As a student, you’re smart and resourceful. Chances are you have a fantastic working knowledge of the internet and social media, you can read and write well and have a good network of other students. These are all a great starting point for setting up your own business. The problem is, as a student you’re particularly low on cash and so you will need plans that allow you to start either with no money or a very small amount. Here are some ideas to consider.
Creative: Making Products
This could be anything from digital to physical creations. Digital items could include digital art and clip art drawn on a drawing tablet or program like Illustrator. It could be designing logos for companies and websites, or things like digital prints and posters that people can print off themselves. These things all sell very well on sites like Etsy. For physical items you could craft jewellery, beauty products, clothing, whatever it is you’re good at. If you need packaging to bring it all together and make it look professional you could check out SmashBrand. A business that sells physical items can be a little trickier to get off the ground, but if you need money for things like materials and packaging then you could consider a small business loan. Just make sure you’re doing your market research first and producing products that people really want.
Sharing Skills: Teaching or Tutoring
Do you have a lot of knowledge and expertise on a subject? It could be anything from an academic subject to beauty, fashion, cooking, a musical instrument, fitness or something else entirely. If so, why not teach or tutor instead and teach clients your skills. You could do this in person and have them come to you, or you could go to them. To reach a wider audience, you could do video chats, then you could communicate and get clients from all over the world, not just in your local area.
Writing: Blogging and Freelance Writing
Blogging has really taken off in recent years, it was once seen purely as a hobby but is now a great way to earn money from home. You get to write about topics you love and connect with like-minded people online, once your site is established and doing well and companies will pay you to collaborate with them. This means putting their links on your site, this could be you writing a post, publishing a guest post written by them or posting their ad in your sidebar. It will of course take a while to build up your blog to stage that sponsors want to pay to work with you, but it’s always something you could start as a hobby and aim to earn money a little later on. If you want to earn money from your blog right away, then it’s worth signing up to a freelancing site. Once you’ve passed the initial test you can start bidding on projects, there’s always plenty of work so good money can be earned if you buckle down and work hard.
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