Student Side Hustle

By: Devynn Brown

Who knew a black Jansport backpack could do so much. Binder, check. Unused textbook, check. Pencil bag full of cash check. Temporary pop up shop in second period, check.

When you need a little extra cash… you get a side hustle. Many students on campus have mini businesses all through a duffel bag or backpack. Jobs include selling something as simple as chips all the way to tutoring lessons.

“When there is a consumer, there are always people to supply.”

Pop up shop of chips

One of the most common items sold are chips. A student said they got started into selling chips because they “needed a job and money in the time being.” They saw other students on campus selling items and realized selling chips was was and students loved them. The job is only temporary, but makes a good profit of about $100 a week.

Another student sells soda and got inspired to sell by all the other profitable on campus sellers. The profit varies from $30 a day or $30 a week. The student realized that “hard work pays off.”

On the sweet side, a student sells cookies and brownies. The variety ranges from chocolate chip, sugar cookies, and wild macadamia nut. The price is $1 per 3 cookies or for one brownie. The profit varies but on average about $48 daily. The money earned is going to be, “saved up for a car.” The student got started into selling because they are too young and too busy balancing sports and academics. “Since I’m at school, I can sell around here and make money that way.” The only downfall of selling cookies/brownies is spending around two hours baking and bagging the goods. The student learned from this experience that, “saving money is hard and that the harder you work on something, the more money you can receive.” A future tip for interested sellers is “keep your hands clean and make sure your prices are fair.”

Another student sells cookies and for the sole purpose of saving up money for a Christian Mission Trip. The student last year sold for “personal gain, but this year they(cookies) are being sold for a fundraiser to my mission trip to the Dominican Republic. So I’ve been making cookies trying to make up the difference. The profit made goes to the fund of the mission’s trip.” The student makes around $40 to $50 daily. The base value is $5 a dozen and varieties include chocolate chip, peanut butter, double chocolate chip, and pumpkin. As the job is profitable it is also time consuming and consists of 2-3 hours of preparation. The job will most likely be continued even after the mission trip has passed, because “it’s always good to have cash on you.”

Bailey Nelson ’22 took the side hustle to a more academic side by selling tutoring lessons. Nelson tutors all the way from math 1 to math 3 along with biology. The price is $15 an hour and can be done in person or $10 for face time tutoring. The overall average is $50 and 3-4 hours per week. Nelson got motivated to start her side hustle when her friends kept encouraging her to be a math tutor. Nelson is available to schedule a lesson through Instagram or at school. She also will be continuing this side hustle throughout high school and possibly college. Nelson has learned from this overall experience that, “I want to be a teacher. Helping kids is really fun. When you finally help someone to understand a subject is really nice. Being able to speak on the kids level and get to talk with them and interact with them has really made me realize that I want to be a teacher.”

Kendall Ipema ’20 sells clothes for teenage girls through an Instagram profile account. The price for clothing items is lower than $10 because “as high schoolers we don’t have a lot of money. So we don’t want to pay too much for clothes.” Ipema noticed a lot of other people selling clothes through Instagram accounts and decided to start one of her own. Ipema has learned from this experience that, “selling clothes on Instagram is a lot easier than you think and that you really have to set rules otherwise people could take advantage of you.”

Adrian Villagomez’20 works at Blaze Pizza. Villagomez walked in one day and asked for a job application and five minutes later he got a call asking for an interview. A week after the interview he got the job. Villagomez wanted the job because he “needed money.” Villagomez feels that as a senior he doesn’t have a whole lot of work to do and can balance having a job. He gives a lot of time to this job, “enough to give gray hair.” The job is benefiting because the money helps with family and buying gas. He says that people should come to Blaze Pizza and “have a pizza that can be modified to however you want. It feeds your tummy and gives me money.” Advice he would give to a person interested in a job is to “apply for many and during the interview brag about yourself. Be confident in who you are. Be a loving person and let them (owners) know you really want the job.”

Hopefully all these dedicated students have inspired you to think beyond school/work life and possibly get a side hustle. For people interested in adopting a side hustle make sure you have the time and are dedicated to both your jobs. Keep up the hustle students!