While we aren’t denying the fact that when you have no experience, a degree is certainly going to help you; however, if the career you imagine for yourself doesn’t necessarily require a degree to be considered, then how will college students without degrees turn into successful entrepreneurs?
As per the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, in fact only 46 % of college students complete their degrees.
Research also reveals that college graduates from ages 25-32 annually earn $17,500 more than their non-degree counterparts.
However, given the slowly recovering job market and the soaring cost of student debt, is a college degree truly worth it?
Related: 7 Reasons Why “C” Students Become Most Successful In World
Certainly, everyone with a college education ought to value their training, but that doesn’t lessen the wealth potential of striving non-degree holders.
Peter Thiel co-founder of PayPal thinks work experience and good ideas prevail over education. To support his believes the Thiel Fellowship offers a grant of $100,000 to college dropouts and the one who postpone formal education to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.
Truth be told, you don’t need a fellowship or a degree to make money. The fact is, you can generate your own opportunities or improve the job you already have.
Here are 5 best ways we know to make money without a degree.
1. Create a unique product.
Selling ebooks and Kindle books to make money is all the rage these days, but there are many other things also available out there. The Internet is filled with premium products on personal blogs as well as corporate websites. You can join a site like Gumroad to sell your stuff; they sell books, music, films, software and more. As a matter of fact, sellers can make profits from nearly any useful or entertaining material.
Before starting selling, reflect on few issues including – how to branch out and generate new opportunities. Discuss your web redesign. Hire an editor to polish the video of your final product, afterwards, upload it to Gumroad and reap the benefits of an added revenue stream.
2. Launch a service business.
It is the easiest type of business to start. Not much overhead, and it doesn’t call for a lot of contacts or a website to get started. All you need is a valuable skill that people are willing to pay you for, time and again. Web design, social media consulting and content marketing are just a few places to start.
3. Start a consulting service.
Position yourself as a consultant by starting a consulting service and get paid to share your advice on everything from accounting to lean management. Think about business issues and how you can help solve the biggest problems faced by businesses.
Consultants enjoy the flexibility of working either by the day or for long-term. Consultants don’t require a college degree, but they would benefit from having some certifications on the tools they’re recommending.
4. Start a rental property business.
If you have enough up-front capital, you can easily start a rental property business. If you don’t really know much about how to manage a property, then team up with experienced developers or go for commercial real estate via crowd-funding opportunities. Sites like RealtyMogul.com give you access to commercial property developments for as low as $5,000.
5. Search for non-degree jobs.
There are a lot of careers that pay well and don’t call for a degree. For instance, web developers, detectives, gaming managers in casinos and even pilots don’t require a college degree but they do need certifications and training. So, before you start planning to go to school, ask yourself – do you really need that degree, and how much will that piece of paper actually advance your career.
What are your preferred ways to make money without a degree? Let us know by leaving your comments below:
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