Scary Maze

Projected Profit: $98,200-$155,200

The Scary Maze idea is for an entrepreneur who wants a big return for a smaller investment.

A scary maze and other thrilling adventures are big business, especially during mid-September and early November. A Scary Maze is rare, which makes it a very popular attraction.

What Your Scary Maze Will Need

• Big Wooden Wire Reels: You can get those for free if you look in the right places
• Pallets: These can also be found for free
• Old Cars: A great junkie car can be priced anywhere from free to $100. Leave this out in the front of your scary maze so people can get a jump while waiting in line. Have somebody pop out and give them the suprise of their life.
• Wood Logs: You can find these for free and spread them around the park.
• Hay Grass Bales: $3 a piece (depending on location). You may use hay bales as a guide through the scary maze, or use ropes. You can also use these as building blocks, and have an employee pop out and scare people.
• Strobe Lights: Put these wherever you want the scary maze to be the scariest. With strobe lights, your employees can pop out without being seen beforehand and scare your customers. Be sure to post a sign about strobe lights warning people with epilepsy about the danger.
• Ropes to keep people in the area. You don't want people leaving the scary maze because if somebody gets hurt or lost, there may be a liability issue.
• Employees ($6-$10 an hour): The number of employees depend upon how big your scary maze is.
• Scary Masks: Have your employees wear these. The glow in the dark masks can also be used as decoration to make your customers think they are surrounded by people.
• Chainless Chainsaws: You want these at the end of the maze. This will be the highlight of your maze that makes people want to come back.
• Clown Suits / Other Costumes: A lot of people are afraid of clowns, so clown costumes are a great choice. You can even give the chainless chainsaw to the clowns for an extra scare. As for other costumes, it's left to your imagination.
• Radio: Have a radio be playing eery music at the scariest part of your maze, or in open areas that have a void that needs to be filled.
• Manikins: These can add a horrific twist to your scary maze, especially if used in strobe light rooms.
• Fake Blood: It wouldn't be a scary without fake blood. You can spread it on your manikins, employees, etc. Let your imagination go wild.
• Scary Signs: You can place scary signs at the beginning, end, and throughout the scary maze to guide them where to go.
• Fog Machine: Use this where you want visibility to be lowered. A great place to put this is in the graveyard.
• Tombs: A graveyard is a great opportunity to take up some unnecissary space. You can have employees pop out and scare people from tombs.
• Skeletons: It wouldn't be scary without skeletons either. Skeletons are a classic Halloween prop, and they're gonna add a great flavor to your maze.
• Witches: These can either be employees in costumes, or they can be hooked to a string and fall from a tree.
• Shacks: A few shacks throughout the maze will fill up space, and give opportunity to scare more people as they enter.
• In the front, a bonfire and concessions to sell hot beverages and food

Use your imagination and find more ideas that would apply to your town.

If you were to have 20 employees working an average of 5 hours a day at $6 an hour for 38 days (2009 calendar), that would cost $22,800. You would spend an additional $50,000(estimation) for the rented field to put the scary maze, props, and materials you need.

Charging $15-$20 per person, and average 300 people per night for 38 days, it would be $171,000-$228,000 in entrance fee sales. That isn't counting the concessions, beverage, and glow stick sales. So total profits for your scary maze will be $98,200-$155,200

Picking up Dog Dung

Projected Profit: $300-$600 a month

This idea is for a kid looking to make extra money doing a job around the neighborhood. Be sure to ask your parents permission before you use this idea.

If picking up dog dung is gross to you, then it's probably gross to a lot of other people too. Since people don't like to do it themselves, you can do it for them! There's a lot of money to be made doing this.

You can go to the store and buy a Poop Scooper, so you don't have to pick them all up by hand. It doesn't take long to go around someone's yard. You would go door to door, and ask your neighbors if you can pick up there dog dung for a small fee each week.

If you were to get 15 customers and charge them $5-$10 a week, you would be getting an extra $300-$600 a month. That's just for picking up dung! Make sure you wear protective gloves though.

Mall Day-Care Center

This is for an entrepreneur who has money to invest in a business.

Moms and Dads need time to themselves, especially when they are out at fun places. Those fun places can be malls, resturaunts, movie theatres, etc. When mom and dad want to go on a date, it's hard to find places that can take care of their children. If they could simply drop them off at a convenient daycare center, they would be able to have that special time alone.

This is what your business would be about. You rent a store in a mall, or somewhere popular. You childproof this place, hire employees, buy toys and dress-up clothes, and have a cash sregister that can swipe credit cards and debit cards. This store is going to be a place where parents can drop off their children for a while while they go on a date to dinner, shopping, a movie, etc.

Your employees must be nice, and preferrably older. It will be hard for parents to trust their precious children with teenagers. When the parents come in, introduce the facility, your employees, and the number of activities your children would be participating in. Once the parent has paid be sure to take their picture, and attach it to their child. That way you aren't giving away their child to somebody else.

Your facility must also be approved by a childcare safety inspector (check with your state), and you should have the parents sign an injury waiver so you aren't held responsible for anything. Depending on what you charge, this could be a booming business.