So you’re in college and want to start a business but are short of ideas. Not to worry, we got you. This post reveals 10 profitable college business ideas you can start with little to no capital.
So, read on to discover the best college business idea suitable for you so you can kickstart your entrepreneurial journey.
Introduction To College Business Ideas
As a college student, you probably have a lot of free time on your hands.
And you know that there are better ways to make this free time fruitful.
You believe you can use your free time to start working on your dreams.
Certainly, you can become a successful entrepreneur even as a college student.
Stories abound of many individuals who started their businesses in college.
Today, they’re one of the most successful entrepreneurs the world has ever known.
Take, for example;
Mark Zuckerberg
He is the founder and CEO of Facebook.
This is one of the most popular social media across the globe.
He started this internet business in his college dorm room, and today it is successful.
Steve Huffman, Aaron Swartz, and Alexis Ohanian
They are the cofounder of Reddit.
This is another successful business that these roommates founded in college.
Reddit is one of the online galaxy’s top entertainment and social networking bulletin boards.
Jerry Yang and David Filo
They were students when they founded Yahoo!
Overall, there are many businesses founded by college students that are still thriving to date.
So, as a college student, there’s no law stopping you from starting a business of your choice as far as it is a legal business.
In addition, the internet has made it too easy to start and promote different businesses.
You can start your business and at the same time not miss out on anything from school.
All you have to do is to schedule your time properly so it won’t affect your studies.
Before we move to the college business ideas, let’s discuss the benefits of starting a business in college.
Benefits Of Starting A Business In College
There are so many things you can benefit from starting a business while in college.
Make Extra Income
As a college student, you get to earn extra income with the business you start.
This will give you leverage over other students.
Also, you could save enough money to expand the business before you graduate.
It helps To Acquire New Skills
As you already know, colleges don’t teach you everything in classrooms.
But with the business you start, you get to gain additional skills.
These skills could be of help to you in the future.
Helps You Build An Impressive Resume
If you decide to go through a career path, the business you do while in college could be of help while creating your resume.
This means that you can put the skills you acquired into the resume.
Even more, potential employers will be able to figure out your creativity, skills, and ambition in the resume.
Overall, this could give you an edge over other people looking for the same work you apply for.
Helps You Build Better Connection
This is another benefit of starting a business while in college.
You get to meet different important and influential people whom you can learn from.
This, however, could be of help to you in the nearest future.
Prepares You For The Future
Finally, starting a business while in college can prepare you for the future.
It will prepare you to become a better entrepreneur and a better person.
Also, it will give you a better insight into what to expect in the future.
In summary, starting a business early will give you heads-up and show you the real world of business.
With that said, let’s move to the main deal of the day – college business ideas.
10 College Business Ideas
1. Start A Tutoring Business
You should consider this idea if you excel at a particular subject or course or need a knowledge-based business.
Starting a tutoring business is one of the college business ideas.
Also, it is profitable and lucrative.
Furthermore, you can earn a cool income from this idea and continue your studies.
To begin with, you should decide on the set of people you want as clients.
Get the information about the course you want to teach and purchase learning aids.
You should determine your pricing.
Also, you should determine where and when your tutoring classes will be delivered.
With this business, you have the option to tutor high school or college students.
You can set up an account on online tutoring sites to reach more clients.
This will increase your chances of success in this business.
Here are some online platforms used for a tutoring business.
- Cambly
- TutorOcean
- TutorMe
- Preply
- Tutor.com
- Wyzant, and so on.
2. Start A Photography Business – College Business Ideas
If you love taking photos, you can make a good income from it by turning it into a business.
These days photography services seem to be in great demand.
Some people might need your service to update their social media profiles or launch new products.
As such, you can offer this service and earn from it.
To get started, you’ll need to buy a quality camera if you don’t already own one.
You will also need to get different accessories to complement your camera and ensure you deliver high-quality shots for your clients.
The accessories you’ll get will depend on the photography niche you want to specialize in.
Here are some types of photography businesses you can pick from.
- Stock photography.
- Pet photography.
- Portrait photography.
- Real estate photo service.
- Wedding photography.
- Aerial photography.
- Fashion photography.
- Wildlife photography, and so on.
Also, you might need to conduct market research before you pick a niche.
This will help you to figure out the type of photography business that is in demand.
In addition, you can upload your photos on online platforms to sell them.
Here are some of the best online platforms used for selling photos.
- Adobe Stock.
- Canva.
- Crestock.
- Depositphotos.
- Fotolia.
- Freepik.
- Getty Images, and so on.
Also, you will need a personal laptop for photo editing.
3. Start A Pool Cleaning Service – College Business Ideas
This is a good business idea for college students because it requires little or no capital investment.
If you wish to start this business, then you should go about it this way;
You should first do your research to discover the number of pools in your area.
This will help you to know your potential customers and what you will be making from the business.
Also, you might need to visit the authority office in your area in case of legal permissions.
You will need to purchase equipment and materials that will be used to carry out the service.
In addition, you can create an online presence to reach more customers.
If you don’t mind, you can offer your service to neighbouring towns to maximize your profits.
The more clients you have, the more money you could potentially make.
On the downside, however, this is a seasonal business.
Pool cleaning services are mostly in demand during the summer season.
This is because this is the time when most people want to swim as often as possible.
So, you may experience slow seasons.
However, if you’re able to think of creative ways to come up with other offers during the slow seasons, you can overcome this challenge.
4. Offer A Baby Sitting Service- Baby Sitting Service
If you like having kids around you or you love taking care of kids, you should consider this idea.
The demand for babysitting services is almost in every part of the world.
This makes it a very profitable and lucrative business.
As a babysitter, you have to be respectful, attentive, mature, punctual, and organized.
Since you’re a college student, you don’t need to start the business on a large scale.
All you need to do is to research people that are likely to need your service.
This will help you focus mainly on your potential customers.
There is also another way to find clients faster.
You can do this by signing up on some babysitting platforms, they include;
- Care.com
- Sittercity
- UrbanSitter
- Sitter.com
- Nanny Lane
- Zum
- Au Pair in America, and so on.
5. Start A Dropshipping Business
This is one of the most suitable business ideas for college students.
Dropshipping involves selling goods and products without holding the inventory.
In this type of business, you don’t need to worry about securing space to store the goods or shipping them.
Furthermore, it does not require high capital investment.
Also, your location does not affect the activity of the business in any way.
To begin with, you should decide on the product that best suits you.
The product you choose will determine the profit you will earn from it.
You will also need to get a reliable supplier of the product you picked.
The supplier will be in charge of delivering the products to your customers when orders are placed.
You will also need to build an online store and upload quality pictures of the products you picked.
Lastly, you should derive a good marketing strategy to help you reach more customers.
6. Offer Digital Marketing Services – College Business Ideas
Digital marketing is a business that involves promoting brands to potential customers with the use of the internet and other communication channels.
This is also one of the college business ideas that are profitable and lucrative.
Furthermore, it does not require high capital investment.
The demand for digital marketing services is growing rapidly.
This is due to eCommerce and online businesses.
So, you should consider this business idea as you can offer your services to local businesses in your area.
To begin with, you should build good digital and business management skills.
The digital marketing skills include;
- SEO skills
- Google advertising skills
- Facebook advertising skills
- Social media marketing skills
- Content marketing skills
- Video marketing skills
- Email marketing skills.
Furthermore, you should decide on the type of service you want to render.
However, it will be advisable not to offer a full-service digital marketing service.
This is because digital marketing is a broad field.
So, picking one or two niches can help you focus your efforts and increase your chances of success.
In addition, you should offer virtual (online) services as you won’t have enough funds to open office space.
You should register your business and create a good online presence.
Finally, you will need a personal laptop and tools like Grammarly, Canva, lead generation software, and so on for the business.
7. Start An On-Campus Delivery Service
Starting an on-campus delivery service is also one of the college business ideas.
It is also a very profitable and lucrative business.
Notably, delivery service is common around the city and community.
However, this is not common inside the campus.
This is the reason you should consider it, as many college students like you will make use of the service.
Furthermore, you get to charge each of your customers depending on what you’re delivering.
There are different delivery services you can render – It could be food, groceries, books, clothes, packages, and so on.
Hence, you will need a bike and a very strong bag to transport the goods.
You might also need to know your way around the campus.
Lastly, you can expand the service to other schools if you want to maximize your profit.
8. Start A Furniture Lending Service
A furniture lending service is a business that involves renting out furniture to customers for a specific period of time for a fee.
This is also one of the college business ideas.
If you would notice that students end up throwing out their furniture after finishing school, and some even sell it for way less than the amount it was bought.
In order not to waste this furniture, you can collect them and rent them to students that need them.
Starting this business will help prevent such wastage and help you earn a good income.
Furthermore, you can earn more than the amount the furniture was bought.
However, you will need a space to store the furniture till you get the students to rent it.
To get a space, you can partner with a local furniture maker and keep the furniture for students to visit and rent them.
You can also set up an online presence on Facebook, Instagram, Google, and so on to reach more customers.
9. Become A Virtual Assistant – College Business Ideas
Notably, a virtual assistant is someone that is hired to carry out the administrative work of an organization remotely.
If you know the work of an office assistant, you should consider this idea.
To begin with, you will need to decide on the organization you want to work with.
Your area of specialization in college can be of help in this area.
Furthermore, you will need to write out a business plan and register your business name.
You will also need to invest in tools that will help you carry out the work of an assistant.
Also, you will need to decide if you want to be paid hourly, monthly, or by the nature of the work.
In addition, you will need a personal laptop and a good internet connection.
There are different ways to get clients you can work for as a virtual assistant.
Here are some online platforms you might want to consider.
- FlexJobs
- Upwork
- Toptal
- Craigslist
- Indeed
- Fiverr
- Belay.
Also, you can source for clients through social media channels or word of mouth.
10. Become A Vlogger Or Blogger
Becoming a vlogger or blogger is also one of the college business ideas.
If you possess good creative skills, this won’t be a hard business for you to start.
It is also a very profitable and lucrative business.
Vlogging involves the continuous upload of video content on online platforms to educate, inform and entertain people.
While blogging involves the continuous upload of written content and pictures to a website to educate, inform, and entertain readers.
If you have a knack for writing or you’re not camera shy, you should consider this idea.
To begin with, you will need to decide what you want to vlog or blog about.
You should research the niche so you won’t run out of information while making content.
You will need a personal laptop for video editing, a ring light, a quality camera, and other materials used for the business.
Before you can start earning, you will need to have many followers or an audience.
Lastly, you can monetize your vlog or blog through the following;
- Sponsorship
- Ambassador
- Paid advert
- Affiliate marketing
- Sell courses
- Sell ebooks, and so on.
Hence, you should be consistent with this business if you want people to keep visiting your page or website.
Conclusion On College Business Ideas
These are the college business ideas you can explore and earn a good income.
You can test the business idea that interest you and put in your best for impressive outcomes.
Lastly, you should be consistent, persistent, and committed to the business if you want it to be successful.
The only limit is in your mind.
Therefore, don’t procrastinate.
Start your business now and make it a success.
Good luck!
