SmileTutor Blog Students Advice For Students 6 Ways Busy Students can Earn a Passive Income

6 Ways Busy Students can Earn a Passive Income

As a student, you may feel limited by the fixed amount of pocket money that you receive from your parents. It might just be enough for your meals and you can’t afford to buy some things you’ve been eyeing or to hang out more with your friends.

That is why many students look for other alternative flow of income. However, not many are able to afford the time to juggle a part-time job with their studies.

Hence, we compiled a list of popular ways that you can earn a passive income that does not require as much commitment.

Tutoring

Being a part-time tutor to help younger students is definitely possible. Although you may not be earning as much as a qualified tutor with experience, undergraduate tutors are still able to earn between $25-$40 per hour, which is a lot higher than typical part-time jobs.

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Tutoring is a popular side-hustle choice because you will only have to commit for about once a week, depending on the agreement.

However, you do need to take into account the time (and money, if you’re planning on buying assessment books) that you may need to prepare and plan for your lessons and materials.

Investing

Investing means putting your money where you think it will grow, and then receiving an increased value in the future. 

It doesn’t require you to work round the clock, but it requires strategic planning, an eye for trends and analytical skills.

Be careful to start small as there are risks in investing, and you could potentially lose more than you earn.

There are many online videos and courses that can teach you how to begin your investing journey. One investment option you can try is in index funds. Visit this site to learn more.

Small business

Starting a small business is very common among students nowadays because of how easy it is to begin with.

Creating a starting a business checklist can be a helpful tool for entrepreneurs, as it can help them ensure that they have considered and completed all the necessary steps involved in starting a small business.

First, think of what kind of products or services that you’re good at or interested in. You should try to finetune your interest and come up with something unique, not already in the market, and something that would appeal to the masses.

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Then, market your brand. With social media platforms being made of user-generated content, you can easily carry out your own marketing.

Reach the attention of the public by promoting the Unique Selling Point (USP) of your product/service using the right keywords and hashtags on social media. It would be most helpful if you could create viral content that would grab the attention of others.

You could even get your friends’ support to share about your products/services on their individual accounts. Word of mouth is the most reliable way to attract more customers.

In order to acquire and retain customers, you must always be listening to your customers, paying attention to their feedback, their wants and needs, and adapting as you go. If not, you may risk your business turning irrelevant very quickly.

However, you need to take into account the time that you will need to spend to create and deliver your products/services to your customers. Judge whether it’s viable for you to juggle your small business with your academics.

Freelance

Having a freelance job means that you work whenever you are available to, without any commitment. As a student, this type of job is ideal as you are able to control your schedules and fit in work when you have free time.

There are many types of freelance jobs. Some may include freelance writing, acting, helping out at events, etc.

There are many platforms on which you can look for freelance job openings. These include Telegram channels and any job-search platform.

Freelancing is a beneficial option as it can also give you some work experience that you can include in your portfolio. For example, if you’re planning on becoming a writer in the future, doing freelance writing can give you a headstart.

Doing surveys

Many companies want to get to know their potential customers better so that they can retain or attract their customers.

These companies are willing to pay for you to answer a set of questions about yourself, your habits and your perspectives.

This may sound really easy, but take note that the monetary rewards from doing each survey may be quite small and you will have to do more surveys to earn a substantial amount.

Selling secondhand items

As a student, you will definitely notice that you have things that you don’t need lying around. Have you grown out of your shirt? Do you have some bags that you don’t use anymore? Don’t let these items occupy unnecessary space, you can make money off of them!

You can either sell it on platforms such as Carousell or bring them to retail shops in exchange for a small reimbursement or vouchers.

Conclusion

With the help of technology, there are now many opportunities for students to easily earn extra cash on the side while they’re still studying. 

While learning how to earn money at a young age is beneficial, don’t forget to cultivate healthy saving habits for rainy days!

Rum Tan

Rum Tan is the founder of SmileTutor and he believes that every child deserves a smile. Motivated by this belief and passion, he works hard day & night with his team to maintain the most trustworthy source of home tutors in Singapore. In his free time, he writes articles hoping to educate, enlighten, and empower parents, students, and tutors. You may try out his free home tutoring services via smiletutor.sg or by calling 6266 4475 directly today.