Owning a business is hard work, but being a business owner can be very rewarding both intrinsically and financially. The best business to start is completely dependent on an individual’s personality, capabilities, experience and work ethic. Here are the 5 top businesses to start for a person with limited cash resources who is willing to put in time and sweat equity.

1. House painting can be a lucrative business that can be started with little more than a credit card to a major home improvement warehouse or a line of credit with a local hardware store. Picking up a solid ladder, several gallons of paint, and a few good brushes and rollers, along with estimate forms and business cards, are enough to get rolling. Artistic people who enjoy working outside as well as inside will do well as house painters.
If you plan to start a house painting business then be sure to check and see if you need to get a business license from your city. This is often times the case when doing home repairs. Most of the outdoor work will be done in the summer of course but there is a fair amount of painting projects to be done indoors during the winter months. A painting business can keep you really busy during the nice weather so be ready to make most of your money then.
If you can include some other minor home repairs along with the painting then you will find more work as there is often times some sheet rock repair to do be done inside a home and siding or trim to be done on the outside. Being a more full service solution for people can make a big difference.
2. House cleaning for private homes and offices can produce a substantial profit. Some companies use the customers’ cleaning products, which means that the startup costs are limited to paperwork such as business cards, brochures and contracts. For companies that provide their own chemicals, initial stock can be bought on credit or can come from the business owners’ home supply. Organized individuals that enjoy physical work are best suited for house cleaning businesses.
You would be surprised at how many people are willing to pay to get their house cleaned by others. Generally these are families in which both spouses work outside the home and don’t have time to do the necessary cleaning. A real key with this type of business is to build a rapport with your customers so you can use them as references for further work.
As a way to expand your business you could specialize in a house service for seniors. Our senior citizen population is increasing every year and they need more and more help. Maybe you could market your service as not only cleaning but also other chores that may be needed to be done like driving them to appointments or even cooking some pre-prepared meals.
3. Hiring computer consultants is becoming a more popular choice for many businesses that are no longer carrying the expense of employing computer specialists. Consulting can be done onsite or remotely from an individual’s home. Most people who are qualified to be consultants already own a computer, so the initial layout is generally no more than the cost of marketing material. People knowledgeable in information technology that enjoy working with computers are a perfect match for computer consultants.
Of course you have to have the knowledge of computer systems to make this work but if you are computer savvy you more than likely know more than 99% of the population. Some ideas for services would be software installation and set up, hardware integration, and virus removal and protection.
As more and more people are online and have their computers as a growing part of their lives there will be a lot more chances for in home computer system repairs and tune ups.
4. Freelance writing can be fun and profitable. Writing website content can be done at home with no more than a reliable computer and an internet connection. Selling articles or short stories to magazines or local newspapers is another avenue for writers. Creative people with a penchant for words should consider freelance writing for a living.
Most writers have the dream of creating the next Great American Novel but the problem is you have to find money to provide for yourself while you are creating your masterpiece. Why not spend some of your time writing articles for websites and article directories. You can learn how to band out a few of these an hour which can easily mean you would be making $10-$20 an hour. If you like to write then you will find this is quite easy money and will give you time to also work on your book.
5. Starting a business performing odd jobs requires little more than a reliable vehicle, a small toolbox with limited tools, and marketing materials. Yard work, light house repairs, running errands and helping people get to appointments all come under the category of odd jobs. People who enjoy change during the workday and are handy at a variety of tasks are well matched for an odd jobs business.
I actually did this during college and it could have easily been built into a full time business. To get customers I placed ads at the Senior Citizen Centers around my neighborhood. After doing a few jobs for people I had more referrals than I could handle. If you are handy then you can do all kinds of odd jobs for people. Be sure to check with the local authorities to see if you need to have a license but this is usually no big deal.

These are just a few examples of businesses that can be started with little investment. If an individual has more specialized skills and experience such as automotive detailing and bookkeeping or holds a license in a certain field like massage therapy, he or she can open a detailing, bookkeeping or chair massage therapy business using limited capital. Again, the best type of business to start is the one best suited to the individual’s talents, knowledge base and personality.

For college students, money can be difficult to come by. Aside from high tuition fees, there is also rent, food, and leisure money. When this is combined with a low income, it can be difficult to make your budget. By starting a business venture, you can earn extra money on the side and gain experience and work ethic.  But the good side of this situation is it tends to make you a hungry for something better.  Often times this can be the drive that makes you really get out and try some ideas you have to succeed.  Many business ventures that have turned into lucrative fortune 500 companies started with ideas in college including Fed Ex and Dell Computers.

Tutoring

Thousands of students have trouble understanding their bookwork. If your university does not provide services for tutoring, you can make a lot of money by becoming a tutor. Charge an hourly fee for your time and advertise your services to other students. You can even start your own stable of tutoring students and become the middle man.  This means you set up a way for tutors and students to find each other and then you get a fee.  Since each person has their strong and weak subjects, find a group of students that are willing to tutor on the subject they excel in but who don’t know how to promote themselves.  Then you can do the business end while the students spend time talking about math or history.

In some cases, you may need to ask the administration before tutoring for pay. However, many colleges will be happy to have tutors if there is no service available. Alternatively, you could only advertise your services to a few select friends and associates to avoid attracting too much attention  but this would go against your entrepreneurial spirit.  This could actually be a great way to learn some Gorilla Marketing techniques.

Computer Repair

Modern colleges often require computers for homework and assignments. Many students have no idea how to fix a broken computer, so hire your services out for repairing IT problems. Most schools have plenty of geeks that you can hire as employees. Once your organization has gained a good reputation, fixing computers can become a profitable business.  Computers no a days are usually mechanically sound but the software often times gets messed up.  Or a person can easily get viruses or malware.  Find a couple of people in the computer science program who have the know how and then you can run the business side of the equation.

Often times the only problem with computers is that the software needs some changes and a person who is computer savvy can do this very easily.   But if a student has a problem it can seem overwhelming.  This is really a classic business idea.  You take a customer with a problem, a non-functioning computer, and you match him or her with a solution, someone who can make the necessary changes.  Then, you get a fee for putting the two together.  You are leveraging you time by hiring other people to actually do the work.  Remember, there are only so many hours in the day and you need to learn how to use them all to their fullest and delegating is the best way to do that.

Cleaning Dorms

Student dorms can be awfully dirty. Try offering a cleaning service where you or your employees come by once a week to give the room a thorough cleaning. This will involve taking out the trash, cleaning out the bedding, dusting, mopping, vacuuming, etc. If your services are proved to be trustworthy, you will get good referrals from happy customers.  College students are not known to have a lot of extra cash but you would be surprised at how many would pay for cleaning.  Again, with this venture you can find workers who want to make some extra money and you would just schedule the appointments, advertise, and handle the money.

Conclusion

These are only a few business ideas for college students who are looking to make extra money while studying. However, there are plenty of other opportunities if you know where to look. Ask friends or relatives for advice on business and employment opportunities. Although the jobs may seem simple, it can help you to gain valuable experience for the real business world after you graduate.

Remember, you are there to learn so why not learn some skills that will really help you get ahead in life instead of spending all your time on Middle English Literature.  This is a great time to explore many different ideas and see which seem to work the best.  You can also learn a lot about marketing and managing when you have a small service business like this.  Give something a try and if it doesn’t work just try something else.  You never know when you might hit it big.

For instance, who knew that Twitter would become as popular as it is other than the current owner? Since these people possess such an innate risk taking spirit, nothing discourages them from success. To a lesser degree, there are other folks out there with good management skills and numerous talents, but that have no ideas. Like the entrepreneur, they have plenty of desire and want to succeed they just need some dreams.

One unique business idea is to develop a new form of green energy. All economic indicators point to solar energy business opportunities as the next hot market for the upcoming decades. Therefore, anyone that can research and develop a new form of energy will be successful beyond his or her wildest dreams. Even the development of a new way to use energy should be a pathway to a success. Finding partners for such an undertaking should not be a problem. In addition, the aspiring business owner will be happy to find a plethora of government grants and loans available to them, which are specifically designed for the development of green energy. Taking advantage of them can be a great head start.

Another unique business idea would be to develop a natural health product that is affordable and of high quality. Sales figures in this category have risen steadily since the 1990s and they are projected to rise even further as more people become interested in natural health products. The key to success would be to develop a proprietary blend of natural organic substances that alleviate a specific problem. Anyone that would discover a natural means to stop something like arthritis pain should see some success as long as they have some good marketing skills.

In summary, manufacturing jobs are being outsourced to other countries at an alarming rate today. They will somehow need to be replaced. A unique business idea has the potential to put people to work. All that is necessary is the right ambition and the desire to succeed. Besides that, all that is needed is needed is dream.

Mail order businesses have the potential to prove incredibly lucrative for you. This fact has been proven over and over again by professionals who have sold millions of dollars’ worth of products, ranging from beauty supplies to wheelchairs, through the mail. No doubt you want to be just as successful.

To be successful, you must recognize that even though these professionals worked from home, they still had to put forth effort to achieve success. You cannot expect to get something for nothing; to make the amount of money you need you will have to work for it, even if you are working from home. Once you learn the ropes when it comes to finding products to market and then writing the copy for ads that will make people want to buy, you can find this very lucrative.

When choosing which mail order business opportunity is right for you, the first step is to be careful. At least 80 to 90% of supposed opportunities in mail order are scams. You are either required to divulge personal information, including your social security number, or to pay an exorbitant fee upfront before you can start using your mail order business. Avoid such offers at all cost.  If a company tells you there are fees involved in working with them then you really need to look at this with skepticism.  If there is a cost for an ebook that is one thing, but if you have to spend a lot of money in order to make money then this is probably not a good opportunity.

A successful mail order business, just like effective communication, is an art form.  It takes practice to get it just right, so do not get discouraged if your first few attempts are a flop. Mistakes help you learn. Instead, take what you learned from those mistakes and try again. It may take a few tries, but you can find the mail order business opportunity that works for you.

It is also important for you to make contacts within the general area of your business. For example, if your mail order business involves selling beauty products, you may want to start networking and advertising at local salons. You may also want to start subscribing and possibly even advertising in popular trade magazines that deal with your particular business.

In today’s work, the Internet is an invaluable resource for advertising and networking. Use the popular social networking sites to get your name and your products recognized. You may also choose to create a website showcasing your products.

One last suggestion to help you find success is to start out by targeting one specific region to focus on. That way, if you make a fatal mistake, you still have plenty of other territory to find success in. Plus, by targeting one region, you can roll out your campaigns slowly and find out which marketing messages work the best.  Then when your copy is fine tuned you can expand into other areas.

Succeeding with mail order business opportunities can be a challenge. Do your research, do not give up, and advertise as much as possible to get your product noticed. It may take some time, but you will find success if you adhere to these suggestions.

An online business is a good opportunity for those people who are either unemployed or not able to leave their home for some reason. It can also be a source of extra income for working people. Before going to start any business, people should consider their area of interest and collect as much information as possible about it. A person’s talent counts most while expanding and promoting any business. People should have well defined goals and objectives.

Several web business opportunities have come up which allow a person to showcase his or her ability.

Online Health Services

As more and more people are suffering from health problems, they search the Internet to find cures and reasons of their ailments besides consulting their doctors. They are seriously considering the suggestions, advice and guidance provided on the Internet. Companies manufacturing health care products and medical equipment are also using the Web to place their advertisements for promoting their products. They are also on a lookout for people that can help them to promote their products online.

Online Tutoring and Education Services

More students are opting for online tutors as they need individual attention. People interested in online tutoring can choose the subject of their choice. Online education is becoming popular as it is beneficial for those people who are already working and looking for a career growth. They also need online teachers to guide them at the times of difficulty. People are making full use of the Internet to search for the best colleges and study materials. One can start a service of providing information about these things.

Freelance Writing Services

Many people have created a great online business by article writing for other websites that need a variety of articles to market their products and services and to attract their customers. Some students also need online research papers for their college assignment. As they are not capable of writing the research paper on their own, they take the help of freelance writers.

Online Typing Jobs

These jobs include data entry work, online surveys, medical billing and coding work. Online surveys are done by companies that are interested to know about the status of the products they are selling. They like to hear opinion of people about their services and products. This helps them to customize their products according to the requirements of their customers. In medical billing and coding work, all the details of patient’s treatment are maintained online to claim the payment from a health insurance company.

Before you go jumping into buying some program that claims it will teach you how to start online businesses that will make you fabulously rich without doing much work you need to know a few things about how Internet businesses work and what you can expect.  A lot of people end up spending hundreds or thousands of dollars for a program that is supposed to make them money but in the end they just are out their fee with nothing to show for it.  If you see an ad for an online business that seems to good to be true then it is.

It is not really the fault of the customer when they are taken advantage of like this.  People are desperate for a way to make more money or a way to start their own business and so they are willing to believe the pie in the sky claims of these Internet charlatans.  Don’t you be one of the thousands of people who have had their life savings go up in smoke by signing on to one of these programs that don’t really do anything to teach you who to start a legitimate online business.

Most people get into trouble when they suspend belief about how an online business works.  The fact is, an Internet business is really no different than any other business in the sense that you still need something to sell that people want, you need a way to sell it to them, and you need a way to inform your potential customers about what you have to offer.  If any of these breakdown then you will not be successful.  It doesn’t matter whether you are working with a website or with a storefront.

A lot of potential Online business owners seem to want to believe that since their enterprise is online that they can forget one or more of these basic business tenants.  It is almost as if people think that the Internet is a magical place where if someone just says they are an Internet marketer then they will have a successful business and will make all kinds of money.  Actually, I don’t even think these people want a business because that would assume that they are willing to do some work.  Instead they are looking for quick payout by not really doing anything that will allow them to sit back and watch the checks roll in.  This is just not how a web business works.

The World Wide Web is a very strong marketing medium and a lot of people have made a killing but they actually fulfilled the three needs of any business.  They found something that people wanted.  This can be done by seeing what they are searching for online.  For example, if you want to start a site about fishing then you need to find out what fishing related products people are interested in.

Then they developed the website to match those customer needs.  This is key.  Most people find a topic they are interested in and build the website thinking that the customers will be as excited as they are.  This is very rarely the case.  Instead, for success, you start with the needs and desires of the public which you can fulfill.  Find out what they want and then give it to them.

Finally, and here is the part that takes a lot of work and time, you must get people to view your site.  No matter how fancy your site is, if you don’t have potential customers stopping by you will not have any success at all.  Working on methods of getting your site in front of people should take about 90% of your time instead of spending 90% of your time on your site.

You can be successful online with a business. All kinds of people from stay at home moms, to seniors, to laid off construction workers are doing it.  Just be sure you remember to find something the public wants, develop a way to give it to them, and then find out how to get the word out about what you have to offer.