If you're a student looking to make some extra cash, the idea of earning your first $10,000 can seem like a daunting task. But the truth is, it's more achievable than you might think. In this in-depth blog post, I'm going to share the exact steps I took to make my first $10,000 as a student, even when I had no money and no qualifications to my name.
The Mindset Shift That Changed Everything
When I was 18 years old, I had big ambitions but no idea how to turn them into reality. I was broke, stressed, and stuck in a never-ending cycle of living paycheck to paycheck. That all changed when I made a simple mindset shift: instead of worrying about making millions, I set myself the more achievable goal of making $10,000.
Now, as a self-made millionaire, I can tell you that first $10,000 was the hardest to make. But once I hit that milestone, everything changed. It wasn't just about the money – it was about proving to myself that making money is a skill, not just luck. Once I figured out how to make $10,000 once, I knew I could do it again and again, and eventually scale it into real wealth.
So if I had to start from zero and make that first $10,000 all over again, this is exactly how I would do it in three steps.
The Four Best Ways to Make Your First $10,000 as a Student
Most people make this way harder than it needs to be. They jump into crypto because their friend made money from it, or they try day trading because some guru promised it would make them rich. The problem is, both of these methods require huge upfront cash reserves and crazy luck. These are side hustles, and they should never be seen as your main source of income.
Instead, you need to focus on something that requires a small amount of money to begin with and constantly puts cash in your pocket every day. When you strip away all the noise, there are really only four main options:
- Selling in-person services
- Selling local products
- Selling global products
- Selling online services
I've tried all of these, and let me tell you, the choice is crucial because some options offer higher scalability while others are more limited. In the same way, some generate quick cash while others take more time to make money.
Option 1: Selling In-Person Services
You've probably heard of these before – personal training, delivery driving, dog walking, nail designing, barbering, videography, and so many more. Although these services sound so common and basic, they're actually one of the fastest ways to make money, so don't overlook them.
The great thing about in-person services is that they give you a way to get paid immediately. It's also pretty cheap to get started – all you need is some skills and maybe a few tools, which means you can get up and running very quickly.
When I was in my teens, I used to walk around rich neighborhoods and offer to wash people's cars. I'd look out for tidy gardens but dirty vehicles, betting that if they were obsessed over keeping their garden tidy, they'd also want a nice shiny car on their driveway to impress their neighbors.
The downside of in-person services is that they're limited by your local area, so your demand can be pretty up and down. Some months were busy, and others I struggled to make anything. And when I was busy, I was only able to work with one person at a time, which kept how much I could make in a day.
So in-person services are great to get started with, but you can quickly feel like they're limiting your potential.
Option 2: Selling Local Products
This is selling things like home-baked goods, handmade items, artwork, fresh produce, and much more. This can be a great way to make money, but it's not something that happens overnight.
Unlike services where you get paid as soon as the job's done, selling local products takes time. I gave this a go using some of the profits from my car washing business. I bought some cheap model playing parts, then spent some time building each one up, and then sold them to people at the RC Flying Club, which I went to on the weekends.
However, I quickly realized I was putting a lot of work in for very little money. This was hard for me to come to terms with because I really enjoyed building them. Most of my earnings were being eaten up by the cost of materials, and on top of that, my customer base was very limited as there weren't enough people willing to pay what I needed to make it worth my time.
So selling local products can be fun, and it's definitely worth it if you want to make some money from something you love. But it's not the fastest or most scalable option.
Option 3: Selling Global Products
This includes starting a clothing brand, drop shipping, sneaker reselling, print on-demand, and so much more. Unlike in-person services or local products, going global means you have access to a much larger customer base, which gives you more opportunities to make money.
I was so excited about launching my own global products. I even flew all the way to China to partner with a manufacturer to produce my model airplane designs and sell them worldwide. Of course, you don't have to do this if you choose to go down the drop shipping or print on-demand routes.
However, this wasn't really an option when I started. If I'm honest, things started off pretty slowly for me because I had to keep reinvesting my profits back into new products to sell. Every sale required more investment. Instead of pocketing the profits, my money kept getting trapped in this endless cycle of restocking.
Ultimately, was it worth it? 100%. However, you should only do this if you have the patience to wait one to three months for everything to start kicking off. So when this is up and running, it is probably the most passive, laziest way to make money that actually works.
Option 4: Selling Online Services
This option combines the two biggest benefits from the in-person services and global products. You get the global reach, but the profit margins of a service. With products, you might make 20 to 30% margin that needs to be reinvested. With services, you are looking at 70 to 80% margins that go straight into your pocket, plus you can start making money from day one.
Look, all of these are fantastic ways to make $10,000 as a student, especially these last two options. However, if I wanted to start making money as fast as possible, then I'd go with option four: selling online services.
The Four Elements of a High-Income Online Service
So now we need to figure out exactly what online service to offer. Start by asking yourself three questions:
- What are you really good at?
- What do you enjoy learning about?
- What problems do businesses consistently struggle with?
The sweet spot is where your answers overlap. Most people get stuck at this stage as they spend months or even years trying to perfect their skill before offering it to anyone. That is totally backwards. You need to start getting real-world experience as quickly as possible.
So start by setting your prices under the normal market rate. Your main aim here is to earn and learn at the same time.
Now, let's take this one step further. There are four key elements that, when mastered together, transform a high-income skill into a $10,000 income. Miss just one, and you'll stay stuck at the bottom, working hard but never breaking through.
Element 1: Positioning
Not all online services are equal. The real money is in offering to help businesses make more money. That's because businesses think about money differently than individuals. When a business is making $50,000 a month, spending $2,000 to solve a problem isn't a big deal as long as it helps them make more money.
And take it from me, they have a lot of these problems. They need more customers, better systems, to stand out from their competition, and to convert more leads into sales. These problems never go away, and businesses are always willing to pay to solve them.
On top of this, some industries simply have more money to spend than others. And if you think about how you can reposition yourself, you'll start making real money faster.
For example, instead of being a video editor for small YouTubers, you could edit videos for an entrepreneur who sells a product. If you make random thumbnails for clients, you could instead aim to become the main designer for an established creator. And if you're a copywriter, don't write cheap articles – focus on optimizing landing pages.
This isn't about learning more skills; it's about putting yourself where the money's being made.
Element 2: Leverage
You'll never make $10,000 without leveraging value over time. Businesses don't pay for effort; they pay for results. If you stop charging for the hours you work and instead for the return on investment you provide, you'll instantly make more money.
Let's say you choose to run Facebook ads. If you charge per hour, you are stuck with a fixed rate, and the client will always want to keep your hours low. But if you charge based on the money you bring in for the business, suddenly they're not thinking about cost; they're thinking about profit. And when they see that your work is directly making them money, they'll happily pay you more for it.
The same goes for if you decide to offer social media management. If you just schedule posts and reply to comments, you are replaceable. But if you can prove that your strategy is bringing in more engagement, more leads, and more sales, you become a valuable asset, not just an expense.
Trust me, the moment you shift your pitch from what you do to what they gain, you'll find a lot of people are suddenly willing to pay a lot more.
Element 3: Reach
One of the biggest mistakes people make when starting out is thinking they always have to chase clients, but that's not how the game should be played. Right from the start, you need to be thinking about how to make clients come to you.
Recently, I was looking for a graphic designer for a specific task, making movie-style posters. So the first thing I did was look on TikTok for people who made these kinds of designs, and one person dominated the search results. So I reached out to him and asked him for his prices. He told me he was just posting some of his designs for fun on TikTok – he wasn't even doing it as a side hustle, so he politely declined.
However, his videos kept growing in popularity, and his inbox was flooded with DMs asking to work with him. A few weeks later, he reached back out to me, asking how to start getting paid. I helped him set up a proper business, and now he works for me and many other clients.
This just goes to show that you should always be putting your work out there online, even if you're just starting out or just doing something because you enjoy it. You never know what opportunities might come from it.
Element 4: Automation
95% of people who tried to start a side hustle or business fail before they even really get going. Here's why: After working with countless copywriters, thumbnail designers, web developers, and video editors, I can tell you that 95% of them promised to deliver on time, then completely missed their deadlines.
The thing that will make you stand out the most isn't talent or charisma; it's reliability. And overlooking this is the biggest mistake young people make when starting out.
The most successful people I know don't rely on memory or messy notes. They use automation. And if you're thinking about making money online, you need something to help you keep track of everything.
That's why I recommend using a CRM system like Odoo CRM. It helps you remember who you talk to, what they wanted, and what you need to do next. Instead of scrolling through emails or DMs trying to find what the client said, everything is in one place.
You can use it to easily track your clients and projects, so you never miss a deadline. You can set reminders to follow up with people, so you always look professional. At the end of the day, clients don't just want someone skilled; they want someone they can count on.
Turning Your $10,000 Into Real Wealth
I don't care how much money you make. Until you see at least $1 million in your bank, you shouldn't be wasting it. The supercars, the designer clothes, the nights out – none of it matters unless you can turn your income into long-term wealth.
The rich see their income as something to spend, whereas the wealthy use it to make more money. So how do you do this? Well, you need to start investing. I'm going to walk you through the four key areas where I put my money, starting from the safest investments all the way up to the highest-risk plays.
High-Interest Savings Account
They call it a high-interest savings account, but honestly, at 3%, I have no idea how to get away with that name. Now, sure, you can find better rates if you're willing to lock your money away for a set period or agree to strict deposit limits each month, but I don't want my savings held hostage. I want access to my money when I need it, not stuck behind some rule that says I can only withdraw on the first Tuesday of every leap year.
Having some cash on the sidelines means you're not forced to sell investments at the wrong time. Imagine the market crashes, and you suddenly need money for an emergency. If you don't have cash saved up, you'll have no choice but to sell stocks at a loss, and that's the fastest way to lock in a bad decision.
Index Funds
Have you ever heard the saying, "It only takes the price of a coffee a day to become a millionaire"? Well, that's down to index funds and ETFs. I've made a lot of money from simple long-term index fund investing, and as an added benefit, it's extremely low maintenance.
There are tons of different index funds and ETFs, but the most popular is the S&P 500, which is 503 of the top publicly traded companies in America, all packed into one easy investment. Even though this is the biggest index fund in my portfolio by percentage, I do also invest in a total stock market fund like VTSAX for US investors or the VWRL ETF for UK investors.
Additionally, I think it's important to have some money invested in an emerging market index fund like the VWO for US investors or the VFEM ETF for UK investors.
Individual Stocks
This is where things get exciting. Individual stocks can be a great way to start investing, especially with smaller amounts of money. They allow you to get hands-on experience with the market in a way that index funds don't.
When I first started, I really enjoyed picking stocks and learning how to read a company's financial statements. Honestly, if I hadn't actually invested my own money, I doubt I'd ever have been motivated to understand how it all worked.
Of course, individual stocks also come with higher risk, but if you're only investing a small amount, it can be a useful way to learn how the market moves without putting too much at stake.