Listen to this articleBelow is our recent interview with James Clark, Director at Student Sidelines:
Q: Could you provide our readers with a brief introduction to Student Sidelines?
A: It is a website that shows young adults how to start a Side business (or Sideline) that will help pay for college. The courses guide students through five stages of business development, from Developing a Sideline idea, to Getting Ready to launch, to Growing the business.
Q: What is the story behind Student Sidelines? How did you start?
A: 10 years after losing my leg in high school, due to an unavoidable accident, I had completed a doctoral program in Management – in spite of initially not having enough money to even begin college. Quickly, I learned how to create simple “side jobs” where I could limit and manage my time, and let the market decide how much to pay me. Over time, my Sidelines became more fun because I figured out how to use the talents of helpers so I could earn good money in no more than 8 hours a week.
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Q: Can you give us insights into your courses?
A: There are 5 skill-oriented courses about Sidelines, each of which can be purchased separately, and completed online with your cell phone. Each course has an optional “competency test” that is applied toward a Certificate for course credit, resumes, college or professional applications, and professional credentialing. They begin with Developing a Sideline idea from our Sideline Preference Indicator. The second course helps learners get ready to launch, and the remaining 3 courses involve: launch, running the business, and growing it.
Q: Can you share a few successful stories?
A: Mary is a high school junior. She starts a student tutoring service and quickly discovers there is a huge need. She retains 10 high performance classmates to also do tutoring in her program, where she manages the website and screening and retains part of the fees for each session. At $15 per session, Mary retains $5 from each session, with her fellow 10 tutors each doing 10 sessions a week. She garners $1500 a week for 8 hours of work. She intends to continue the business in college.
Billy is a college sophomore. He helps small businesses design and launch their websites using Word Press. Initially he meets with clients in person, but after launching his own website and receiving reviews, Billy does all of his design work virtually. He nets $450 for each site, which requires about 8 hours of time, spread over four weeks. He can handle 4 clients at a time in his eight available hours per week.
Sandy is a college freshman. She notices that many of her neighbors have messy, overstuffed garages and offers to separate and organize the contents with 2-4 helpers, during two-hour time slots on weekends. Word spreads quickly among the neighbors, so she nets $200 for each cleaning and can do 2 cleanings each Saturday or Sunday. She likes managing people and making home owners happy.
Q: Is it really possible for teens to start a side business of their own?
A: Absolutely. As with anything, people do better with information and skill training. The site is set up to provide both. The stories provide both inspiration and encouragement for young adults to give it a shot.
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Q: What are your plans for the future?
A: We intend to offer both a paperback version of the site content, to be sold through Amazon. Also, we will offer regional summer courses to help young adults develop and launch Sidelines.
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