Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and the extra free time that appeared, many students are considering starting their own businesses of some sort. After all, starting a business could earn you some extra cash, as well as an impressive mark on your resume.
But most of those people don’t have any idea what they could possibly do in their business. If that sounds like you, I’m here to help. Here are 10 business ideas any high schooler can use– commercial and non-profit.
Commercial
These ideas, if well done, can bring you income. Some are sources of passive income, so you can earn money from them 10 years from now.
Sell Digital Products
For example, if you’re a big fan of planners and bullet journals, you can create some of your own planners, calendars, and checklists and sell them on platforms like Amazon or Etsy.
If you’re an avid artist or photographer, you can try starting a business with them! You can create stickers, icons, portraits, etc, and sell them on Redbubble, a popular platform for creators like you!
You can even create and sell image presets (filters)! Yes, there is a real market for that!
Although your individual products shouldn’t be too expensive, a large volume of purchases could add up when it comes to your earnings.
Related Post: 20 Legit Ways To Make Money As A Student
Freelancer
Although being a freelancer doesn’t really mean starting your own business, it is a real job you’re taking on.
Especially if you do something you’re passionate about, colleges will see that you’re using your talents/hobbies in good places!
For example, if you love writing, you can become a freelance writer and write blog posts, articles, and other pieces for customers.
Create Online Courses
If you’re academically inclined, you may have thought of tutoring others before.
But teaching someone, answering their many questions, and dealing with occasional impatience and rudeness can be hard to handle. And, it’s quarantine.
No problem! You can create videos of yourself teaching the topic and upload them on platforms like Teachable!
Create slides of the information you want to talk about and write a little speech that goes with it. As long as your course has genuinely helpful tips on a heavily-searched topic, your business can be really successful.
Write a Book
This is more of a project than a business. But if you become a published author, that’s a huge embellishment on your college application!
There are many choices for your book. You can write a fictional story, write all about something you researched, write an instructional handbook packed with your advice, etc.
If creating hardcopy books sounds too daunting, try creating ebooks!
Write out your book online and convert it into a downloadable file (preferably .epub), then you can upload and publish your book on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing for free!
Start a YouTube Channel
Many have tried this, and some have succeeded! By establishing a strong online presence, you’ve already shown colleges that you are capable of doing something big.
If you feel very knowledgeable in one area, you can create a YouTube channel dedicated to teaching others about it.
Or you can be more personal on your channel and create videos that show all about your life.
Be warned, starting a YouTube channel is hard and takes time. It will take large amounts of dedication and investment, but can be rewarding in the long run.
Non-Profit
Starting a non-profit is fantastic for college applications (and might even be a better choice than starting a commercial business). It shows your willingness to help others with no expectation of repayment.
Support Retirement Centers
The senior community is a popular target for non-profit organizations. But this doesn’t mean that you can’t start your own to do the same, in a different way!
You can gather others to write letters and postcards to the seniors in the retirement centers on holidays and send them on behalf of them and your organization.
Many seniors are lonely and long for time with or words from friends or family. When they can’t get them, a kind letter or postcard can cheer them up!
Support Animal Centers
You can create a website and gather a group of people to help adoption centers find adopters!
Although “adopt, don’t shop” is a well-known slogan repeated everywhere, adoption centers are still often packed with homeless dogs and cats.
You can help the centers and the poor creatures out by advertising for them in your own organization. Create a page full of information from multiple centers and advertise them the best you can.
This will help out the animal centers and potentially save the lives of some of the dogs and cats there.
Collect & Donate Secondhand Items
Many high schoolers have heaps of useless items lying around.
Some have clothes they regret buying in 8th grade, others have test prep books they never used. Why not donate them to someone who needs them?
Create an organization where you gather secondhand items from the local community and donate them to families who need them.
This project helps all parties; people who don’t want their useless things have gotten rid of them, and people who need these things now have them!
Provide Online Tutoring
I mentioned online courses as a commercial business, but nothing’s stopping you from making it a non-profit business!
A popular audience of online tutoring are children from rural countries who’d like to learn English.
If you know some kids or even local schools in such areas, you can contact them and offer free tutoring sessions in which you chat with them completely in English.
Many foreign children and parents long for an opportunity to learn English from local speakers who’ve spoken it for years, and you can provide it for them!
Use Your Talents
You can create music, write stories, create crafts, and more and ask for donations from the audience!
For all these choices, you can create them and publish them online on a platform or your own website, then ask supporters to donate to a certain organization or movement that you’re promoting.
By doing this, you’re showing passion for your activity and also your dedication to improving the community or even the world.
Conclusion
I hope you found this list helpful! Starting a business can be a challenge, but with consistent hard work, you’ll be met with rewarding results!
If you enjoyed this post, check out these:
