Top summer business ideas

Are you looking for a business idea that takes advantage of the season? Seasonal businesses are great for a few reasons – they can be less demanding than year-round businesses, and you have time to prepare for your busy period. 

Summer holidays can be a good opportunity for students to dip their toes into the water of business ownership. Seasonal businesses are also a good way to try out entrepreneurship on a smaller scale and see if starting a business is right for you. Here’s a collection of the best business ideas for summer. 

House sitting

Summer is when a lot of people, especially if they have kids off from school, go on holiday. And if they don’t want to leave their home empty while they’re away, you can step in as a house sitter. You’d essentially be taking care of the person’s home and keeping it in the shape it was when they left. 

You can start house sitting without too much investment since you’ll be using what the owner has in their home to maintain it. House sitters do a range of things, like: 

• Watering plants and mowing lawns 

• Collecting mail and packages 

• Caring for pets

• Maintaining the swimming pool, if you land a wealthy client

House sitting is a fun business to pursue because the length of your stay can range from a few days to whole months, all without paying rent. You can make yourself stand out more by offering specialised services like plumbing and electrical work. 

Dog walking/pet care

A lot of people going on holiday in the summer can’t take their pets with them. And taking their furry friends to a kennel or pet hotel can be expensive. If you love being around dogs, dog walking is a great way to make money in the summer. 

Dog businesses are cheap to start, as they require little upfront investment. Usually the dog’s owner will have a lead and collar you can use, so you may not even need that. 

It needn’t be a huge time commitment, and your earnings are mostly profit, especially if you’re walking multiple dogs at a time. Good places to advertise as a dog walker include outside pet shops, veterinarian’s offices, and around dog parks. 

Pet care requires more from you as it’s a full-time responsibility, but like house sitting, the owners usually have what their pets need (food, water, toys, etc.) on hand. It’s also generally preferable for the pets to be in a familiar environment, so house and pet sitting can overlap. 

Pool and hot tub cleaning

Summer is the time when people are outside and both public and private swimming pools see a lot of use. That means there’s a demand for people to maintain the pools, and luckily, there are few qualifications required to start a pool cleaning business, though it depends on your location.

Pool cleaning involves more than just draining the water and fishing out leaves. You’ll be responsible for:

• Checking the pumps and filters

• Assessing the chemical balance of the pool

• Scrubbing the floors and walls

• Repairing anything cracked or leaking 

If you can invest a little time in learning how the chemicals involved work and how to properly assess pH balance, pool cleaning is high on the list of summer business ideas. Though pool ownership isn’t as common in the UK as in warm countries, summer means maintenance services are in demand.

You can also offer cleaning for hot tubs, which are popular year-round. Many holiday and Airbnb stays have a hot tub outside, and rentals are increasing. Since hot tubs are considerably less expensive than installing a swimming pool, they’re a more common addition to a home.

Home-based summer business ideas

Want to make money in the summer while avoiding the heat? There are a lot of summer business ideas that are perfect for running straight from your home. 

Rent out your home

When more people are travelling, more people are looking for accommodation on sites like Airbnb. To take advantage of the summer rush, you can offer to host travellers if you’ve got a spare room. You can also rent out the entirety of your home while you yourself are on vacation. 

Like all real estate, home rental depends on your location. If you’re near a beach or an exciting area, you’ll have more people interested. Loads of travellers appreciate the perspective of locals when they visit somewhere new, so you can offer to show them around and give them tips on enjoying their stay. 

Handmade clothing business

Do you know how to design, sew, tailor, or knit? There’s a big emphasis on summer clothing and accessories every year. If you have the skills already, you don’t need much to produce goods out of your home. A sewing machine and stitching equipment is all you’ll need. 

Items like hats, flip flops, and beachwear are typically popular purchases in the summer. Making things yourself and redesigning old clothes give your products a personalised flair. All you need is an ecommerce store and you can sell what you make online. 

Happily, it only takes a few minutes to open a SumUp Online Store, and it’s free. You don’t need any web design or coding knowledge, and you can customise every aspect of your storefront. The layouts are simple and easy for you and your customers to understand. 

It’s easy to add and organise your products and streamline checkout to give buyers the smoothest experience possible. With the wide range of delivery and payment options available, Online Store makes business convenient. 

Teach a skill

This is a good way to make money using something you’re passionate about. In the summer, school holidays have started and kids have a lot more free time. Many will take the summer to work on a skill, like learning guitar or woodworking. If there’s something you enjoy doing and you're experienced, offering lessons can be a good way to make money from the comfort of your or your client’s home. 

You can also tutor kids in various subjects over the summer. Oftentimes, parents won’t want their children forgetting everything they learned during vacation. And sometimes people want a head start on preparing for the next school year if they’re thinking about uni. 

Car wash

An easy way to make money in the summer is to start a car wash. People will be using their cars more for holidays and trips into nature, and too much dirt and debris can bake onto vehicles. You can set up a car wash outside your home pretty easily; all you need is a big enough space and some cleaning supplies. 

The services you can offer range from simply washing the outside to repainting to detailing the inside of the car. Depending on what you plan to provide, you’ll need to invest in different products. 

Summary of our business ideas for summer

There’s no shortage of ways to make money in summer, either inside or outside your home. The season brings increased demand for many products and services, and what’s listed here is just the tip of the iceberg. 

Did you learn how to make money in the summer? For more helpful tips, continue exploring the SumUp Business Guide.