Top 10 Business Opportunities For The Busy College Student

Posted on April 07, 2008 by Ginger Watford

There are a lot of things that can keep a student in college busy. There is the obvious task of study and writing associated with academic success. There is campus life and understanding culture and relationships. There is the development of social skills and lifestyle that will affect the rest of the student’s life. There is also a need to establish steps to begin a career path. College students who are starting to realize that they will get something else when they graduate beyond a degree, a $20,000 to $150,000 debt, are looking for a way to offset college debt with college income. While the summer job is that staple for many college students there are some who are starting understand that there are options that allow the busy college student to own and run their own business opportunity while still in college. Here are the top ten business opportunities that are less time consuming, low cost, and offer financing options for busy college students to consider.

#1 Mad Dog Energy Products Buzz Bites
Starting at $10,000 this vending machine business provides virtually instant and constant cash flow. The only continual work in maintaining this franchise after securing locations to place your vending machines is collecting your profits, and restocking the machine.

#2 Vendstar
Also a low-maintenance franchise opportunity this low cost franchise once location is secured can be serviced completely on the schedule of the franchise owner. A cash based business solves most cash flow problems and starts at $9,995

#3 Goin’ Postal
This mail and shipping franchise while typically run in a full-service time intensive store model also proved a kiosk option that can be added to a convenience store and provide full shipping and packaging needs for only $3,995 as the Express Kiosk version of Goin’ Postal's popular store franchise.

#4 DVDNow Kiosk
This addition kiosk style franchise stocks the latest in DVD titles and allows franchise owners to rent DVD’s quickly and efficiently in a kiosk while they are already in another location doing business or shopping without having to make additional stops at video stores. The DVDNow kiosk starts at $20,000

#5 Cruise Planners Franchising LLC American Express
This long-titled franchise offers a simple self-explanatory cruise booking and planning service that markets to vacationers. This is typically a high season and low-season style of franchise that can be purchased for around $20,000

#6 Caddy Card
This franchise can be run as a home based franchise, (or dorm based) and is designed to market to advertisers. The product is a graphic layout of a golf course provided to golfers free of charge. Revenue is generated from selling ad space in the brochure that is designed and printer by the head office and not by the individual franchisee. $11,800

#7 Expetec Technology services
This higher-level investment tier franchise opportunity requires an investment of $100,000 and fills the need that many small and medium size businesses have in outsourcing there their PC and network needs. By providing on-call and email support to various businesses the Expetec Franchise is a popular and very profitable work from home franchise.

#8 Spring-Green Lawn Care
This landscaping and lawn care franchise requires a $30,000 investment and takes advantage of America’s 30 billion dollar lawn care industry. A full training and support system is available to franchise owners, and the busy seasons for lawn care and landscaping often occur outside of normal school hours.

#9 Advertising Consultants home-based
For the creative and marketing minded college student there are advertising franchises such as this consultation franchise. Many businesses desire to know what is popular and how to market to college age consumers. By providing this insight and advertising and marketing advice to clients this work from home franchise can be an extremely career friendly and profitable experience. $25,000.

#10 Virtuoso Music
This franchise is a community franchise that provides musical training and instruction to students in a local area. The franchise owner also coordinates with local venues for recitals, performances, and concerts. These types of community events are partnered well with access to musical instruction and community venues often accessible to students and alumni of colleges. The virtuoso franchise is home-based and requires an investment of $25,000