Monthly Archives: August 2021

Starting a business can be very rewarding. You get to be your own boss, skip the 9-to-5 grind, bring a business solution to fruition, and have career security. This has never been so relevant considering the current COVID pandemic’s impact on businesses.

Imagine having the ability to maximize earning potential without worrying about being furloughed or laid off when economic uncertainty happens. But what home business ideas are worth considering for college students at Yale University?

The good news is that there are a ton of viable home business ideas for college students. And with little risk, since most businesses are operating remotely, keeping overhead to a minimum for your future startup.

From social media influencer to ecommerce website builder, the opportunities are endless. Let’s take a closer look at a few profitable home business ideas for college students like you.

Social Media Influencer

This may seem like a fantasy for the budding college student entrepreneur, since most influencers on social media appear to have millions of followers. But the truth is, you can make serious money as a social media influencer with only a few thousand followers.

Brands like MAC Cosmetics, IKEA, Dove, and Dyson are all seeking influencers with small followings. For instance, nano-influencers are social media influencers with less than 5,000 followers. And brands want to work with them because they have very loyal fans.

Why? Engagement. The amount of followers you have no longer matters to brands. Brands now want to see powerful engagement rates before hiring influencers. Nano-influencers have the highest engagement rates among all influencers.

Ecommerce Store Entrepreneur

The next profitable home business idea for college students is ecommerce. Ecommerce is hot right now, because going to get products in-store is proving difficult during the current COVID pandemic.

But COVID aside, ecommerce continues to be a massive industry. Online retail sales are expected to hit over $6.5 trillion by 2023. This estimate could be even higher now due to the need for more ecommerce during the pandemic.

It is actually pretty easy to create an ecommerce store with website building platforms. You can easily source products online and start selling them via your own ecommerce store within a week. And growth is definitely possible for ecommerce store entrepreneurs.

Freelance Writer For Hire

Freelance work is a powerful asset, especially during these times of professional uncertainty. Freelance writing is one of the top careers that you can easily start from home as a college student.

In university, you have gone through grueling editing and proofreading stages with your professors. Chances are, you have honed your skills as a writer and not even known it. This can prove useful for a profitable business idea.

First, get some of your writing out there. Just be sure your articles are optimized for online consumption. You may need to learn a bit about search engine optimization (SEO) designed for writers before getting your first paid gig.

Once you have a few writing examples ready, set up an UpWork and Fiverr account to land clients. You may even find setting up your own blog and website useful for landing clients, generating leads, and showcasing your work.

Business Consulting

You are a college student, which means you have learned a bit about a subject you wish to pursue in the future. Why wait? You can begin consulting from home now. Especially if you have skills like computer science, literature, marketing, or business development.

How do you start your home consulting business? Begin with LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a powerful tool for consultants. This is because you have access to business owners and company leadership.

You will want to opt-in for the paid LinkedIn membership in order to get full potential out of your efforts. Having a website and some real world examples can also serve useful before landing your first consulting client.

Social media can be impactful when starting a consulting business too. For instance, you can post actionable best practices business leaders will find useful and be more than willing to contact you to learn more.

Consulting is actually pretty simple. “A consultant’s job is to consult. Nothing more, nothing less,” according to Entrepreneur Press. “It’s that simple. There’s no magic formula or secret that makes one consultant more successful than another one.”

Online Tutor For Kids

Remote learning is not going away anytime soon during the COVID pandemic. Even if schools open back up, many parents may be reluctant to send their children back to the classroom. This opens up a profitable home business idea for college students.

As an online tutor for kids, you can connect with students from anywhere in the U.S. via computer. And kids are now used to learning via computer, since in-school learning shut down once before.

All you need is a computer and a bit of marketing savvy to land a few students. How do you find students? Start in your community first. You can put tutor ads on craigslist in your city, as well as set up an Upwork account and list your tutoring prowess in Math, Science, Literature, and more.

Wrapping Up . . .

The above profitable home business ideas for college students are just the tip of the iceberg. There are plenty other ways to start a business from home during, or after, university. The above are among the easiest to get going. What does your future home business look like?

Christmas! The very name already invokes a cornucopia of images and sensations in any reader, no matter where they are in the globe. Gift-wrapped presents, yule log cakes, evergreen trees (even in the most tropical of regions), and a jolly old man riding a sleigh pulled by a herd of reindeers (who also has an addiction to milk and cookies).

But above all of these surface-level elements, are the eternal Christmas values of fellowship and charity. Of good cheer and goodwill towards all of humankind. It’s a season for spending quality time with loved ones, giving fabulously-wrapped gifts to others, staying up until the wee hours of the morning, and celebrating the good that’s in all of us. It’s looking at everything that has happened in the year so far, good or bad, and accepting that life goes on.

Looking at it objectively, it seems pretty bizarre that such a specific set of associations could be coupled with a very specific date, no matter where you are in the world. While some parts of the world celebrate it more enthusiastically than others, Christmas overall seems to be one of the few holidays recognised globally.

Today, Christmas is most commonly identified as a Christian holiday, meant to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. However, the origins of this snow-capped holiday go back even further than that.

Many elements that would make up what we now call Christmas originated in the numerous winter solstice festivities held by the early Europeans. People celebrated during the winter solstice, as that meant most of the horrors and hardships of winter were now finally behind them, and they could look forward to longer days and more hours of sunlight once more.

The Norse people of Scandinavia celebrated Yule, where large logs would be brought to the home and set on fire, in anticipation of the sun’s return. People would feast and make merry until the log fully burned out, which could take more than a week.

The pagans of Germany, on the other hand, believed that the god Oden flew through the night sky to observe his people, and decide who would perish or prosper. For that reason, people chose to honor him, but also stayed mostly inside their homes.

The Romans held Saturnalia, which was an entire month of hedonism where food and wine flowed freely, and where the normal social order was disregarded. The enslaved were temporarily freed and treated as equals, and business and schools closed so that everyone could join in on the festivities.

As for Christians, there is actually no solid evidence that Jesus was born on the 25th of December, or even anytime near winter. The Bible never spells out the day of his birth (as pointed out by the Puritans, who tried to use this fact to delegitimize the celebration). Instead, it is commonly believed that the early church chose this date in order to co-opt pre-existing winter solstice celebrations such as Saturnalia, so that it can ingratiate itself more with the wider population at the time.

Of course, much of the world isn’t Christian, white, or has experience with winter. It was largely due to the colonizing efforts of European powers (such as the Dutch and British empires of the 18th century) that much of the non-western world even knows what Christmas is.

In modern times, consumerism and globalisation has shorne Christianity of most of its religious associations, in favour of encouraging the buying of gifts (the shinier and more expensive, the better).

In short, there is no core or central meaning behind Christmas. At least, not in its current state anymore.

What does this all mean, though? Does this mean we should stop celebrating Christmas altogether, given that the foundation of the holiday itself is inherently unstable and ever-shifting, with its original meanings buried beneath generations of humanity?

If that thought ever crossed your mind, then I will assure you, my answer is no. Celebrations may have centuries of history behind them, but they are ultimately celebrated for the benefit of those living today. Who cares if it was initially based on religious beliefs that are no longer actively followed? So what if traditions and rituals on the holiday come and go like parts on an ageing automobile? Does this make the time we spend with friends and family during the holiday season any less meaningful or joyful? Does it make all the messages of fellowship and charity any less resonant? Does it dim the joy of a child eagerly sending a dear santa letter, holding wishes for their favorite toys and games within?

Right now, in the age that we live in, Christmas is a universal holiday of good cheer and gift giving, without restrictions on culture or religion. It’s about putting a positive cap on the year behind us, no matter what happened inside that year. It’s something nearly everyone celebrates in some way, even those who aren’t religious or western at all.

No matter where it comes from, one cannot deny that Christmas is one of the most important and widespread celebrations in the modern world, and we should keep it that way.

So, without any further ado, let me wish all of you readers a merry Christmas, and a happy New Year.

It has been a rollercoaster of a year for renters and landlords in the United States. On August 3, tenants in vulnerable situations were saved by the bell yet again as President Joe Biden and the CDC issued a 60-day moratorium on rental evictions. With Delta variant infection numbers rising by the day, the eviction ban acts to keep families in their homes and provide some form of stability for people who are already in distress. Job losses and the corresponding financial hardships have led to some Americans struggling with their rental payments over the course of the pandemic. According to recent studies, over 6.5 million households in the country are late with their rent, owing approximately $20 billion in total.

While it may be easy to blame landlords for continuing to seek payments during such dire circumstances, it is often overlooked that many landlords themselves are small-scale investors of the ‘mom and pop’ variety. Unlike massive real estate corporations and investment trusts that own numerous properties and have the deep pockets to help cushion their losses, individual landlords often rely heavily on rental revenue to cover costs. It is estimated that half of the rental properties in the US are owned by individuals—who need to keep up their property insurance, taxes, and building maintenance costs even as their tenants withhold rent. In addition, most of these individual landlords are still expected to pay the mortgages on their properties with no access to credit or federal assistance.

Where The Heart Is

The residential rental market is an important stepping stone for many fresh home leavers and an essential way to save up for a down payment for aspiring homeowners. Based on Census data, 35.9 percent of residential property in our country is renter-occupied, with the renting population generally younger, more racially diverse, and earning a lower wage. Since renters do not have to pay for maintenance or repairs and are exempt from property taxes, renting is the de facto choice for people with less disposable income. Likewise, rental properties are one of the only available choices for people with poor credit scores such as immigrants or those from underprivileged backgrounds.

That said, having a lack of cash is not the sole reason why some people prefer to rent. The apartment rental market is growing faster than the rest of the rental industry as people opt for hassle-free housing solutions, particularly in urban areas. Another perk of renting an apartment is the access to coveted amenities such as a swimming pool or fitness center that would otherwise cost a pretty penny. Some people also prefer to rent as it affords them the flexibility to move as their circumstances change or to experience a locale—such as Manhattan—that they could never afford to buy a property in. International and out-of-state students similarly benefit from rental arrangements as they only plan to be in the neighborhood for a handful of years.

With over a hundred million Americans living in rental housing, the residential rental industry is an undeniable part of our country’s housing formula. While free universal housing and controlled property prices are a lovely pipe dream, the reality is that the residential rental industry must continue to serve the housing needs of the population.

Make Yourself At Home

Given the strenuous situation that landlords are facing at the moment, renting out your property can seem more of a pain than it is worth. However, there are some definite perks to becoming the proverbial landlord. The most evident being that having a property up for rent provides a revenue stream that can supplement your current income and help you pay off the mortgage on the property itself. Using rental income to bankroll a mortgage is a smart way to have someone else help you purchase a property. Furthermore, you stand to reap sizable rewards when property values rise in the future. Of course, that does not negate the stress and worry of property management and finding tenants. Thankfully, there are some services geared towards assisting all participants in the rental relationship.

Finding a trustworthy tenant is the most critical step in having a successful rental experience. Some businesses provide the service of checking rental applications and credit ratings and can even help landlords check for any criminal backgrounds or eviction histories. After acquiring an agreeable and reliable tenant, landlords can take extra steps to protect their tenant’s property by inviting them to purchase renter’s insurance. Renter’s insurance differs from a landlord’s property insurance as it covers the tenant’s personal items and liability. It is a way to ensure that tenants receive greater security for their belongings and encourages them to take better care of their living environment. Renter’s insurance also covers any increased housing or living expenses incurred by the tenant in the unlikely event that the property becomes uninhabitable.

According to predictions, the economy and residential rental market are set to soar as vaccinations roll out and people return to work. While some Americans may still experience trouble meeting rent, most are doing well enough to drive the expanding residential rental market. With the support of the services available, landlords and tenants can continue to have a mutually beneficial relationship with an added peace of mind.