20 Business Ideas for College Students in 2024

College students have a different chance during the summer than most people, who enjoy the sun and a chance to explore or relax. Starting a small business while you’re in college can help you pay off your loans and give you work experience over the summer. It could even turn into a casual side job when school starts up again. Even better, you can plan your summer around something you enjoy and still make money online while setting your own hours. College kids can come up with a lot of great small business ideas. But which one do you want?

Here are some easy-to-start 20 business ideas that you can use right away with little or no money or experience. People who take advantage of the future will have a good time.

1. Become a freelancer

If you’re good at editing, writing, drawing, graphic design, consulting, or anything else, make yourself available for independent work. On sites like Upwork and Fiverr, you can make a listing or set up a portfolio page. This business idea can make you a lot of money and doesn’t cost much to get started.

2. Sell Print-on-Demand Items

One of the easiest online business ideas for creative people is to sell print-on-demand things. This is another great way to start a business on a low budget. You can print your drawings on everything from t-shirts to mugs if you’re good at art. You can start this business plan in your spare time and don’t have to keep an eye on it too much.

3. Become a reseller

Looking for interesting and old things? Check out local buy-and-sell sites or thrift stores if you have an eye for possibility. You can create a one-of-a-kind experience by cleaning up old furniture or clothes and selling them on a website or online market. Are you ready to move on? Fashion students can make new things out of old things, like old blankets, to sell. Recycling old things like old blankets into new items to sell is something that fashion students can do.

4. Become a content creator

At age 14, Angelina Li started making her own slime and documented her trials on TikTok. She built Fireflyslime after she became popular and ran the business while going to college. If you’re a small star on a social media site like TikTok, YouTube, or Instagram, you might want to use your growing fan base to make money. Get paid to write content or open an online shop to sell stuff to your fans. If you’re new to social media, the best way to get people to follow you is to find a niche market and post regular, interesting material that speaks to that market.

5. Drop-Shipping might help

With dropshipping, you can sell things to customers without having to buy them or keep track of your stock. This is a great idea for people who are good at business and design. How you choose, market, and place the products is more important than the goods themselves. This is just one of many business ideas on this list that are great for people who live in small places like dorms. Just make sure you have a PC and can connect to the internet.

6. Start a Neighborhood Service-Based Business

What can you do to help people in your area? You can market your availability for babysitting, pet sitting, delivery, personal shopping, maintenance, landscaping, cleaning, or child care on a simple website. There are a lot of other things you can sell besides goods. This college business idea is a great way to meet people in your area and make connections.

7. Offer Digital Products

In a small apartment or college room, this is one of the best business ideas for students. You only need a computer and some ideas. Make templates or digital art that you can print and sell online while you’re learning design. You can sell the digital products you created in different marketplaces like Etsy, Creative Market, or Gumroad.

8. Start a Tutoring Business

You can spend the summer helping high school students with their work or younger students get ready for the college classes you did so well in last term. You can get the word out about your services on campus and through other marketing platforms. You can sell time spots and show off your skills and services on a simple e-commerce site.

9. Offer Handmade Items

If you like making things, take a break from reading and sell the things you make yourself. You can sell your goods in person at events like a local market, through an online shop, or through an online marketplace. You might also be able to sell or market your goods on campus. Talk to your school’s officials about the rules for doing business on school grounds.

10. Create experiences

If you are a student of hospitality, you might want to put your skills to the test by making events. Can you buy and sell local events to people who want to visit? You could go on a bike or food tour of your city’s best spots. Students at universities can give a unique view of the places they learn. Classes in person or online can also be in this group. Have a talent and skill for teaching? Get the word out about DIY workshops or lessons in online marketing.

11. Sell Your Products at Fairs and Pop-Up Shops

You can grow your own vegetables and make jams, bake cookies, make things by hand, or collect old things. No matter what you’re good at or what you’re interested in, think about how you can make extra money by selling at art shows, craft markets, or temporary pop-up shops on the weekends.

12. Offer Help with Marketing and Branding

Setting up a mini branding firm to help other brands make logos, work on branding packages, or plan marketing campaigns is a great business idea for design and marketing students in college. If you need clients for your marketing services, all you have to do is look at area businesses. To improve skills like selling and talking to clients, this is a great place to start.

13. Try Affiliate Marketing

Once you set it up, affiliate marketing is a great way to make money online with little work. One of the best business ideas for busy college students is this one. Before you can start, you’ll need an audience. This could be a group of loyal YouTube followers or an active email list on Substack. You’ll then put affiliate links in your content to promote items from another brand. If someone buys something through one of these links, you’ll get paid a commission.

14. Set up Events on Campus

Are you currently enrolled in a program offering hospitality or marketing? Offer your event planning skills to put what you’ve learned to use. Talk to nearby businesses about holding a job fair, or get other small businesses run by students together to hold a market on campus selling handmade goods. You can make money to help pay for college by selling tickets at the door or charging booth fees.

15. Come Up with A New Product Idea

You can use the tools and software to help you make a product if you are in an industrial design school. Please don’t wait until you finish to bring your great invention to the market if you find one that could help people. Get help from the school to get your business off the ground while you’re still in college.

16. Start a Business or Non-profit that helps the Neighborhood

Start a business that helps a charity or community group that you care about if your goal isn’t to make money but to learn new things and get experience. You can still give the money from your for-profit business to a cause of your choice if that doesn’t work out. Like helping students who need financial aid, think about good causes that are close to home.

17. Make and Sell Materials for Students

You probably know a few things about how to get the most out of your college years by now if you’re in your second or third year. You might be able to help other students, and they might be ready to pay you for it. You can use what you’ve learned to make safety guides, help with writing essays, study materials, or care packages for new or younger students.

18. Start and Monetize a Podcast

Many college students who are studying radio or sound engineering think that starting their own podcast is a great way to start their own business. Pick an area you’re interested in and where you can offer a fresh point of view. This will help you find an unknown audience. If your show has a lot of fans, you can make money from it by selling ads or even your own stuff.

19. Offer Technical Services

You can offer a range of services to other students or people in the area, such as translation, data entry, coding, transcription, audio engineering, and tech help. Businesses in the area may also need help with technical jobs. You can get more people to know about your skills by posting about them on social media sites or on your college campus.

20. Run a Summer Camp Program

In the summer, offer activities for kids to keep parents from getting too tired. You can make a fun camp program for kids based on one of your hobbies, like math, theater, or exploring the outdoors. People in college who are studying early childhood education or want to become teachers will love this business plan.

The Benefits of Starting a Business in College

You can get the technical skills you need to go after your dream job in school, but starting your own business teaches you things you can’t learn in a classroom. Having a business idea in college can be helpful in many ways, and it’s still possible to make money from them.

a) Get experience in the real world

There are things you can learn in business school, but nothing beats working in the real world to learn how things work. If you have experience, it will help your resume stand out.

b) Get hands-on experience

Improve your ability to understand other people, delegate tasks, deal with stress, provide good customer service, and more. When they finish and go to work, student entrepreneurs have an advantage over other graduates. The things you learn outside of school are just as useful as what you learn in school.

c) Grow your network of professionals

When you graduate, you’ll already have a list of people you can call for job leads, references, and even references. People from the local business community, teachers, and other students can all be part of this network.

d) Try out a field before you finish

Taking classes in fashion management? To get a feel for running a business, start your own online clothing store. Would you like to work with animals? You could start a pet business and give services like dog walking and cat sitting to people who have pets.

e) Give your resume somebody

If you just graduated, your CV might not have many jobs on it yet. But if you have your own business while you’re in college, you can call yourself “CEO.”

f) Make extra money

It’s smart to save money to pay for things and keep your debt to a minimum if you want to have less to worry about after you finish. You can also make money with a part-time job in shopping, but when you’re the boss, you decide how much you can make.

g) Learn how to make money while you’re in school

Having a part-time job while also learning and going to class can be hard, which can add to your stress. You can work on your business whenever you want, and then give it your all during the summer.

h) Help people find jobs

Running a business will give you the chance to meet other people and companies in the same line of work. You might get job offers right after you graduate if you make a good impact with these people.

i) Get ready for what’s coming

One of the most important things to learn from the FIRE movement is that you can retire earlier if you start planning for it early. You might be able to start saving and spending now if you have a small business while you are in college.

The bottom Line

As the academic year draws to a close and summer commences, college students have more on their minds than just leisure and downtime. It’s a period brimming with opportunities to embark on fresh endeavors. Launching a business goes beyond mere financial gain; it requires courage and the ability to generate innovative concepts. As you consider your summer plans, keep in mind that exploring one of the “20 Business Ideas for College Students in 2024” can offer more than just a financial opportunity. This is an opportunity to take risks, think outside the box, and leave a lasting impact on society. Set ambitious goals, put in the effort, and savor every step of the process!!!