Most students have to work for a living while earning a degree, statistics indicate. While exact figures vary, most studies indicate that student employment rates are above 50% in many countries including the US and Canada. It can be even more challenging to be an entrepreneurial student start-up.
On the one hand, it is a good thing because working in college or university is not just about the money. Having even a part-time job helps students get the necessary hands-on experience and enhance their resumes to ensure career growth.
But on the other hand, juggling work and studies can be exhausting, especially for students with full-time jobs. Luckily, technological progress has changed our lives for the better. Today, one can buy essay on EssayHub or work flexible hours from home. Yet, there are always people who prefer working for themselves rather than for someone else.
If you are one of these daring people with an entrepreneurial streak, you might want to try launching as a start-up student.
Why Start a Business as a Student?
If you have always dreamed of starting your own company but fear that student years might not be the best time to try, we can reassure you.
Here are the most compelling reasons to consider launching your startup while in college.
- youth and an open mind
- few responsibilities
- free time at your disposal
- free mentoring and resources available
- networking opportunities
- access to possible customers and endorsers.
Surely, you might argue that some business plans are too hard for a student to realize. But luckily, there are still a lot of small business ideas that will always be relevant for student start-ups. Read on to see the list.
9 Evergreen Business Ideas for a Student Start-Up
Whether you’re planning to make the most of your creative abilities or just need a reliable source of income, you’ll find something for you in the following list of business ideas:
Writing, Editing & Proofreading Services
Writing services have always been a staple among student business endeavors because of their utter simplicity. To launch a writing (editing and proofreading) service, you just need your writing skills, a computer, an internet connection, and some time to spare.
But surely, you’ll have to sweat if you want to earn excellent reviews just as any Essayhub review – a service highly praised by customers. Additionally, you’ll need marketing skills to gain recognition and attract new customers.
Tutoring & Homework Help Services
Another popular business idea many students favor is a tutoring and homework help service. Decades ago, such services were delivered offline, so there were no possibilities to scale up. Today, with the aid of new technology, you can either work as a private freelance tutor or build a remote team and start an online company.
Furthermore, you can teach groups or develop online courses and market them on social media. You can even evolve from a private tutor into an online (or even an offline) school owner. In fact, that’s exactly what many tutors do nowadays!
Education Consulting Agency
If you are studying abroad, you should know a lot about such things as applying for scholarships, sitting exams, arranging paperwork, settling up in a new country, etc. Therefore, you can share this knowledge with those who are just preparing for this long and difficult journey.
Despite the growing popularity of online degrees, in-person education abroad will always be in demand, so you needn’t worry about running out of clients. Moreover, you’ll be able to add new services like helping new students on-site as your company grows.
Design & Illustration Studio
Design students can easily monetize their talent and skills by becoming freelance designers (illustrators) or launching a small design and illustration studio. Nowadays, all design work can be done remotely, so you won’t even need an office – a task management app like Trello will be quite enough.
If you already have a high-end computer to produce quality content on, you can start without any investments at all. Yet, be prepared to shell out for a marketing campaign later on if you want to scale up.
Web Design & Development Studio
For those who are more talented on the technical side, web design and development studios can be a great choice. Despite the popularity of social media, most companies still need websites, so the demand for such services is not likely to die out anytime soon.
As in the previous example, you can launch without any serious investments. Perhaps, you won’t even have to hunt for customers as you’ll easily find them among your fellow students who are also planning to launch their business.
Digital Marketing Agency
Another business that will never run out of clients is a digital marketing agency – if it is a good one, that is. If you’re a marketing major, consider starting your own company instead of looking for a job in someone else’s, and the strategy may pay off in a big way.
Even if you fail, you won’t lose anything as this business is practically risk-free. Moreover, you will gain experience that will help you improve in case you decide to go for a regular job after all.
Sound or Video Recording & Editing Studio
If you are an expert in video and/or audio content creation, starting your studio might seem a natural choice. However, this business is harder to launch than, say, a writing service as you’ll likely need plenty of expensive equipment.
So, make sure you prepare a roadmap prior to investing in your gear if you plan to build something larger than a one-person home studio. Even in the latter case, you’ll still need to upgrade your equipment to move on from student productions to delivering professional services.
Mobile App Development Agency
For those possessing such in-demand hard skills as coding, launching a mobile app development agency is a great option. While it is true that the competition is fierce, the mobile app market size is huge today, and it is projected to grow further. So, there will always be room for new offers in this segment.
Of course, some may argue that one can as well work as a freelance mobile app developer. While this is true, scaling up is usually beneficial if you do it the right way, so you may as well start recruiting your fellow students.
Online Marketplace
If you know how to sell things and get inspired by Jeff Bezos, think about starting an online marketplace. However, weigh your options carefully because marketplaces are not the type of business you can launch without investments.
Luckily, you won’t need much for a start, but you will still have to invest a lot of your time and effort to get this thing going. However, nothing is impossible!
How to Make It Work as a Student Start-Up
So, you’ve got your mind settled on some of the ideas listed above. What do you do next? Here is the algorithm.
Do Your Research
While it’s essential that you’re passionate about the idea and have the skills and resources to realize it, research is still vital. You need to understand how crowded the niche is, who your competitors are, how high the demand for their goods or services is, etc.
Write a Business Plan
Every business, even a small one, should start with a business plan. Before investing your time, money and effort in an idea, you should lay out a company overview, count the costs, create a marketing and operations plan, etc.
Plan Your Schedule
Being a student and running a business at the same time requires advanced time-management skills. The first step to developing them is having a schedule and planning ahead so that you won’t get absorbed by the chaos.
Find the Resources
As a student, you cannot risk losing large sums, especially if you have student debt. But most businesses require investments. Luckily, there are some you can launch with a bare minimum. If you can’t afford even that but have faith in your business acumen, you can ask relatives to become your sponsors or apply for a grant.
In Conclusion on Being a Student Start-Up
Now that you have our list of business ideas and some tips on how to make them work, you are several steps closer to launching your student start-up. Yet, don’t rush: bear in mind that everything is easier in theory than in practice.
However, sitting around without any action will also get you nowhere. So, plan every step carefully, hedge the risks, and proceed to build the company of your dreams.
