So you want to become a millionaire, but you're stuck trying to find the right balance between studying and making money. You're probably on a tight budget, cramming for exams, living off cup noodles, and questioning whether going to college or uni was the right decision in the first place. And I hate to say it, but you could be right to wonder.
As studies show, 23% of bachelor's degrees have a negative return on investment. Even more surprising is that 41% of graduates are working in jobs. that don't require a degree.
So what's the solution? Well, most millionaires have multiple streams of income. 65% have at least three, 45% have four, and 29% have more than five. The problem is, many of the popular income streams aren't realistic for students to start from their dorm room.
That's why I've put together seven great ideas you can actually start today, all packed into my trusty toolkit. So let's get into it. Quite literally.
Income stream idea one is TikTok shop. This is absolutely popping off, making it the perfect opportunity for students to earn some extra cash with zero startup costs and no equipment needed, apart from your phone and maybe a ring light just like this one. I picked this up for under $20. When I was younger, I remember my mum buying from catalogues and then switching to watching QVC and doing some TV shopping.
This is the modern day equivalent, just... way faster and more interactive. The opportunity is huge, but don't just take my word for it.
Let me give you some stats. Last year, TikTok shop bought in 11.09 billion in gross merchandise volume. And by the end of this year, they're expected to generate 17.5 billion in sales.
So how much money can you realistically make? The truth is the amount of money you can make depends on the products in your store. Some products simply drive more impulse buys than others.
Beauty and personal care products are the highest grossing category. I mean, the second highest category is women's wear and underwear. If you target one of these top performing categories, you can make anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars a month, and possibly even more if you land on a viral product or trend. How much time will it take?
If you wanna make a lot of money, around three hours a night is a good goal. But if your target is smaller, maybe an extra $100 a month or so, you can spend less time, maybe just an hour a day. Now, I know some of you are in tough courses like medicine, for example, and three hours a night might sound like too much, but don't worry, there's an easy fix. TikTok Shop has an affiliate program where other people can help sell your products. You don't need a big celebrity like Kylie Jenner to promote your items.
You can work with smaller creators called micro-influencers who can help you get your products in front of the right people. So how can you get started? All you need to do is download the TikTok Seller Center app. Once you've got it, you can upload product images, descriptions, and prices directly through the app, then just submit everything for review.
It usually takes a few days to get approved. Income stream idea two is focus groups. Believe it or not, companies are willing to pay good money just to hear your opinions. Your feedback helps them improve their products. and they're happy to reward you for it.
In fact, you can earn up to $250 for just a one-hour focus group. For students, this is a fantastic option because, let's face it, after a full day of lectures, most people just wanna chill out, and that's exactly what makes online focus groups such a good option. You can earn money while relaxing in bed, all wrapped up in your duvet.
So how much money can you realistically make? The answer is, well, it depends. Whilst yes it's true you could earn up to $250 for a one-hour session, the actual amount really varies based on how niche the group is. The more specific or rare your feedback, the more valuable they are and that means higher pay. Think about it, if a company is doing a study on people over six foot four inches, that's not exactly your average height.
Someone who fits that description like yours truly could earn more than someone joining a focus group about let's say chicken wing lovers because... It's way harder to find someone who towers over door frames than it is to find someone who loves Wingstop. How much time will it take?
Focus groups are usually quick, ranging from 30 minutes to a couple of hours, depending on the topic and how detailed the discussion needs to be. Right, how can you get started? There are plenty of legit focus group websites out there, but there are also some scams.
So it's important to stick with the trusted platforms. Some of the top legit sites include Respondent, user interviews, and focusgroup.com. Legit companies will never ask you for upfront payments or private information like your bank login. If something seems off, it probably is. Income stream idea three is modernizing.
boring businesses. Now everywhere you look there are lots of boring businesses quietly making money like laundromats, self-storage facilities and vending machines for example. These businesses might not seem glamorous but they're absolute gold mines. They're reliable, recession-proof and provide services people will always need.
But because they're so boring younger people overlook them therefore most of them are run by older people. This means the majority are stuck in the past with old systems. and little to no marketing. That's where you come in. With just a few modern upgrades that you can do from your laptop, you can significantly boost their profits and then take a cut for yourself.
So how much money can you realistically make? A laundromat can bring in around $300,000 a year with profit margins between 20 to 30%. Car washes can generate annual revenues of $500,000 to $900,000.
With software like Odoo, you could set up online booking for a laundromat, or automate the billing process for a self-storage facility. These upgrades save time, keep things running smoothly and make life easier for customers. Plus when the business is more efficient and customer friendly, it's bound to bring in more money. The best way to structure the deal is through a profit split.
This allows you to directly benefit from the success you bring to the business. Let's say your efforts add $50,000 to a laundromat's annual profit and you negotiate a 20% cut of that. That's $10,000 in your pocket for one client. A profit split is great as it makes sure you're incentivized to get results. And it's a good option for business owners since you only get paid if they see real growth.
So how much time will it take? Let's take a laundromat as an example. Using Odoo's accounting app, you can automate billing and track payments instantly. So you can completely get rid of their messy cash systems and paper receipts. Once you set up the service in the app, It handles invoices and payments automatically, saves them hours of work every week.
And you know what they say, time is money. Setting this up may take a few hours to a couple of days, depending on the business. But once it's done, your involvement can drop to just an hour or two a week, just to review reports or make small adjustments.
Right, how can you get started? Well, the first step is to find a boring business with potential. Look for ones that are outdated, poorly marketed or underperforming.
These are your opportunities to step in and level them up. Once you've chosen a business, you need to work out what software you're gonna use. I personally like Odoo as they're an all-in-one solution, which means you can use all their different apps to level businesses up in a variety of different areas.
Since I was planning on mentioning Odoo, I reached out to them to see if they wanted to sponsor this portion of the video. They agreed and are also giving you your first application free for life with unlimited support and hosting. So if you wanna give it a try, then...
check out the link in the description. Income stream idea four, a part-time job. Now I know a lot of you might roll your eyes at this one but hear me out.
It's one of the best ways to make money as a student while learning how the real world actually works. I think they've been in my toolkit a bit too long. I hate it when I see people turning their noses up at students working at McDonald's or in cafes. Jobs like these should be respected, not looked down on. Back in my day I was making trash cans for less than $2 an hour.
It wasn't glamorous, but it taught me resilience, responsibility, and the value of every penny I earned. Whether you believe it or not, these part-time jobs aren't just about the money. They give you the skills you'll carry forward, making you more valuable and employable in the future. My mate, Daniel Priestley, worked at McDonald's before becoming a multimillionaire. So who's to say that can't be you too?
So how much money can you realistically make? This depends heavily on the type of job you decide to get. I'd say there are three main types.
The first is a traditional part-time job. Let's stick with our McDonald's example for this one. For a part-time job as a crew member, you'd be looking at an average of $12.81 per hour according to indeed.com.
The second type is more of a specialised part-time job such as tutoring. The amount you can make varies based on what grade level you're able to teach, with the lowest being elementary school level. However, as most students will be currently studying at college level, they would probably be best suited to tutor high school kids.
The last type of job is freelancing. You can learn a remote skill like video editing, copywriting, coding or high ticket sales. With this, you can set your prices at whatever level the people are willing to pay you. So how can you get started? Well, the first thing you need is a solid CV.
Print it off. and hand it directly to local businesses. Just keep it clean.
No Friday night photos with a vape hanging out of your mouth and a beer in your hand. Income stream idea five. is selling your stuff.
Now I'll never understand how students manage to collect so much stuff and half of it, let's be honest, you don't even need. In my last video I talked about living frugally and being mindful of what you buy. What I didn't mention is how important it is to keep an eye on what you can sell.
Most of us have wardrobes full of clothes we barely wear. I bet if you went into yours right now you'd find at least five things you could sell. I'm not saying you need to sell all your pots and pans and start eating your dinner with a spanner from your toolbox. Just take a look around and see what you don't need anymore. Chances are there's money laying around your room waiting to be made.
Mind you, if you do find an old spanner you don't need, you might as well sell that as well. So how much money can you realistically make? Well, always check how much similar items are selling for before you list anything.
For example, if you've got a textbook that's still in demand. you could make at least 50% of its new price easily. But be careful, don't make the mistake my assistant Millie made. She went through a vinted phase and sold a dress for $5, but it cost her $4 to ship it.
So she ended up making just $1. So keep an eye on your shipping costs and make sure the sale is worth your time. So how much time will it take? Listing items on eBay or vinted is quick and easy.
You can snap some photos, upload them, and write a short description in minutes. The only time consuming part might be posting the items, but even that's easy enough now, as lots of local shopping centers have lock boxes where you can drop off your parcels. Right, how can you get started? Well, we've already talked about platforms like Vinted and eBay, so just pick one and set up an account. Upload some clear photos, write honest descriptions, and price your items competitively.
Once you run out of things to sell, you can ask fellow students for stuff they don't want anymore and sell it on a commission. Income stream idea six, drop shipping. Drop shipping is a modern classic when it comes to side hustles and for good reason. It's perfect for students who want to make money without the hassle of holding inventory or shipping products themselves.
With drop shipping, you set up an online store, choose products from suppliers, and when a customer makes a purchase, the supplier handles the shipping for you. This means you can run your store from your dorm room with nothing more than a laptop and a bit of creativity. So how much money can you realistically make?
Your earning potential with drop shipping depends on the products you sell and the effort you put into marketing your store. On average, profit margins are around 20 to 30%, but for high ticket items like furniture or electronics, you can make even more. If you sell a $50 product with a 25% margin, you'd make $12.50.
If you sell 100 units in a month, that's $1,250 in profit. So how much time will it take? Well, setting up your store is pretty quick if you use a tool like Build Your Store AI, which will set you up with a great free Shopify store in less than two minutes.
It just makes things so much easier. I'll drop a link in the description. It will guide you through finding winning products, and suppliers and then all you have to do is focus on your marketing. Income stream idea seven language dubbing.
Language dubbing is a fantastic way to make money by helping businesses and creators translate their content into different languages and it's something I'm having done right now. We're dubbing my YouTube videos into Portuguese, Spanish, Hindi and Japanese. Businesses need people like you, whether as a voice actor or someone who can help organize and manage the dubbing process.
So how much money can you realistically make? If you're working as a voice actor, the average hourly rate in the US is $48.17. If you're offering dubbing services by connecting voice actors to businesses, the earning potential can scale even more.
You could charge clients a flat fee or take a percentage of the... project's budget. So how much time will it take?
As a voice actor, the time commitment depends on your level of experience. If you're new, you might want to spend a few hours each week taking voice workshops or practicing your delivery. If you're managing a dubbing service, you'll need to spend time networking with businesses, connecting with voice actors and overseeing the project timeline.
So how can you get started? Platforms like Fiverr and Upwork are excellent places to upload your samples and get clients. Focus on high demand markets like Hindi, Portuguese, Spanish, and Japanese.
If you want to know what the laziest way to make money is, then I'm going to leave that video right up there, but don't click on it just yet. Make sure to subscribe if you want to grow your wealth. Okay, I'll see you over there.