Let’s face it, college is expensive. According to an August 2024 study, 41% of college students feel overwhelmed by their financial situations. Also, 19% rely on public assistance to sort out basic needs. To further compound matters, getting a job is impractical for most because of 19-hour schoolwork schedules. That’s where starting a business comes in. In this article, you’ll discover eight (8) excellent business ideas for college students!
You’re probably wondering, “Why should I even read this?” Good question! Every business idea shared in this article is selected based on its low investment requirements and the high profit potential it offers.
The best part is that these business ideas are perfectly scalable, so you’ll be able to keep them running even after graduation. Without further ado, let’s dive right in.
8 Business Ideas for College Students
As a student, picking the right business idea can be quite challenging. This is because you have to find something that offers the perfect balance between profitability and flexibility. However, the fact remains that you do have lots of different proven options to choose from. Here are eight of them:
1. Affiliate Marketing and Dropshipping
Selling stuff online has always been an excellent way to generate income. However, most people tend to ignore it because of its risks and financial requirements. Affiliate marketing and drop shipping are excellent workarounds for this.
- Affiliate Marketing: In this business model, you’ll be promoting products and services for other companies. You’ll get a link assigned to you, and you’ll earn a commission for every item purchased through that link. This will be a great choice for you if you already have a sizable social media presence, but it’s not a requirement.
- Dropshipping: This model is similar to affiliate marketing, but it’s somewhat different. Here, you’ll set up your e-commerce store (don’t worry, you don’t need to keep any stock). Instead, when you get an order, you simply get the item from a third-party supplier (typically a wholesaler or manufacturer), who ships the product directly to the customer, and you make your profit off the margin between the retail and wholesale prices.
Investment Costs
Depends on how you want to approach it but domain fees are around $10-$45 yearly while hosting fees could range from $3 to $500 (depending on if you’re going for shared hosting or dedicated hosting). Also, e-commerce platform subscription ranges from $24-$70 monthly. If you want to also run paid advertising with Google or similar platforms, you should budget between $100-$500 per month.
- Valuable Tip: If you want to explore this option, always ensure that you order a few samples for yourself so you can vet the quality of the products before accepting orders.
2. YouTubing
This is one of the best business ideas for college students because it’s very cost-efficient and flexible, with huge earning potential. With Youtubing, all you really need to do is create and share videos on YouTube and get paid by the platform based on engagements on your videos. However, this is just one aspect.
You can also combine YouTubing with affiliate marketing to earn extra income. For example, say you create a channel primarily for product reviews; all you then need to do is include affiliate links in your video description, ensuring that once viewers are done with your video, they can click the link and make purchases. This means you’ll be getting paid from two different channels per content you put out.
Before activating monetization on YouTube, you’ll need to meet the platform’s Partner Program Requirements of 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours over the last 12 months or 1,000 subscribers with 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days. This means a YouTubing career will likely take some time to kick off, so you shouldn’t expect things to happen quickly.
Investment Costs
YouTubing can be expensive, but this is primarily because of the sheer amount of money it takes to assemble a quality setup. However, if you’re just starting out, there are ways around avoiding the initial huge expense. All you need is a smartphone with a good camera, a decent microphone (costs between $25 and $150), reliable internet access, and a tripod or gimbal. However, it is important to mention that you’ll need to scale your production setup as your channel grows to ensure quality production.
Valuable Tip: Before you start creating YouTube content, define your niche. Narrowing down will help you attract and keep a dedicated audience. Also, remember to plan your content ahead of time.
3. Tutoring
There are several advantages to choosing tutoring as your business idea for making money as a college student. Firstly, it allows you to leverage your academic strengths to help others while also providing a flexible schedule. Additionally, it’s a lot easier to establish a steady stream of gig inflow, especially if you’re a really good teacher.
For example, you can put out ads all around campus or sign up on a freelance platform like Upwork or Wyzant. The best part is that you can easily combine tutoring with other business ideas for college students, such as YouTubing and affiliate marketing.
Investment Costs
- Advertising and marketing: $20-$200, depending on your approach.
- Tutoring Supplies: $30 – $100 for physical classes since you’ll need to factor in the cost of getting whiteboard, markers, textbooks and other supplies. Virtual sessions, however, should only cost you around $22 monthly and that’s basically the monthly fee for video conferencing tools like Zoom.
- Additionally, it’s not compulsory to have a website, but it could help with your branding.
Valuable Tips:
- Choose a niche you’re really good at. For the best results, choose something you think many people have challenges with, like STEM subjects (math, chemistry, physics) or standardized test prep.
- Make sure your internet is strong. If you have network issues, it’s a good idea to pre-record your videos and then upload them instead of doing the tutoring sessions live. However, you will eventually have to invest in quality internet.
- Make sure to set up a hassle-free payment pipeline.
4. Social Media Management
According to Yahoo Finance, the global social media management industry is projected to have surpassed $97 billion by 2030. Interestingly, despite this, it remains one of the cheapest business ideas for college students.
As a social media manager, you will manage the online presence of businesses, influencers, or individuals on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and so on. Your day-to-day responsibilities will include creating strategic content, engaging with followers, and performing several optimization activities to ensure account growth.
Investment Costs
The investment costs here are more a function of the time you’ll need to spend equipping yourself with the necessary skills and certifications. However, you may also need access to premium tools like Canva and Photoshop Illustrator. The great thing is that multiple platforms like Coursera, Udemy, and HubSpot Academy offer free and comprehensive online courses on social media management that will give you the perfect launchpad to get started.
- Valuable Tip: Try to learn and acquire valuable, relevant skills before venturing into social media management. Also, as your business grows, you may want to consider integrating customer relationship management (CRM) software into your setup for better productivity.
5. Print On Demand
The next on our list of business ideas for college students is Print on Demand (POD). This unique e-commerce model allows you to sell a variety of unique, custom-designed products without needing to hold any physical inventory.
The one thing that makes POD different from other business ideas for college students discussed so far is that here, what you’re selling is your creativity. You create mockups of interesting graphic designs on items like t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, phone cases, and so on, and then list them for sale.
When customers express interest in getting some, a third-party supplier like Teespring or Redbubble can print and ship the item. Your profit margin will depend on the difference between your listing price and the cost of production and shipping by the third party.
Requirements
Needless to say, the primary requirement of running a business like this is creativity. However, you’ll also need to be adept at using graphics design studios like Canva, Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator.
Investment Costs
Print on Demand has very low investment costs. For approximately $100, you should be able to get a Canva or Photoshop subscription, build a Shopify store, and get a domain. However, note that if you intend to hire a professional to handle all these for you, you’ll need to spend more than $100.
Platforms like Coursera, Alison, and Udemy also have a host of free beginner-friendly graphics design courses. So, even if you have zero knowledge of anything graphics, you’ll be able to acquire all the knowledge and skills you need to create great designs.
6. Writing
It is a common misconception to say that the writing industry is saturated. However, this is far from true. While there are many individuals who identify as writing specialists, the demand is still there because businesses find it hard to find content specialists who can deliver high-quality products with enough creativity.
So, if you have a knack for creating high-quality writeups or essays that people enjoy reading, it might be time to consider monetizing your skills. The versatility of writing gives it a solid advantage over most other business ideas for college students.
As a writer, you can focus on many niches, such as blog posts, articles, technical writing, copywriting, product descriptions, and even academic writing. So, irrespective of what type of content you prefer creating, there’s room for you.
Additionally, you can combine writing with other business ideas for college students, like affiliate marketing, tutoring, dropshipping, etc. This makes it a lot easier for you to establish multiple income streams.
Investment Costs
Most tools you’ll need as a writer, like Microsoft Word (or Google Docs), are free. However, you’ll also need subscriptions for tools like Hemmingway Editor, Grammarly, Ubersuggest, Yoast SEO, etc.
That said, all these subscriptions shouldn’t cost you more than $100 monthly. However, if you plan on having your own website, you’ll incur additional costs for using platforms like WordPress or Wix to build. But even these can be kept to $150 yearly.
Depending on your preference, you may want to take paid courses and coaching, but it’s not absolutely necessary since there are tons of different free resources available online. Additionally, if you want to go the freelancing route, registering on top talent platforms like Upwork or Fiverr is completely free, although they will take a commission from your earnings.
- Valuable Tip: As a writer, it’s always a good idea to niche down. It’s easier to build expertise and proof of work as a specialty writer than a generalized one.
7. Search Engine Optimization
Of all the business ideas with low investment mentioned in this piece, this is probably the most technical. As such, it makes sense that it takes some time to master; however, once you do, the rewards are pretty great.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is how companies improve the visibility of their websites on search engines like Google and Bing. As an SEO expert, you will be tasked with helping these companies boost their rankings using different methods like keyword research, content optimization, technical SEO, backlink building, and so on.
The good thing about being an SEO auditor is that every business needs more customers, and the only way to achieve that is to have more visibility. As such, if you pick up this skill and become adept at it, you’ll always have a steady stream of clients.
Investment Costs
- A website and hosting – This should cost you about $15 to $40 monthly
- SEO Tools subscription – You could always go with the free models, but you’ll get more results with paid subscriptions. Consider subscribing to premium plans of tools like Moz Keyword Explorer, Surfer SEO, UberSuggest, Ahrefs, CopyScape, etc.
It should go without saying that you’ll also need to at least have a laptop and a good internet connection.
- Valuable Tip: For effective and expert tips on developing your SEO skills, check out Google’s SEO Starter Guide, Moz’s Beginner’s Guide to SEO, and Udemy, Coursera, or HubSpot Academy.
8. Virtual Assistant
Being a virtual assistant is the perfect gig for you if your organizational and administrative skills are top-notch. As a virtual assistant, your responsibilities are very similar to that of a traditional personal assistant. This means you’ll be responsible for providing administrative, technical, or creative support to individuals or businesses remotely.
Your responsibilities could include managing emails, scheduling tasks and appointments, data entry, social media management, customer service, and so on. The best part is you don’t even need so much to get started. All you need is a phone, a laptop, and a great internet connection.
According to Wifitalents, the virtual assistant market is expected to surpass $19 billion in valuation by 2025. As such, you can be sure this isn’t a skill that will phase out anytime soon.
- Valuable Tip: As a newbie virtual assistant, it’s a good idea to keep your rates at $10-$20 per hour and then gradually review them as you gain more experience and improve your proficiency. This is because doing so increases your chances of securing more jobs.
Final Thoughts
The business ideas for students at home outlined above are not the only ones you can explore as a side hustle. However, they rank among the most cost-effective and high-potential ones you can explore. That said, be aware that it’s possible for things to start slow, so you may have to be patient in the beginning. But eventually, they should pick up.
Featured Image by pikisuperstar on Freepik
