15 Easy Online Business Ideas for Students

Students these days have many different skills, including being digitally literate and having a mind for business. The hunger to hustle to earn money is very evident in most students. The Pandemic paved the way for many online businesses during its course, and it also paved the way for young ones to earn money online without needing significant startup costs.

In this article, we’ll talk about 15 online business ideas for students like you and how these innovative startup business ideas can be a successful online business. Let’s start now!

Social Media Influencer

Generation Z, people who are 11-26 years old, are most likely students who would engage in online business to earn money. Being a social media influencer is one of the hottest trends to earn money online with your own business.

To start as a social media influencer, you need to remember these tips:

• Establish Basic Business Needs: It is a crucial step to know your business idea. Build your followers by doing what you are passionate about, but make it relatable. Use or associate yourself with the brands that you want to work with. Create your map on brands you want to work with posts you would create, and create a price range for the brands if they engage with you to promote them.
• Choose Your Niche: Your niche can be classified based on what you want to market; you can choose a brand that would attract a specific demographic, etc. To find your niche, you need to reflect on your passion and think that you would be working to create quality content not just for profit but also to engage and influence. 
• Know Your Audience: Market research is fundamental in identifying your audience. You need to align your niche with your audience to create a lasting connection between you and your audience.
• Create Your Brand: Create a comprehensive way to brand your niche or products or present them to your audience. It would not only gain your target market’s attention but also create an impression and recall to the people.
• Create An Online Presence: Use the trendy social media platforms and create a social media account to establish your online presence on every platform. Ensure you have your own name and it is uniformed on all platforms.

A social media influencer is a social media user who has established credibility in a specific niche market. College and high school students are increasingly using social media, so if you are an avid social media user, you should try being a social media influencer.

Instagram Profile: mimiyuuuh TikTok Profile: kinglexiii

Virtual Assistant

Other students prefer to work rather than start their own online store business, and one of the best-fit jobs for their tight schedule is Virtual Assistance. With virtual assistants, students would not have to worry about their work schedule. It is a flexible job, and most of your clients are from another country, so there is an advantage in the time difference.

Some of the services a Virtual Assistant or VA does are:

• General admin work;
• Bookkeeping business;
• Tutoring business;
• Project management;
• Invoices/billing;
• Researching;
• Writing/blogging;
• Data entry;
• Customer support;
• Social media management;
• Email marketing;
• Web management;
• Transcribing, etc.

The average monthly salary of VAs in the Philippines is 20,000 – 40,000 PHP.

Dropshipping Store  For New Business Owners

Products you could sell online could create a significant profit, especially if you are a student with an excellent deal for an ecommerce business. One of the great online business ideas out there is dropshipping.

With ecommerce dropshipping solutions, you would not need to own a warehouse or have significant start-up capital to buy and resell products. 

In a dropshipping business model, you promote and sell products and provide an online store for customers to visit and purchase the product.

When a customer places an order from your store, you are the one who will inform the dropshipper about the purchase as well as the details about the customer, such as address, order, etc. So, they will be the ones to process the order while you inform the customer that their order is on its way. 

Finding a good dropshipper and signing an agreement with them is significant. Then, always make sure to do social media marketing so that your own website and the products you promote will be visible to your target market.

In dropshipping, you can sell the products up to 10-20% of the wholesale price. In that way, you can have a good profit margin.

Online Course Creator

With the high demand for the online learning industry, one of the best online business ideas is selling online courses. College students are most likely to engage with this kind of profitable business.

Selling an online course business model does not require high start-up capital, and it is suitable for students because you could earn while also sharing your knowledge and helping fellow learners. 

You can start a course on graphic designing, website development, web design, app development, etc. These courses earn a high profit. 

Here in the Philippines, you can earn up to 50,000 – 150,000 PHP monthly if you are a full-time online course creator. You can search online for how to create and sell courses. Also, you need to be mindful of choosing which platform to market your courses.

Affiliate Marketer

Another great business idea or student business idea is affiliate marketing. This business model is trendy, especially with students who are into social media platforms.

Affiliate marketing works when you make an agreement with a product owner or a website and promote their product on your socials or website. If a customer clicks on that website and makes a purchase, you get a commission from the company you are promoting. 

The commission rate ranges from 1% to 20%, depending on the product you are promoting and the referral volume. This job fits younger students because it would use their social media accounts to earn money; you could also build your e-commerce store and promote the products.

YouTube Content Creator

If you are into being a content creator, you can definitely try being a YouTube Content Creator. But, always keep in mind that this would take you some time to process and possibly months before you start earning because how much you will earn as a YouTuber in the Philippines varies depending on your content or your niche.

YouTube content creators can make money through ad revenue generated from ads that are shown in their videos. But before ads can be shown in your content, you must pass YouTube’s threshold and eligibility.

YouTube pays per 1000 views at a rate of 5-15 PHP per view. Google does take a cut from the earnings, so realistically, you can earn up to 150 – 250 PHP per thousand views. You also need many followers to be seen more on users’ algorithms.

Podcast Host

The podcast is also top-rated these days. It is also suitable for small businesses for students because this would guarantee you profit and boost your career in the media world, especially if you want that career.

To monetize your podcast, you need sponsors, like media sponsors or many listeners; this is a long way ahead if you are looking for a job with an instant income, but it is still worth it. You can earn up to 700 – 1,200 PHP per 1000 podcast downloads.

Freelance Photographer

For students who want to provide creative solutions, freelance photography is one of the best small business ideas there. You don’t need any start-up capital; you will need your camera, skills, a good portfolio and social media account, and your own site for customers to contact you.

Student freelance photographers in the Philippines can earn up to 5,000 PHP / month, depending on the event’s size or the job.

Pet Sitting

Pet sitting is one of the physical jobs you can do that require a minimal workforce and flexible time. Many pet parents hire pet sitters through social media or job-seeking platforms. This type of job does not require a diploma; most requirements are just valid IDs or proof, which are perfect for students. With pet sitting, you can earn up to 12,000 PHP per month. 

Print-on-demand Seller

For aspiring entrepreneurs, the Print-On-Demand business model is also profitable for students like you. Print-on-demand is an e-commerce business model where your very own products are sold through an e-commerce platform or conduit platform.

The best thing about this business is that you would only print products when an order is placed and that you are not the one who is printing the products but a different print provider with whom you will partner. They are also the ones who would provide the products such as shirts, tumblers, mugs, etc.

To create your own company, you must set up an e-commerce store or online store, upload your designs, and select a print provider to partner with. Once an order is placed through your store, you can now redirect the order to your partner, and they will be the ones to print and ship the product, so basically, you are paid through your design for sales traffic.

E-book Author

If you are passionate about writing fiction stories, try to be an E-book author. E-books are very popular with millennials and Gen Z-born people. The majority of the market is girls and women.

You can write on platforms where you will get paid once you pass their thresholds, but you can also do e-book writing services in job-seeking platforms and place your rates. E-book authors typically earn a royalty of 7% – 15% of the retail price of their books, but it still depends.

Online Tutor

Online Tutoring is also one of the easiest gigs you can do as a student to earn decent money. This type of work makes you your boss because you will decide what to tutor and the schedule plan.

Such businesses do not require many documents because, most of the time, student online tutors in the Philippines market themselves only through social media platforms, with no technicalities. 

You can visit other job-seeking sites like Upwork, where you can put your rates as an online tutor. However, social media platforms work faster than job-seeking platforms for students like you. As a student online tutor, you can earn up to 200-800 per hour, depending on the course/subject you are teaching.

Content Writer / Copywriter Writer

During the pandemic, many students took the chance to find part-time jobs while they were safe in their homes, and one of their jobs was freelance writing. Content writing and copywriting jobs are trendy these days.

It suits fellow students who need flexible time for part-time employment or online business. You can earn up to 5,000 PHP monthly as a part-time content writer. You can work 4-6 hours daily and have a maximum of 3-4 articles per week.

SEO Writer

The same goes for content writing and copywriting. Search engine optimization (SEO) writers are in demand these days. You can search websites and other platforms for this kind of job posting online.

As an SEO writer, you are responsible for producing content and the traffic and keyword volume for the content. You can earn up to 9,000 PHP monthly as a part-time SEO writer, 4 hours daily.

Homemade Personalized Cakes and Pastries

Personalized cakes are trendy these days. People nowadays prefer availing cakes with their request of style or decor rather than buying pre-made ones from pastry or cake stores.

It is a suitable, profitable job for student entrepreneurs, especially if you excel in baking. With a starting capital of 2,000 – 3,000 PHP, you can make 2-4 cakes priced at about 800 – 1,200 PHP each, depending on the design and size. 

You can market your service and products on online marketplaces, but the best route is through social media platforms.