From Books To Bucks: Top side hustles for students
This article is for informational purposes and should not be construed as legal or financial advice
Picture this, you’re eating pasta and sauce three times a day, your wardrobe hasn’t been updated in the last 12 months and your bank balance is so negative it wouldn’t even register on the Celsius temperature scale. Welcome to (my) life as a student!
P.S. Before you feel too sorry for me, there strangely always seemed to be funds available to turn up at flat parties with copious amounts of alcohol.
Anyway, what’s my point? My point is student life doesn’t have to look as miserable as this. See, since graduating I’ve developed a bit of an obsession with side hustles. Now you might be thinking aren’t side hustles more for students looking to earn a bit of extra cash? And YES, they absolutely are which is the whole point of me writing this article.
If you’re planning on heading off to college or university at the end of summer, I’d hate for you to find yourself in the cash-stricken position that I found myself in. Heck, I thought money management was just signing up to a few debt advice newsletters! (spoiler alert, this is a rubbish idea)
Instead I’ve put together a few of the best side hustles for students looking to earn a bit of extra money during their studies!
1. Writing
Where better to start than with my own, newfound love: writing. Call me biased but this is absolutely the best way to earn a bit of extra money as a student. I’ll tell you why…
Side-hustling as a writer kills two birds with one stone as you’ll be both earning and learning. There are some fantastic blogs and websites out there that will pay content writers for their articles. The last few years have seen a rise in popularity for freelance websites too – I particularly like Fiverr and Upwork.
For me as an old man whose college days are behind him (tear rolls down face), earning isn’t my primary motivation for writing. I actually write to expand my knowledge, stay on top of trends and ultimately enhance my career prospects. So if you’re a student who finds yourself with a bit of spare time, why not do the same and spend time writing about the topics you’ve recently been exposed to?
Whilst life as a part-time writer can offer a few extra pennies, you’ll find the real benefit will be felt through improving your academic performance and driving an increased interest in your area of study.
If only I’d thought of this during my studies, maybe I would’ve understood binomial and Poisson distribution!
2. Start a YouTube/TikTok channel
In today’s job market, there’s an increased demand for workers with knowledge of socal media, video editing and similar digital skills. With that in mind, you might want to swap blogging for vlogging and start a YouTube channel as your side hustle.
If you’re heading to uni this year, there’s a good chance you belong to the digital-native Gen Z generation and will likely already have some digital skills that are ripe to be enhanced.
The downside of this one is that the money-making side of things can take a while when it comes to YouTube; most YouTube accounts don’t earn any money.
If you do want to make your video-based side hustle a financial success, you’ll need to craft a unique angle for your content. Lean into your student life to do this; you could focus on a day in the life of a Harvard business student, review student-focused products or review local bars and burger joints in your new adopted home.
I personally am far too camera shy to ever considering starting a YouTube vlog, but if you’re a little more extroverted, this one probably won’t even feel like a side hustle.
3. Start a business
Okay, there’s a theme here. I’m a big fan of side hustles that teach transferable skills, which is why my next recommended side hustle would be to start a business.
Writing articles and creating video content are great options, but if you want to do a bit of everything, start a whole business. That way you’ll need to get stuck into things like managing a website, negotiating with suppliers and marketing your brand.
You see most people think starting a business requires a massive commitment of time and money. In reality, it can be a side hustle that you spend a few hours a day or even a week on.
It’s also never been easier to start a business. Creating a website, integrating ecommerce plugins and shipping orders are all things that are easy to pick up even without experience. All you need to decide is what it is you’re selling – clothes, jewelry, handmade crafts – it’s entirely up to you.
The money-making potential of running a business is far higher when compared with my previous two side hustle recommendations. It‘ll also look great on your CV and will be fantastic to bring up during interviews once you’ve graduated (that’s only if your side hustle startup doesn’t take over the world and end up being acquired for billions of dollars, in that case forget the interviews, you’ll probably just be sat on a beach somewhere after your studies.)
4. Become a tutor
You might think that you’re underqualified to pass on knowledge as you’re still learning yourself. Not true. Whilst you could use your area of study to tutor younger age groups, tutoring doesn’t have to be focused on something academic.
You might be a semi-pro tennis player, a Call of Duty marksman or just simply incredibly talented at making origami butterflies. Whatever your skill, pass it on to others in the form of tutoring to make a bit of money on the side.
You could even combine this with all three of my previous recommendations for the ultimate side hustle. Let’s say you’re a gifted chess player studying at university or college. You could spend your spare time writing articles for chess websites, turning these articles into video content optimised for a YouTube channel, and then starting an online tutoring business for your subscribers that want to pay for one-to-one chess lessons with yourself!