An ad in the local paper can get you a lot of business in the fall months raking leaves. All you really need are a few sturdy rakes, some leaf bags, gloves, trash cans, a way to get to where you need to go and you're ready to rake it in. I even had one client who hired me to come back in the spring to rake his yard again. You won't get rich, but you'll be doing honest work, making a good wage, and can keep the wolf from the door for a couple weeks or, better, supplement your regular income with some money you can stash for Christmas.
Will you haul off the leaves you bag? You'll have to settle that first. If so, you'll need to investigate where you can dispose of the leaves.
Ideally, you can offer them to a friend who owns a horse as bedding. Or you can use the leaves on a compost heap on your own property or as mulch. Leaves contain calcium, nitrogen, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium, so they make a wonderful addition to any garden. You could even take leaves you give your horse-owning friends, mixed with the horse manure, and apply that to your garden.
If you can haul off the leaves, you'll have to make that clear to your client.
Get some ads up in laundromats. Post notices wherever you can. Run a small ad in the newspaper.
Schedule the work. People will understand if you have a full schedule, whether due to classes or a full time job. Just let them know when you will be there and try to arrange to get together so they can tell you what they want.
You need to decide how much work there is, guess at how long it will take, and charge $10 an hour. An alternate method in determining how much to charge is simply to check out the competition. Read their newspaper ads. Make it clear how much you are charging for the job. Be flexible if you wish. I had one elderly lady who thought my $20 charge was too much, but after raking and then cleaning her gutters, she realized the job was bigger than she thought and insisted I was underpaid, but I stuck to my offer.
It would probably be a good idea to make clear that your leaf-raking only includes those leaves now on the ground unless they want to hire you for a weekly leaf-raking.
Age is not a problem. I had a few people that expressed a preference for an adult rather than a teen.
This is a temporary job that will pump money into your savings account, available in the fall and probably worth trying again in the spring. Keep your ears open for any offers by clients of other work you may be able to perform.
