Students and startups–sounds impossible, right? But it is not.
In fact, many successful entrepreneurs started their journey back in college and climbed the ladders to rule the business world today. Besides, any hands-on experience with your degree will only elevate your chances of achieving greater success in your career.
So, it’s better to squeeze some free hours from your college routine to work on your startup. It will help you make good money by solving people’s problems. And you will have practical business experience to write an irresistible resume.
But finding a great business idea is tricky. Hence this article lists eleven simple business ideas that require little upfront investment and can be developed from your home.
11 Profitable Business Ideas for a Successful Student Startup
Freelancing
Freelancing can be your way to fortune. All you have to do is offer your services to individuals and businesses who need them. Here are some in-demand services: writing, research, content marketing, social media management, data analysis, graphic design, video editing, etc.
You can work on weekends or whenever you are free and charge on a per-task basis. Besides, the best thing about freelancing is you get paid for what you love doing. Exciting, right?
So, choose any service you’d like and can provide and learn the required skills. Create a few samples, make a portfolio, and market your services on LinkedIn, Twitter, and other platforms. To ensure you don’t miss assignment deadlines while working on your startup, find a reliable paper writing service and have a professional writer write my research paper for me.
Web Development
Website development is on a surge because every business needs to have a website. Since there are numerous small, medium, and large-scale businesses, and many of them do not have a website, you have a great startup idea. It’s a plus if you enjoy coding and are interested in it.
Learning to code is easier than ever, with thousands of free and paid courses available online. Choose a language that is in demand, take regular lessons and pair them with continuous practice. You will master the skill in no time.
You can also choose one of the many platforms that allow website development without coding. However, you must know how to work on them and add the required features.
Make a portfolio, reach out to small business owners in your locality and offer your services. You can also market your skill on professional platforms like LinkedIn.
Tutoring
Think of the subject you are good at and love studying. Now market yourself as a tutor for the subject. Teach juniors useful tips to perform well in classes and exams. You can use your expertise to help them master concepts in exchange for a fee.
There are many online platforms that hire tutors to take hourly classes and teach students online. It is also a great opportunity to build your credibility as a tutor and increase your demand.
Once you earn enough popularity, you can start your own online tutoring business. The only investments you need to make are a digital board, a tripod, and a pair of studio lights or a ring light.
Video Creation
A hot business idea is building an audience on YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok. People are striking gold by following their passion and consistently creating content for these platforms. You can do the same.
Research trending topics and niches and choose one to make videos on. You can talk about the latest gadgets, share tips on fashion and clothing, or teach students how to write assignments. Platforms monetize videos based on different parameters.
If you have a decent number of subscribers and followers, brands approach you for promotions and organic ads. However, reaching this stage takes patience and time.
Product Selling
It’s high time to use your technical and creative skills. Think about what product you can create that people will love buying. Here are some ideas:
- Home Décor Items: canvas paintings, coasters, aromatic candles, painted mugs, etc.
- Digital Items: eBooks, online courses, software applications, photographs, fonts, etc.
- Other Items: bookmarks, printed T-shirts, key chains, greeting cards, bracelets, Matcha set, etc.
Don’t know how to create any of these? No worries, learn the skills from blogs and tutorials available on the internet. You might also need to find local vendors to arrange supplies.
Once the product is ready, price them carefully and sell them on online marketplaces like Shopify, Etsy, and Gumroad.
Blogging
Do you love a certain topic so much that your friends just can’t listen to you anymore? Excellent, it’s time to start your blog!
Blogging is a lucrative business idea that allows you to talk about things that excite you. Some of the hot topics are technology, travel, personal finance, health and fitness, food, digital marketing, pets, etc. Eventually, brands pay you to review their products. You can also earn by using affiliate links in your articles.
Purchase a domain and hosting, design a website through the best WordPress hosting, and consistently post blog posts.. You can monetize your blog through ads or sponsorship when you get impressive organic traffic. Make sure to work on improving your writing skills to create great content.
Food Delivery Service
Students often go out to grab a meal during lunch breaks or evening hours. Why not build a simple app to help them order food from local restaurants?
It will be a great business idea if you love developing apps or websites. To run the app smoothly, you can get your friends involved, hire some delivery partners, and charge a fee from customers for successful deliveries.
Reinvest the profits on improving user experience and growing your team. You can also hire an essay writer to help you out with your assignments while you focus on your delivery business.
Thrift Store for Books & Other Items
Thrifting is in trend nowadays. Environmentally conscious consumers prefer thrift stores over buying new items to reduce their carbon footprint. You can sell used books, clothes, shoes, and even home decor items.
Make an app to list all used articles in your inventory and let others buy them from the platform. Other students can also use the app to sell their items, paying you a commission on each successful transaction. This way, you will have a smooth money-making business.
Similarly, instead of letting others sell their goods on your app, you can source things from others and sell them yourself. This way, you are in control of the margin after paying a reasonable amount to the sellers. However, make sure the price you list justifies the condition of the used item.
Digital Marketing
Digi-verse has become a parallel world with its own population, issues, and trends. Even though traditional marketing has not become obsolete, the need for digital marketing is unavoidable. Many rising brands and startups are looking for an expert to take care of this marketing category and produce apt ads.
This business has so much potential that, within no time, you can build your own team and start an agency. All you need to do is learn the skill, join a company to gain practical expertise, and start offering your services to businesses.
You can start with focused services on content strategizing and paid ads. Later on, you can diversify your business and offer more services, such as content marketing and social media management.
Home Bakery
If you count baking as your hobby, your business idea has been hidden in plain sight all the while. You might or might not have thought of starting a home bakery, but undeniably, this is one of the best ways to start a side hustle without much investment.
If your close ones have already tasted your cakes and cookies, good! If not, hand out samples at your school, in your neighborhood, and to your parents’ friends. Everyone loves customized cakes and baked goods. Once people know about you, you can start taking custom orders on weekends.
You can also start promoting your business on social media to grow the number of orders. At some point, you may hire help to cater to larger orders.
Affiliate Marketing
If you spend a significant amount of time scrolling on social media, you can rather utilize this time to make money through affiliate marketing. From beauty products to lifestyle essentials, many brands use affiliate marketing to popularize their products.
Choose the niche you are most excited and curious about, research relevant brands that offer affiliate programs, register yourself, and start promoting their products. Once you register, you get a unique discount code that you can share among your family, friends, and followers.
Anyone who purchases through your code will get a discount, and a certain commission will be sent to your bank account. You can use various social media platforms to market the product and make your code available to the masses to make this business more profitable.
Wrapping Up
Starting your business while being a student is an incredibly rewarding experience. The above business ideas can get you entrepreneurial expertise and help you generate handsome cash. All you need to do is determine your goals, make a roadmap, take that scary first step, and build the life of your dreams.
