Do THIS to Make $10,000 as a Student

When Marcus started his second year of college, he had $82 in his bank account and a part-time cafeteria job that barely covered his phone bill. His textbooks alone cost more than he made in a month.

The pressure wasn’t just financial. He came from a family that had already sacrificed a lot to get him there... his parents worked two jobs each to keep the lights on at home. Marcus wanted to help, but as a full-time student, he felt stuck between school and survival.

Then one cold evening, while scrolling through his phone, he stumbled upon a simple but life-altering idea: “Find a problem, solve it for people, and charge for it.”

It sounded obvious. But it hit Marcus hard. Up until then, he’d been looking for jobs, not solutions.

Spotting the Opportunity

Marcus noticed something that had been staring him in the face for months. On his campus, many students struggled with resume building, job applications, and interview prep. Career workshops were either too generic or poorly attended.

Marcus had always been good at crafting resumes... he’d helped his older sister land her first internship in high school, and friends often came to him for editing advice.

The lightbulb moment came when his roommate said, “If I could just pay someone to make my resume look like yours, I would.”

Marcus grabbed a notebook and scribbled:

Service: Custom Resume and Job Application Help.

Start Small, Start Cheap

He didn’t have a website or marketing budget. So he started where he was... with his classmates. He created a simple one-page flyer on his laptop, offering:

Custom resumes – $25

Cover letters – $15

Interview prep sessions – $20/hour

The next day, he printed ten copies at the campus library and posted them on bulletin boards. He also shared a post on his private student group chat:

“Need a killer resume or interview help? I’ll make sure you stand out to employers. Fast turnaround. Affordable.”

By that weekend, he had his first three clients.

Deliver More Value Than Expected

Marcus didn’t just send them a plain document. He researched job postings, tailored each resume to the specific role, and gave free tips on networking.

One client told a friend, and that friend told two more. Within two weeks, Marcus had served 12 students and made $360... more than he made in three weeks at the cafeteria.

But he didn’t stop there.

Scale Up

Marcus realized he was trading time for money. If he wanted to reach his goal of $10,000, he needed to make his service more scalable.

He created three resume templates that looked modern and professional. Then, he started offering them as a cheaper, instant option for students who couldn’t afford custom work.

DIY Resume Kit – $10 (template + step-by-step guide)

Premium Service – $40 (custom resume + cover letter)

This was the turning point. The DIY kits could be sent instantly via email, meaning he could make money while studying, eating, or even sleeping.

Leverage the Power of Referrals

Marcus offered a simple deal:

“Refer a friend, and you both get $5 off your next service.”

Suddenly, his inbox exploded. Students from other departments... people he’d never met... were reaching out. Some were seniors applying for grad school, others were looking for part-time jobs.

By mid-semester, Marcus had made over $2,000.

Go Where the Demand Is

One Friday, while helping a business major with her resume, she mentioned her brother’s high school friends were struggling with college applications.

Marcus immediately saw another market. That weekend, he created a new flyer targeting high school seniors in the area, offering application essay help and resume building for scholarships.

He reached out to local community centers and asked if he could leave his flyers in their career corners. Several agreed.

This opened the door to an entirely new client base... parents willing to pay more for their children’s success.

Treat It Like a Real Business

By the start of the next semester, Marcus had:

A simple website with testimonials

A basic booking calendar

A PayPal and Venmo account for payments

He set income goals each month. Instead of thinking “I need $10,000,” he broke it down:

$10,000/year = about $834/month. That was roughly 21 custom resume orders, or 84 DIY kits, or a mix of both.

When he saw the math, it no longer felt impossible.

Automate and Outsource

At around $6,000 in total earnings, Marcus was swamped. Between classes, client meetings, and actually delivering the work, he was stretched thin.

That’s when he brought in help. A graphic design student helped improve his templates. An English major proofread resumes and essays for grammar. Marcus paid them per project but still kept a healthy margin.

Now, Marcus could focus on marketing, building partnerships, and upselling premium packages instead of spending all night formatting bullet points.

Hit the $10,000 Goal

By the end of his sophomore year, Marcus had officially earned $10,380 from his side business.

It wasn’t just the money. It was the confidence. He’d gone from a broke student hoping for extra shifts at the cafeteria to someone who created his own source of income.

The Lessons Marcus Learned

Start with a skill you already have. You don’t need to learn something brand new... just identify what you’re already good at and package it as a service.

Charge fairly but know your worth. Marcus started cheap but raised prices as demand grew.

Think in systems, not single sales. DIY kits, referral programs, and partnerships made his income consistent.

Invest in tools that save time. A booking page, templates, and help from others allowed him to scale.

Break big goals into small steps. $10,000 a year sounds huge until you break it into monthly, weekly, and daily targets.

Marcus still runs his resume business part-time. Now in his final year of college, he’s on track to graduate debt-free... and he’s mentoring other students on starting their own income streams.

When people ask him how he did it, he says:

“Don’t wait for a job to find you. Create something that solves a problem, and the money will follow.”

Moral of the Story

Financial independence as a student doesn’t come from luck... it comes from taking action with the skills you already have. If you can solve a problem for someone, you can earn from it. The earlier you start, the sooner you’ll realize you don’t have to wait for graduation to change your bank account... you can start now, right where you are.