Finding a job for a student generally isn’t hard. Finding a job that allows working a flexible schedule, as well as keeping up with studies and social life is, however, much harder.
Under these circumstances, it could be a good idea to start your own business. This would allow you to work whenever it’s convenient for you, to earn decent money, and to build or strengthen various valuable skills in the process.
Also, see: You will never have a career if you don’t get a job
So here are 7 low-cost business ideas you can use to earn money during college years.
1. Selling your own goods.
There are plenty of talented students who actually make something as a hobby: candles, bath bombs, cosmetic goods, bags, stationery, etc. Not all of them, however, think they’re talented enough to actually earn money for what they make.
But actually, anyone with decent handmade skills can make money with the help of their hobbies. You can start with selling your goods on Etsy or create an Instagram shop – and then even open your own website if you start earning enough money on that.
2. Monetizing a creative skill.
If you cannot create something with your hands, this still doesn’t mean you aren’t able to monetize a creative skill. For example, a talented illustrator can sell their prints on Society6 or Redbubble or take DeviantArt commissions. A photographer can monetize their Instagram account, while a writer is able to find projects on freelance websites like Upwork.
Moreover, any creative person can launch a Patreon account and get donations from the fans. However, in this case, you’ll need to build a fanbase first.
3. Tutoring.
Those who like to learn and receive good grades can also consider tutoring for money. You can either teach fellow students or try prepping high schoolers for the upcoming exams. You can even help high schoolers with their application essay.
Though you might not look as experienced as a college professor, finding clients to tutor still won’t be impossible – especially if you pick a convenient time. For example, most students prefer to study in the evening, after classes – however, many tutors stop working by that time. So you’ll have an advantage here.
4. Creating your blog or website.
If you have a certain passion you want to share with the world, you could consider starting a blog or a website dedicated to it. While such thing might be viewed only as a hobby at first, you’ll be able to monetize it one way or another later, assuming that you invest time into it and offer high-quality content.
For example, you can share some student tips or lifestyle tips, or write all kinds of reviews. If you’re building a certain skill at the moment (for example, learning a foreign language or learning how to draw), consider sharing your progress on a blog or on a website. People like to read about such things.
5. Offering delivery services.
If you like spending time outside and love to explore the city, you can help people by offering delivery services. You don’t have to be super strong or extremely enduring to do so: you can pick either big deliveries or small ones (like small packages, documents, etc.) and go around using public transport. And you actually don’t even need to know the city well: just install a good navigator and start working!
One of the best things about this job is that it doesn’t require any previous experience or some specific knowledge (though if you do orient around well, you would be able to get to some places quicker). At the same time, it allows you to earn some extra cash.
6. Doing errands for other people.
You’d be surprised to find out how many people are willing to pay students for completing simple tasks like dog walking, grocery shopping, cleaning, and so on. So even if you don’t have any special skills, you’re still able to make money by doing such errands, small or big.
In order to find such jobs, you can post ads on various boards or even print them and spread around the neighborhood. And if everything works well and you’ll have a decent client base soon enough, you can even consider creating a website to promote your services.
7. Working as a personal trainer.
Some students have been fit and active since childhood, while some had to change their diet and lifestyle to get into a shape they wanted. Whatever your case is, you can help the others lose weight, become more fit and active, as long as you have enough knowledge to do so.
Professional personal trainers are usually very expensive and many people cannot afford them. But this doesn’t mean that these people wouldn’t turn to you if you offered your services at a more reasonable price.
These definitely aren’t the only jobs you can try during college years. Moreover, maybe none of this jobs seems appealing to you in the first place. However, they could help you see the picture more clearly and either to pick an interesting job out of this list or to come up with your own business idea after seeing these examples.
Sophia Clark is a creative writer from New York who loves to share her thoughts with readers. In her free time, she enjoys writing fiction as well as reading it. Her big dream is to publish a novel one day.
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