What Do College Kids Need?

Owning a bar or a restaurant is extremely demanding work. You really work all hours and can't take a vacation, unless you hire help.

Something you could do parttime from home is offer paid tutoring services to both the college kids and the local high schools. Either tutor the kids yourself, or arrange, for a fee, to match up a tutor with a student. You can recruit tutors and students.

Or, you could open a sex toy shop. Free condoms with any purchase.

 

Start a porn rental service like Jared from Subway.

 

I've always thought that for gigantic college campuses with weak bus service, a taxi service that charges cheaply would be fantastic.

Miss the 10:12 bus to that 10:15 class that's a 15-minute walk from the dorm? Want to get the hot chick home and keep the party going all night? Who won't fork over a buck or two?

 

I don't know a cab driver who doesn't carry a gun, so there's another consideration in overhead.

 

A million times yes.

 

Any place with a dollar menu. Late-night eateries.

There are no more Burger Kings in East Lansing because the one they did have open was not open past 11 p.m. Funny how the McDonalds across the street always had a line out the door.

Qdoba, Chipotle and Subway also close early... so everyone went to the local burritto place and Jimmy Johns.

There were also a couple diners that opened and failed. So someone opened up an express Coney Island, cheap salads, dogs, burgers and pitas. Place is always packed despite being across from Taco Bell which has a line out the door every weekend night.

 

Open a bar and call it something like "The Book Store" so kids can put everything on the credit cards their parents gave them and convince them the money being spent there each semester is on school supplies.

 

Dang it. I just reopened my laptop to post this.

Mustang's on to something. Franchise food joints could do no wrong in my college town (Gainesville, mid-aughts), even the ones that close at 10 p.m. There was a Marble Slab right across the street from a Cold Stone -- two vendors of the same specialty dessert -- and both did good business.

A Jiffy Lube may not be a bad idea, either.

 

Guy I work with works a second job at a 99 (along the lines of a Chilis,TGI Fridays, ect). No shots, no college kids (for the most part) and makes almost in much in 3 days as we do in our regular media jobs. He takes home two incomes because he has a wife and kid at home, no real drama. I was saying you could always work at a bar/restaurant type. I got a job with a caterer. You hustle, but the pay is great.

I concur with the cheap food thoughts. Burritos, burgers, sausages, or a vegan place where hippies can hang out. Put in some Wi-Fi, charge $3.50 for juice smoothies, and make some tofu burgers and you're good to go.

 

commercial cleaning businesses always show up among top franchise opportunities

 

harder to get contracts than you think in this economy. I had such a business until last year, when I lost my contracts. The companies decided to do it in-house, rather than outsource. There is also a pretty good start up cost, insurance and licensing. Then you have to decide if you want to do floors (stripping and waxing), which is a pain in the ass, but decent money, and carpets, which a basic machine will start $2500.

 

1 Book buy-back business. Resale books to students the next semester. Under cut the bookstore's prices for used books, and offer more for their buy-backs than the bookstore.

2 On that same note, anything used from graduating students, or students leaving for the summer that you can sell the next fall: ie mini fridges, lofts for dorm rooms or desks.

3 Or a sandwich delivery shop.