From Broke to Millionaire: Top 10 Money-Making Ventures for College Students

College life brings you the freedom to make new friends, the privilege of exploring new ideas, and, of course, the liberty to earn money! If you hate stereotypical tags like ‘broke students,’ it’s time to realize your million-dollar dream. Moving away from your home and making big changes, you get closer to your financial freedom. How about strategizing a few business ideas and celebrating your independence?

While most students remain content with their thriftiness, your young years silently slip by. Given that you have already started earning during college, this is the best time to hone the commercial stance. Making money as a student shouldn’t be as difficult as you think. There’s a plethora of business avenues beyond food delivery, babysitting, or tutoring.

While the average age of millionaires in the US is 57, you wouldn’t like to prolong your journey until your retirement days, right? Do you know that the top 100 wealthiest people in the world earned their first million dollars at an average age of 37? This justifies the value of starting early. Whether you invest in cryptocurrency, crowd-fund real estate, or venture into entrepreneurship, make the best of your college years!

Best business ideas for college students

Low investment, moderate to zero risk, and less time intensive: students habitually love venturing into avenues that offer such perks. Prioritizing these three parameters, we have shortlisted ten business ideas you might find appealing.

Organize trips for travel agencies

Why not put your planning skills to use and travel during your weekends? College students often work as part-time trip planners while balancing their academics.

Travel agencies are always on the hunt for energetic individuals to carry out mundane tasks like flight bookings, hotel reservations, and chalking out itineraries. Walking in the shoes of a trip planner, you would love your lifestyle, traveling with groups.

Pair up with a local travel agency and start channeling your efforts. You may also consider planning trips to different cultural festivals or events.

Bonus tip: When you remain away for trips, why not rent your apartment on AirBnB since it would remain vacant? This way, you can make hundreds of dollars every month. As a part of your financial planning, consider putting a part of this away in a high-yielding savings account or investing in mutual funds.

Launch an event-planning start-up

Do you love socializing and partying a lot? Why not think commercially and transform your administrative efforts into a venture? Event management should be your forte if you love coordinating things, managing people, and collaborating with teams.

Event management is largely human resource-oriented, so there’s no big investment in this venture! Start with organizing small group meets or running projects in nightclubs. Loop in like-minded friends, and a well-organized event management start-up will fetch you profitable returns.

With tech-savvy minds and a few social media influencers, it won’t take long to spread the word. Everyone looks out for affordable event management partners for a variety of gatherings. Start with small parties, and with the right resources, you can scale it in the coming months.

Remember, when it comes to long-term financial planning, you’ve got to save! While you’re celebrating your new-found venture, living on something better than instant noodles, don’t go on a spending spree!

It’s all about being resourceful in your college years that build your financial stature. So, put aside a part of this hot money in IRAs. Yes, you can open an IRA as a college student. Most importantly, you’d be deferring taxes on your profits.

The earlier you start investing in an IRA, the better you can capitalize on the power of compound interest.

Start small with real estate investments

Well, real estate may not be the first thing you’d consider as you hunt for profitable ventures for college students. How about going for crowd-funded real estate investments, where you can start with just $500 or so? Both commercial and residential real estate crowd-funding can bring in lucrative returns.

Real estate is no longer the domain reserved for affluent investors. With the inception of crowd-funding platforms, even college students can channel small investments to stream an alternate source of income. Look out for one of these platforms with reasonable fees to get started.

Once you start stacking up your returns in your CD or high-yielding savings account, think bigger. How about partnering with a few friends to purchase a multifamily home or a 4-room apartment? Simply rent out three rooms, keeping one for yourselves to stay. The rental returns would cover your mortgage payments and leave a sizable margin for each of you.

Do you know how crucial real estate is for your overall asset mix? Besides, long-term real estate investments can significantly grow your asset value. Robust…