Today is the age of holistic learning, and students in India understand the importance of practical learning and disapprove of the outdated notion of focusing solely on academics. Starting a business while still in college can be a great idea. It can help you earn some extra bucks and provide you with valuable skills and experience that can help you in your future career. Today, numerous business ideas exist for students building them as early-stage entrepreneurs and boosting the startup revolution. Let’s take a quick look at some of the best low-investment business ideas for students in India.
Dropshipping
Dropshipping could be the perfect option if you’re looking for a low-cost business idea. Instead of storing and shipping products yourself, you can create a website and list products from suppliers. When customers place an order, the supplier fulfils it and ships the product directly to the customer. You profit by charging a slightly higher price than the supplier. In dropshipping, you don’t have to worry about buying and storing inventory, which can be a huge expense for a student. Also, you can run your dropshipping store from anywhere with an internet connection, making it a flexible option for students who need to balance their academic responsibilities.
Here are some tips to help you get started with dropshipping in India:
- Choose a niche or product category that you’re passionate about. This will help you market your products more effectively and keep you motivated.
- Register your business. This will ensure that you operate legally and avoid potential legal issues.
- Find reliable suppliers who offer quality products at reasonable prices. You’ll need to build a good relationship with your suppliers to ensure they fulfil orders promptly and efficiently.
- Set up a website that’s easy to use and navigate. You’ll need to optimize your site for search engines to attract potential customers.
- Develop a customer acquisition plan to promote your products and reach your target audience. This could include social media advertising, content marketing, or other tactics.
Content Creator
With the rise of digital media and online platforms, content creation has become a lucrative career option that allows students to earn a high income while pursuing their academic goals. Simply put, content creation is generating content for a particular target audience. This can be in videos, blog posts, podcasts, ebooks, graphics, web apps, and more. The type of content that students choose to create depends on their interests and skills. Students can work from anywhere, anytime, and even while pursuing their studies.
To become successful content creators, students must have excellent communication skills, creativity, and a willingness to learn.
There are a few tips you can follow to get started:
- Identify your niche: Choose a specific area of interest you’re passionate about and focus on creating content in that niche. This will help you stand out and build a loyal following.
- Create quality content: Ensure that your content is high quality and provides value to your audience. This will help you build credibility and gain more followers.
- Use social media: Social media is an excellent platform for promoting your content and building a community of followers. Use platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to promote your content and engage with your audience.
- Monetize your content: Once you’ve built a following, you can monetize your content by selling it, running ads, or offering services like consulting. You can also join platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer to find freelance work related to content creation.
Freelancing
As a student, freelancing can be an excellent business idea that provides a flexible work schedule and a steady source of income. With the rise of digital technology and the gig economy, freelancing has become a popular career option that allows students to work on their terms and earn money while pursuing their academic goals. Freelancing is essentially working as an independent contractor or self-employed individual, offering client services on a project basis. Students can offer freelance services, such as graphic design, writing, social media management, website development, SEO, and data entry.
To get started with freelancing in India, here are some tips that can be useful:
- Determine your skills: Identify the skills you possess and are interested in offering as a freelance service. This can be anything from writing, graphic designing, website development, or social media management.
- Choose the right platform: Register yourself on a freelancing website such as Upwork, Fiverr, or Freelancer, that suits your skill set. These platforms have a large customer base that you can tap into to find freelance work.
- Build a portfolio: Create a portfolio that showcases your skills and previous work samples. This can include a portfolio website or profile on your chosen freelancing platform.
- Send proposals: Once you find suitable projects, send proposals to clients that showcase your skills and what you can offer them. Read the project requirements carefully and understand the client’s needs.
- Deliver quality work: Deliver quality work to the clients that satisfy their requirements. Once you get positive reviews and ratings, you can use them to attract more clients and build your reputation as a freelancer.
Amazon FBA
Amazon FBA or Fulfillment by Amazon, is a service offered by Amazon that enables online sellers to outsource their order fulfilment and delivery processes. As an Amazon FBA seller, you will need some skills to be successful. Time management is crucial as you must stay on top of marketing skills such as search engine optimization, social media marketing, and advertising. The average income of an Amazon FBA seller in India can vary widely depending on the niche, product selection, and marketing efforts. However, it is possible to earn a significant income with Amazon FBA, with some sellers earning up to lakhs monthly.
Starting an Amazon FBA business as a student in India has several advantages. One significant advantage is the flexibility of the business model, as you can manage your business from anywhere with an internet connection. You can also set your own hours and work around your class schedule.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a simple yet effective way for students to earn money online by promoting other companies’ products or services. It works by partnering with a company and promoting its products to potential buyers. When someone clicks on your affiliate link and makes a purchase, you earn a commission on the sale. To succeed in affiliate marketing, there are some key skills that you need to have, including problem-solving, creativity, communication, technical know-how, and productivity. If you have these skills, you can start an affiliate marketing business with little or no investment and earn significant money.
In affiliate marketing, you don’t need any prior experience, and you can choose the products or services you want to promote. The potential for earning money is limitless, and you can work with multiple brands simultaneously.
To start with affiliate marketing, you need to identify your niche and choose the products you want to promote.
Once you have selected your niche, you can start building your audience by creating content that is relevant to your niche. You can use social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to promote your affiliate links.
Choose products that are already recognized and have market access. This will give you an added advantage and make it easier to promote the products to your audience.
Course Creation
As the world becomes more digitized, people increasingly seek ways to acquire new skills and knowledge online. This has led to a growing demand for online courses, creating a unique opportunity for students to monetize their expertise and knowledge. Course creation is one of the best and most unique online business ideas for students in India. Course creation involves creating educational material in online courses and selling it to students wanting to learn about a particular topic. This could be anything from a course on programming languages to a course on fashion design. Students can leverage their skills and knowledge to create courses and market them to a global audience.
To create and sell courses in India, students should follow these tips.
First, they need to identify their niche and select a topic they know and are passionate about. Then, they should conduct market research to determine if there is a demand for their chosen topic.
Once they have identified their niche, students can create high-quality video content that is engaging and informative. They should also develop a clear course structure and create learning objectives that are easy to understand.
To market their courses, students can use social media platforms and online communities to promote their courses. They can also leverage their existing network and reach potential customers via email or other communication channels.
Blogging
Blogging is a way to express your thoughts, ideas, and opinions on a particular subject matter and share it with the world through an online platform called a blog. As a blogger, you can write about anything from personal experiences, current events, or your area of expertise. To start a blog, you must have good copywriting, communication, research, and creative skills. The average earning of a blogger in India ranges from ₹21,498 – ₹23,139 per month.
Starting a blog is one of the best business ideas for students who are passionate about writing and want to express themselves creatively. It provides an excellent opportunity to share your knowledge, opinions, and interests with a global audience. Moreover, blogging can help students develop various skills, including research, writing, editing, communication, and marketing. It can also be a great way to build a personal brand and establish yourself as an expert.
Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is a field that has gained tremendous importance in recent years, especially as businesses shift their focus to online platforms. It is the process of promoting products or services using digital channels such as search engines, social media, email, and websites. As a student, you can offer several digital marketing services, including website design, SEO optimization, content creation, email marketing, and social media management. To excel in this field, you must have data analysis, content creation, SEO & SEM, CRM, basic design work, social media, and communication skills. The average income for digital marketing services in India is around ₹21,498 – ₹23,139 per month, which can increase significantly based on experience and expertise.
Online Tutoring
Online tutoring could be the perfect business idea for you if you have a passion for teaching and want to earn extra income. Online tutoring allows students to teach others from the comfort of their homes and set their schedules. It provides a virtual classroom where students can interact with their tutor in real time or through pre-recorded videos. Online tutors can teach a wide range of subjects, from academics like math, science, and languages to extracurricular activities like music and dance.
To become an online tutor, you must have expertise in a specific field. Moreover, you must be proficient in online tools like video conferencing and have excellent communication skills. The average income for online tutors in India ranges from ₹15,222 to ₹16,808 per month.
To become an online tutor in India, you can sign up with tutoring websites such as WONK, Preplay, Trivium, and Vedantu. You can also create your website or YouTube channel to offer your services. To build your student base, ask your first clients to post positive reviews and refer you to their friends and family.
Social Media Influencer
Social media has become an integral part of our lives. We follow people who inspire us and entertain us with their content. These people are known as social media influencers. Social media influencers have a significant following on various social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and others. They use their platforms to create and share informative and engaging content with their followers. As a student, you can explore and share your passions and interests with the world. It’s a great way to build your brand and gain recognition for your talents.
To become a social media influencer, you must have good communication, creativity, and content creation skills. In addition, engaging your followers and creating unique content is essential in this field. The average income of a social media influencer in India is around ₹24,802/month.
Here are some tips to get started as a social media influencer in India:
- Find your niche: Identify the topics that you are passionate about and focus on creating content around them.
- Build your social media presence: Create accounts on various social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
- Create high-quality content: Use high-quality images and videos to create visually appealing content that engages your followers.
- Engage with your followers: Respond to comments and messages to create a personal connection with your followers.
- Collaborate with other influencers: Collaborating with other influencers can help you reach a wider audience and gain recognition.
eCommerce Seller
eCommerce selling has emerged as a popular and profitable business idea for students who want to start a side business with low investment and maintenance. This business model involves procuring products from wholesalers and selling them on e-commerce platforms at competitive prices. In return, you get paid by the e-commerce platform within a reasonable time frame. To become an e-commerce seller, you need to possess analytical, communication, and technical skills. These skills will help you identify profitable niches, effectively communicate with customers, and manage the technical aspects of setting up an e-commerce website. The average income of an e-commerce seller in India is around ₹33,547 – ₹34,809 per month.
Event management
Event management is the process of planning and organizing events and occasions, such as parties, conferences, weddings, and more. It involves coordinating with clients, vendors, and team members to ensure everything runs smoothly and meets client expectations. To be a successful event manager, you must have excellent communication, organizational, and problem-solving skills. As a student, starting an event management business can be a great way to earn extra income and gain valuable experience. With the rising trend of managing various events and occasions, there is an increasing demand for event managers. The average income for an event manager in India is around ₹26,420 per month.
Conclusion
Starting a business as a student can help you gain practical experience and develop entrepreneurial skills, create job opportunities, earn extra income, build a professional network, and gain confidence and achievement. With so many benefits to starting a business, it’s no wonder that many students in India are exploring unique and innovative business ideas. So, if you’re a student with an entrepreneurial spirit, don’t be afraid to take the leap and start your own business. With hard work, determination, and a bit of creativity, the possibilities are endless.
