An Idea for a Small Business You Can Start Start-up costs range $50 to $500,000+, earnings $5,000 to $2,000,000++, skills from knowing nothing to running an airline. Bon appetit! PONY RIDES AND PETTING ZOO Start-up cost: $2,000 - $5,000 if you already have the animals; additional costs involve advertising, licenses, permits, animal care, and insurance fees for liability coverage. Potential earnings: $5,000 - $30,000; this is primarily a seasonal business so it may be part-time. Advertising: Promotional materials, Internet site. In farm: ads in pet and parent publications; flyers at pet, grocery, and department stores; direct mail to preschools, day care centers, and homes for special-needs children. Traveling: direct mail to boroughs, towns, and organizations that have annual fairs. Equipment needed: Small animals that are child- and people-friendly (also healthy and with proper inoculations); temporary yet sturdy fences; trailers and crates if you travel; animal harnesses, bridles, saddles; food for children to feed your animals. WHAT YOU DO If you love animals and children (and bringing the two together), you may want to look into offering pony rides and a traveling petting zoo as a business; or instead of traveling with your animals, you could have people come to your farm and participate in added attractions like hay rides, crawling through hay mazes, building scarecrows, walking through a pumpkin patch, milking a goat or cow, and other fun activities. Excerpted with permission from "More 101 Best Home-Based Businesses for Women" by Priscilla Y. Huff. Published by Prima Publishing. For more on this and 100 other great businesses you can start, Buy the book now or ask for it at your favorite bookstore. You can also call (800) 632-8676 www.primapublishing.com Ideas for a Small Business You Can Start Classics