College is a stage when students are young, dynamic, aspiring, and fun-loving. Studies, pleasure, and struggle are what make college life exciting and thrilling, but a lot of students have to go through a tough challenge in terms of cash.
Do you often find yourself strapped for money? It’s time to explore some amazing ways to start a business even when you are studying.
There are many possibilities to earn money in college. It not only helps you become cash-independent, but it inculcates a responsibility to meet your family needs in the future.
Also, a significant number of students study by taking loans from banks or other financial institutions. So starting a business can greatly limit your debt liability and helps ease the burden. According to a survey report, Americans owe over $1.48 trillion in student loan debt, about $620 billion more than the total U.S. credit card debt.
5 highly effective money-making business ideas for college students
Here are some powerful business ideas for college students:
1. Buying and selling used textbooks
There are many online and offline spaces where you can buy and sell second-hand textbooks since a significant amount of money can be made in this disjointed marketplace.
It is one thing to sell your own textbooks but from the business point of view, you need to know where to buy and sell for profit. The key to success in this business is margin; you should only purchase a book if you know you can make a guaranteed profit on it.
To make money selling used text books, you need to start by searching second-hand thrift stores, like Goodwill.
You can find some collectible books in garage sales; you might pick up cheap books on eBay and sell them to Amazon oh a little bit higher prices.
There are some modern first edition books published in the last 30 to 40 years. Because of famous authors, these books are collectible for some people, while for others, these books might become collectible someday.
2. Tutoring
If you are confident in your specialization and niche, tutoring has promising potential.
You need to be brutally honest with yourself about your abilities and money will come very easily to you. There are certain good platforms like Wyzant (for in-person) and Chegg (for online) for taking off your tutoring business.
You create a profile in these portals and students will find you through that profile. Although these services will ask for their commission in the beginning, these are the best ways to start your tutoring business and get students.
If you want to teach local students, giving ads in local newspapers would be a good idea, to begin with. Another thing that can work for you is distributing pamphlets and flyers around your locality. Gradually, you can list your tutoring services on several websites that offer such services.
3. House and residential cleaning service
Cleanliness is very important in houses and societies, so why don’t you grab this opportunity and carve a business out of it?
House and residential cleaning service are relatively easy to start and run, and you won’t need a fortune for that.
Depending on how much time you can give to your studies, you can keep your operations small or rope in additional workers. A good cleaning work with honesty and reliability can help you find a loyal customer base.
As a result, you will create a booming business. However, the toughest part for you will be to obtain those first clients.
People like to check your track record, validate your skills and see your testimonials. Conduct the research, learn every aspect of the cleaning business, and let your clients know that indeed you are new to this field but can be best among your competitors. As far as charges are concerned, you should be price competitive.
4. Packing and moving service
Packing and moving service always remain in demand by people or other students for both local and intercity shifting and relocation needs.
Since it is a service-based business, it does not require heavy investment but needs a good infrastructure.
If you elevate your operations, you need to establish a partnership in other cities. To create a good customer base, all you need to do is provide a better quality of service, focus on the safety of goods, be punctual, commitment to timely delivery, and prompt and clear communication.
Thus, you’ll need to be organized, efficient and fairly detail-oriented. Your clients will be homeowners, apartment renters, and businesses who are moving in or out.
In the beginning, it is better to focus only on local-to-local shifting, for it will save you a lot of time and equipment.
5. Event organizer/promoter
The way event organizing industry has grown in recent years, the profit margins for planning entrepreneurs has shot up from 15% to 40%.
Being a student, you yourself must have attended many functions and events. So you can also try your luck in this industry as it is still becoming a lucrative market.
All you need to do, however, is understand the nitty-gritty of event organizing basics. There are various types of events keep happening around you – private, public, and corporate.
For example, you must have witnessed celebrations like fairs, weddings, reunions, birthdays, and anniversaries; many educational conferences and meetings; promotions, product launches, and fashion shows; memorials and other civic events.
Final thoughts
College students have energy and passion to achieve things in really unimaginable ways.
History is replete with examples when college goers converted their unique ideas into highly successful business entities.
Facebook and Google are prime examples of how some talented individuals pursued their dreams even when they were in college.
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