What businesses to start in college?
have a bit of free time now. What are some good businesses that college students can start nowadays beside e-commerce ?
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E-mail and social media marketing for small businesses
ya, I have a feeling this one is really over saturated right now. You see videos about it all over youtube LOL.
Maybe it works, lmao. DROP OUT OF COLLEGE lmfao
Three of my friends did this with small doctors offices while in college. Basically told them they’d do social media and website creation. Because they were young and had no track record, they told business owners that they wouldn’t have to pay anything if they didn’t think there was value being created. It grew like crazy. Two of them took jobs with other F500 companies while the other stayed on to grow the company. They eventually got into a big fight over pay and sued one another. Now the guy who stayed runs it and has multiple investors and is doing really well.
Have you ever heard of guys like Tai Lopez and Jason Capital?
Any activity that creates VALUE to the community, ranging from volunteering (really good) to starting a business. Having recruited before, I want someone (if they have started a business) to prove to me what you have learned throughout the process and how that would help out the company you are applying for. Also, don't start a 'hedge fund' or whatever you call it, it sounds bad and you'll be looked down upon.
If you are just looking to make extra income and you have a car, I would look into mobile advertising. Businesses will literally pay you to stick an advertisement for their company on your car window and all you have to do is drive.
I'm looking into it myself for when I make the move to SF.
2 friends & I wanted to get better use of the valuation / business strategy teaching we were getting, so we offered to look at a local sandwich shop's books pro bono. It was widely known that they were struggling, and we quickly pointed out 4-5 key disciplines that helped her not only catch up on rent but remodel the whole space...she's doing much better now!
That parlayed into running the books for a coffee shop and boutique clothing store across the street FOR some pay the next year. Good resume stuff and had a lot of fun getting beers with the local business owners.
iphone repair. Easy to teach yourself off of youtube, decent margins and drunk college kids are always shattering their screens
very smart lol
I guess you might wanna lean towards something you're good and/or passionate about.
Tf does that even mean? Hate answers like this. Someone sling MS at this guy for his non-comment
if you want it to be successful you should make the business yourself and not use other people's ideas imo. If you create something and its your idea it becomes your baby. Don't raise someone elses kid
I disagree. I run a few businesses and I have not reinvented the wheel on any of them. I study what successful people have done, replicated a baseline, and am always tweaking systems. You don't have to make some tech startup to make money. Execution is important. You could make a killing running a laundromat if you did it right.
I agree with that point but I feel like the idea has to come from him (it doesn't need to be unique but it has to be his). If you see a laundromat and see an inefficiency and start the business that's great. But if someone recommends you just start a laundromat it isn't going to be spectacular most likely.
This.
Don't overthink this. Many of the best businesses are not sexy. I know a guy who started a mobile car detail business 3 years ago and now is making as much from that as he does in banking. Best part is he doesn't wash a single car. He is the CEO and head of business development.
Hydroponics
vending machines for Juuls
it's actually illegal to sell these in Canada. My friend went to get it in a sketchy shop in Canada. scared the shit out of him.
Be like that guy (I think he might have been in high school) who posted on here a while back and start your own investment bank.
slap a logo on some tees and hats and sell
how much capital do you have?
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hi! I'm thinking about doing this actually. Have a lot of friends doing this amazon fba thing. Can I PM you? Thanks!
Yes!
Business idea for the summer, ideas you wish you had started when in university (Originally Posted: 05/08/2017)
I know this isn't the first topic of its kind, but the others are quite old and times change.
As the title says, I would like to pick your minds for some business ideas. The reason being that a local CF boutique just f*cked me and canceled my summer internship and I have been so stupid to believe the guy on his word and didn't have anything signed yet (lesson learned).
So, I have a whole summer wide open and would like to spend it setting up a small business. The goal is to get some pocket money and experience. I already got up with some small ideas but nothing spectacular.
Are there any small low cost ideas you would like to share? Or for those of you already working, any businesses you regret not starting during uni?
Possibly Home Staging -you're in your 20s and (should be) physically fit - Realtors charge like $7000 to move some rented furniture into a house to make it look nice. Maybe I'm oversimplifying it but is seems like a gigantic scam.
When I was in university, I had the same idea Convene is doing now and similar to WeWork and this was about three years ago. They just raised $68MM in Series C. Not going to lie, I just wasn't smart enough to put it together.
Ideas are cheap. It's the execution and the right team that matter. VCs get pitched work-place sharing economy everyday. But not everyday do you find a team like WeWork to actually bet on actualising that plan.
drop shipping a product (that way you only spend money when someone orders, don't need inventory) create a landing page for the product using shopify run facebook ads ($50-$200) profit
this might not make a ton of money, but i guarantee you if executed well you'll make a small profit and get some good experience in the way of ecommerce
Sounds like something that could be done even during uni. Do you have any experience doing this?
Good idea bro, I'm gonna steal it. Patent already pending.
If it wouldn't be too much trouble can you go into a little bit more detail about the drop shipping a product and creating a landing page using shopify? Or point me in the direction of resources on this subject?
I'm in the reselling business for street clothes and sneakers. Can make over $1000 a week doing minimal work.
Just gotta find someone to program a bot for you
Same dude i used to be all about flippin air jordans when i was in highschool and that was easiest money ive ever made. My friend still does it and he uses a bot for yeezys and makes like 10k each time a new pair drops
NICE TRY, IDEA THIEF
Hey, if you're concerned about costs I would highly recommend you read Osterwalder's Business Model Generation and Steve Blank's Customer Development. Through these techniques you can easily build up a startup with little to no money, and just invest later on when you are almost sure your ROI is positive. (I am currently working on a project using this technique and it does yield much better results than I expected)
Sell t-shirts via Teespring. It's a crowded space, but if you can find a good niche and market well, you can sell 10,000+ shirts.
Best piece of advice in business ideas/concepts while you're a student is to find something that you're good at that you could possibly find a way to generate money with and speak about. Not necessarily starting your own firm, branding it as the "new Airbnb," and making yourself a CEO business card, but something that's cool off the side that could net you some money.
Could be anything from learning how to code and building websites for people online (resume line of knowing code, if it comes up in an interview it's a good conversation topic, etc) to learning forms of design. People love to see a self starter, shows initiative and all that other shit.
Lastly, don't stop now – boutiques have almost no set hiring practices, and with the proper networking, you're bound to land something, somewhere, even for the summer. Keep shooting, eventually you'll hit something with a wide enough net.
Starting a business while in school (Originally Posted: 11/13/2014)
Starting my MBA next year and wanted input from current students. Do you think there's enough time to devote to starting a business? What about a business that's in another country?
Thanks in advance.
Photography (weddings, fraternity / sorority formals, real estate listings, etc. - you can even get a drone and offer drone photography). Online Sales. SAT / ACT / Math tutoring. College Admission Consulting. Real Estate leasing (represent your friends when they lease apartments off campus). Summer storage / moving services. Depends partly on your interests and connections. Think about what kind of learning experience you want to get, and how you can highlight the experience as a positive even if you don't make much money.
This depends on a ton of factors, most importantly how much time you'll spend on recruiting and how much time you need to spend on your coursework in order to learn the basics. However, I'd say generally the answer is yes, if you make it a priority there is plenty of time to start your own business. Yes, business school is "busy" and you will spend time in class, working with groups, recruiting, and with various clubs/social/networking events, but in my opinion you still have more free time and more choice regarding how to spend your time than you probably had before school and will have after school. I know several people at various top schools starting or running a business, some of them are fully dedicated to the business and others did more traditional internships for the summer.
As far as running a business in another country, if you plan your schedule around it there are more opportunities than you'd expect to travel abroad for long/extended weekends or even weeklong breaks, especially at schools that don't have Friday classes. Overall, though, I'd say it would be more of a challenge and it would be best to have someone in that country working with you.
Thankfully I have a basic team set up that can stay in-country building the product. My big concerns are hiring and funding which will require some face-time.
Do you know how the people starting/running their business prioritize their time? I've been meeting alums and they've all told me that I should take advantage of the relationships I'll make during school. I'm going to a 1 year program so time is short. I don't want to lose that aspect of business school because I'm all-in on the startup.
Are you going to a top 15 school or a top 200? It makes a difference, because some low ranked MBA programs don't focus so heavily on recruiting, so starting a business might be doable.
.
If you're starting a successful business, why do you need to drop 200k on b-school?
Running a business is a pain in the ass even when the office is 10 minutes from your home, coordinating with a team abroad is a pain in the ass because of the time difference. I can't imagine managing a business from abroad, which makes me doubt the efficacy of your business plan/model.
I'm not an angel investor, though I wish I had the money to be that eccentric, but I don't see how managing a company from abroad in between homework assignments and networking events would do anything other than hold you back and give me a negative impression. Plenty of well qualified people backed with deep pockets and excellent talent fail to create a successful start-up.
That's my two cents on your question. Maybe the PE or VC guys can chime in and give you more accurate insights.
Thanks for being frank. Startup idea came to me well after I was accepted. Do you think a 1 year program and having a team already in place will mitigate those concerns?
I went to an MBA business schools">M7. I have seen it done by friends in my class, but they really devoted time to their businesses and as a result, did not prioritize schoolwork or any of the social events. You can make it work, but be aware of the tradeoffs. Some people came in as full-time and switched to part-time in the middle so they could carry a lighter class load
Your question is contingent on many factors. My suggestion: go talk to your mom and dad.
What do Mr. and Mrs. Flanders have to do with starting a business?
Yes. Lots of people go to school for this very reason. Good place to meet people to partner up with. Access to guidance from professors. I know people at school that started companies and that is where they devoted a lot of their time. Good thing about bschool is that it is a choose your own adventure so to speak. You wanna focus on academics, recruiting, social, entrepreneurship, etc. it doesn't matter.
Bonobos and Warby Parker are both great examples of companies founded while in bschool.
Thank you for the encouragement!
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