what you guys thought (I can’t get an actual job because of state age [yes I am old enough to be on here] restrictions).
Would anyone (not necessarily looking for customers but looking for interest) be interested in Custom & Ready-To-Ship Saddle Covers, Stirrup Covers, and Bit Warmers? Are there other simple sewing things people would be interested in? TIA to anyone who reply’s 
So you are under 14 or 16?
What are your sewing skills like? Can you create professional quality gear, and can you work with fleece, vinyl, ripstop nylon, and other heavy fabrics? Have you made anything like this before? I wouldnt call these “simple sewing projects” if they involve heavy fabrics or double layers.
Have you done any costing out of your time and materials?
How would you market them?
Is anyone doing this already? Have you looked on Etsy to see what’s already on offer?
Unfortunately for most people, handicrafts don’t really make much profit.
Sad but true. I do have a friend who makes saddle pads, and she has a friend who does embroidery who is busy as a one-armed paper hanger, but most others don’t make enough to even make it worth it. This includes side hustles I’ve tried.
well, blanket repair would be something that our horses would help you make money since they have a talent of destruction. We do not use heavy weight blankets but fly sheets and such … rip that sucker down the side.
As a note, my then fifteen year old was “too young” to get a job so she started her own company, which did end up paying for most of her college education. She at times had several of her school friends employed to help.
Your daughter made a business out of blanket repair? I think that might work at my barn- it’s a nicer show barn so lots of horses are blanketed but never heavy weight. Do you think this could also work for fly masks during the summer?
No, my daughter started a horse summer camp teaching kids about horses. Her sewing skills are hand the item to her mother, “can you fix this?”. My repairing sheets was directed at OP since they stated they had sewing skills.
My suggestion during these trying COVID times is tutor at home students --many parents are feeling overwhelmed with trying to keep kiddos doing their on-line work. Teachers only have so much time for each student —suggest starting low and slow and seeing if it is profitable —pick your favorite age group —I’d suggest 3rd grade, 4th, 5th. Start with finding (Facebook?) two students whose parents want one-on-one on-line tutoring. I’d suggest 1/2 hour secessions at $20 --to start with --you can always raise your rates later. See if you can access and review the student’s assignments ahead of time. You might offer a free first secession to make sure the FaceTime or Zoom is working, that the child clearly understands the purpose, and with the child’s input, set some goals for the next meeting, and the subsequent ones (I’d suggest you set up five tutor times, paid in advance, but unused money refunded should the parent find the tutoring unhelpful --have a contract, simple is ok, but something you both agree on, and have the kiddo sign too). Try to have the tutoring time at the same time each day or every other day.
See how that works for you and the parent and the kid. If everyone is happy, then ask for another 5 paid up front --and you can add students --from home you could easily make $200-400 a week, I would think —but remember to always offer to refund the money if the parent is dissatisfied, keeping only what you have earned with time tutoring .
I’m thinking OP is talking about the basic fleece elasticated saddle covers and stirrup covers, the type people use in the tack room to keep dust off. I have seen quite a bit of interest in these every time they pop up on FB, IF the maker has unique fabric patterns/colors that are on trend right now. Whether or not it becomes a sustainable business with long term interest, I don’t know.
I agree with the other part of your post that suggests figuring out what the cost of goods is and if there is enough money (profit) to be made; buying materials at retail price is hard!
A safe bet would be to do some odd jobs that don’t require much up front investment, like baby sitting, tutoring as another poster mentioned, yard work, etc. If you have braiding or show grooming skills that may be something to consider, too.
I sold horse fabric face masks over the summer and made enough to pay for one dressage show.
Thanks for this! I was thinking of selling matching sets of Saddle Cover, Stirrup Cover, Bit Warmer or Wipe and Face Mask, although I would probably have to do a different material for face masks…
I think this would be difficult to do as a teen. You would need to lay out a lot of money up front for equipment - likely at least a large washer and dryer and an industrial sewing machine.
Keep in mind that your job to earn lesson or show money doesn’t necessarily have to be horse related itself. You might make more money delivering newspapers (if teens can still do this in your area), babysitting, petsitting/dog walking, mowing lawns, shoveling snow, etc. although some of those things would also be more difficult to implement with the current pandemic.
You’ve gotten some great advice here. Have you spoken to your trainer or barn owner about working off some costs either as a working student or by grooming at horse shows? Decades ago, when I was in a similar position, I was first a working student at the barn and then started going to shows to groom. It was hard work, but I learned so much and became a better horsewoman. The better I got, the more clients I had at shows. If you can learn to braid well, that’s a real money maker (or at least was for me, decades ago).
I do very well with custom trunk covers, but you need some patterning skills plus pretty advanced sewing to set zippers, etc on an industrial machine (since you’re sewing layers of cordura). I only do so many a year because it takes a lot of time plus I have to send out for embroidery or screenprinting before I sew the panels. Now I pretty much only do them for people I know, but there’s always been demand.
regarding Small business ideas, most everything we get for the miniatures does not fit
That sounds like a good idea- what things would you want for minis?
How about services like clipping, braiding, or sheath cleaning? Practice on your own horse first.
StG
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