Many students have family members who own small businesses in the area and make a profit from them. It has been a popular thing for a while now for students to find things they enjoy making and start selling them for a profit instead of just doing them as a hobby or for fun. Products can vary from bracelets, custom socks, custom phone cases, lanyards, and much more.

A number of students report selling their products online because they know they can reach more people and advertise their products. Senior Jamie Grant sells cards. She explains that it started as a hobby that she did with her family for birthdays or family gatherings, but eventually just began making them for other people. Eventually, she started a Facebook page where she sells them to other people for a profit.

For her, it’s a little bit of a struggle to make a huge profit. Jamie explains, “Most customers do buy in bulk and I would love to be able to make my prices lower when they buy more product, but I still have to pay the same amount for supplies because I can not buy them in bulk. But I make my prices pretty low compared to Hallmark or any other card brand you would buy at the store. I can also make them very fast so if someone needed one for a birthday last minute I can have it delivered or they could pick it up the same day.”

In terms of selling and safety, Jamie says, “Every one of my customers is either one of my friends or one of my mom’s friends or someone we know through church. If it’s someone that I do not know, then it is always at least a friend of one of our friends, so it is most likely safe to deliver to if my friend knows them. And if I don’t know them, then I will have someone go with me and I will never go alone.

She uses the money that she makes to buy more supplies.  Social Media also plays a huge role in spreading business to other people so they can share it to other people and hopefully reach sponsors or advertisers who would like to sponsor their product and also make a profit from it. Students are finding different and more creative ways to start selling their creations.