Cash in on dorm living

While life in the dorm may have its ups and downs, there are certain advantages to close-quarter college living especially if you have an entrepreneurial spirit. Be your own boss and start your own side business to stuff your savings while studying. Here are four ideas to get you going:

Flyer Delivery Service: Contact local business about a low cost advertising option for them. Collect 10-15 fliers to include in a packet to distribute to your fellow dorm mates and post on campus bulletin boards. Set a day to pick up the fliers and deliver them. Add a coupon code that lets companies know it was your leg work that brought business in and they will become repeat customers.

Candy Shop: Buy sweets and sodas in bulk and sell them to classmates when they cram for exams. You don’t have to advertise much, word of mouth usually spreads the word when someone has the goods on the goodies. Stick to prepackaged snacks, sell them above cost but undercut the vending machine. Pretty soon those dimes and quarters will be changing into tens and twenties.

Book Collector: College students can be lazy and forgetful and you can take advantage of that for financial gain. Collect used textbooks people no longer need or want and resell them. If it’s past the school bookstore buy back you can still list them on ebay, Craig’s list or Amazon.

Proofreader/Editor: Brush up on your APA and MLA formatting and charge a small fee to fellow students to edit and proofread papers. A second glance is always a good thing especially if it gets the good grades. Emphasize the value of an increased GPA to the investment they are making in their education and classmates will be more likely to shell out a few dollars towards polishing their papers.

Before starting any on campus business venture though, double check the handbook on policies that might prohibit your profitability. Slinging snacks is hardly dealing drugs but if you break the rules, the next knock on your door might be campus security coming to confiscate your candy.

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By Heather Fairchild - Heather is a writer and blogger for Nexxt. She researches and writes about job search tactics, training, and topics.