An 11-year-old boy cried after his first customer rejection; weeks later, his $10 business...

Ashton Meyer, 11, wanted more pocket money this summer—so he started his own bin-cleaning business, and it's already gone viral. An 11-year-old Canadian boy cried after his first customer rejection; weeks later, his $10 trash-bin cleaning business has up to 40 clients and 100,000 followers.When school finished for the summer break in May, Ashton Meyer began knocking on doors in East Gwillimbury, Canada, offering to scrub down residents' wheelie bins for ten dollars. Filming his daily door-to-door visits for Instagram and TikTok, the young worker gained over 111,000 followers on Instagram in two months and built a steady group of customers.His success comes at a time when teenagers face the hardest summer job market since 1948, according to an analysis reported by Fortune. High inflation, rising living costs, and slow business hiring have cut down usual starting jobs like shop assistants, lifeguards, and babysitters, leading younger kids to find new ways to earn extra pocket money.Learning from rejectionThe project started when Meyer wanted to earn his own cash over the summer holidays. His father suggested taking out local residents' bins on collection days and washing them, while ...