Valerie is a third-year literature student at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She has a part-time job making minimum wage at a dining hall on campus that pays for her food and daily necessities. However, being a college student, Valerie’s lifestyle includes other additional expenses. She loves concerts and fashion, and her healthy social life is fueled by the ability to go out with her friends. These hobbies cost more than her minimum wage job allows her to make, so what does she do? Instead of staying in every weekend and giving up the things she loves, Valerie got inventive. An avid baker, she was often told that people would pay good money for her cookies, cupcakes and pastries. She decided to test this out. Valerie made a batch of baked goods and posted a picture of them on the UCSC Facebook page, offering to deliver them to students on campus for a fee of $5 per order. Within minutes, orders were pouring in. Valerie was sold out in a mere two hours. She made $50s that night and has repeated this process twice a month, since then making upwards of $200 each time.
Valerie's story is not as unique as you might think. As we all know, college students are notoriously poor, and they often need to supplement their income. They start tutoring businesses, offer cosmetic services, provide driving aid and more. I'm sure you've all seen those people giving each other haircuts in the dorm halls or offering to deliver food to on-campus housing for a surcharge. I, myself, take portraits for graduating students or college affiliated organizations to gain some extra cash. Students are surrounded by people of similar age and interest with similar financial struggles in a single community. This makes for the perfect marketplace for small businesses.
Like any formal entrepreneur, students providing these services start, run and grow their own businesses. Advances in technology have made this a relatively easy process. Students create a product, they advertise this product using social media platforms and then they sell them using online resources like Etsy and Venmo. It’s a beneficial system for everyone involved. Members of the college community get cheap services from their peers while pseudo business owners get hands on experience with marketing, cost analysis, product placement and more.
While most of these businesses disband as the student owners enter into the workforce for their chosen career, some become officially licensed companies. The more notable of the businesses started in this fashion include Jamba Juice and Kinkos. These global companies that are all now household names were started by students pursuing degrees who needed to earn some extra money. Valerie now hopes to open up a storefront bakery, catering to college students after she graduates. While she still plans to pursue her degree, her business venture has become a major passion, and the skills she gained in growing her company will carry with her through whatever career she pursues in the future.
