Hello Entrepreneur: Six success-bound startup ideas

We hope you’ve enjoyed our articles on startups so far this year. This week, we teamed up with Save The Student to provide ideas on how to start up a university business at Warwick. Whether you’re looking to add startup experience and gain a whole host of skills, our list of examples of Warwick students who have taken the plunge and started something on their own will inspire you.

1. Start a YouTube channel

You can earn money from YouTube videos by sharing a slice of the ad revenue. It could be reviews or guides related to your course subject, or pick any topic that really fascinates you (games, comedy and music do particularly well). You can run some ads and often blag freebies, and further down the line you could even stream pay-per-view vids if you get enough subscribers. At Warwick, you’ll find YouTubers who have both an extremely large international following, as well as more niche and growing subscriber bases. For inspiration check out ‘Mrwhosetheboss’, a tech review channel by third-year Economics student, Arun Maini. He has amassed over 300,000 subscribers and uploads reviews on smartphones, top mobile apps to download, new quirky gadgets and even personal interaction videos, such as Draw My Life.

You can also check out makeup products review channel ‘Farah and Sonali’, started by two third year students who post frequently on Instagram and YouTube. Their aim is to find both budget-friendly drugstore products and topline makeup that enable you to create looks for various occasions.

2. Start your own blog

Start a blog. Make your uni ramblings as engaging and insightful as you can (it helps to provide a few laughs and be opinionated). Once you have a good following, you can start hosting ads on your site for payment, or even write advertorials for brands. Student blogs at Warwick range from personal sites to writing collectives, such as The Vocal Hub, which was started by Aisha Zahid and Jamie Lee Jenkins; two current second-year students who host a current affairs and lifestyle blog that students can contribute to. Other independent blogs worth gaining inspiration from include The Thought Project, by third-year PPE student Nicola End, and that of ex Boar Editor-in-Chief, Hiran Adhia.

3. Use and develop existing skills by freelancing

Freelance: Whether it’s related to your current course or your dream career, offer your skills to peeps who need web design, illustration, writing or admin support. You’ll also get amazing experience on your CV. Third-year computer science student Aaron Conway is a freelance web and brand designer, who has helped rebrand WarwickRAW this year. Journalists at the Boar freelance for Huffington Post, The Telegraph, The Independent, Save The Student, Debut Careers and South China Morning Post, to name a few. You can also become an independent freelance photographer, to be hired for society events, take Linda Nagy, ex-Warwick student as an example.

4. Create a platform for swapping goods

Create a swaps site that matches owners with lenders: think clothes, services, bikes or books – or maybe one that matches students who want to see the UK with those who live in other towns. The book-swapping startup, Fetch, was started last year by a group of WBS students. It helps students and societies sell course books to other students, and also assists in finding books available.

5. Figure out how to get cheap, good food to students

Start a home-made smoothie or sandwich business for local firms: they phone you their orders in the morning and you deliver on the dot at lunchtime. Student initiatives such as Noodle House, Teamisu and Chai-Desi have all started up at Warwick in the past, hoping to provide quick food and dessert to students craving something different. Startups such as Frecibo aim to capitalise on this and start a food delivery service on campus. They have already launched and are taking deliveries now.

6. Start or take over a magazine at Warwick

Start a magazine about your uni subject and get other students, tutors and guest experts to write for it too. You could charge local businesses to advertise – the money might not start rolling in instantly but it’s a good project to invest in and will look great on your CV. Many societies already have magazines which are active, so it may be worth joining up as an editor in order to put your ideas into practice. Alternatively, you could start your very own magazine in partnership with the university. Most recently, Cognoscenti Magazine has been set up by students in conjunction with the Psychology department. If your department is fairly new, you could partner up with societies that don’t have publications, as well as academic departments that may be interested in putting advertisements in your new publication.