It can be hard finding reliable work as a student, especially in a bad economy. You may be told up front you will get enough hours (or not given too many hours) and then you learn otherwise. Sometimes your class schedule just gets in the way of a decent job. It’s not like you don’t want a good job it’s just that you can’t completely change your schedule mid-semester. So what is a broke student supposed to do?
Have you ever considered starting a business? I’m not saying you need to be Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates, but starting a small business based off of your talents and skills is a great way for you to set your own schedule and still make the amount of money you need.
The key is to pick a business that has low overhead and start up costs (the best case scenario is free). Common businesses students start are tutoring, nanny/ babysitting services, pet-sitting/ dog walking/ pet waste removal services, moving services, landscaping/ pool service, etc. If you have a talent you can even use that to make money. Music students can form trios, quartets, and bands and play at parties and events. It can even be fun to play a genre of music for pay that you aren’t really playing much in your academic studies.
Some great resources for advice to start a business are http://www.sba.gov/ and http://www.score.org/ both of these sites provide information on how to start a business, and SCORE will even help set you up with a mentor! Some colleges and Universities also have resources for entrepreneurial students…so check out if your school has any.
If you do it right, you might have a nice business to continue with when you are done with school, or a business that is valuable enough to sell when you are ready to move on.
