#onlinebusiness

We live in a world where a job isn’t necessary to make money.

The minute I understood this, my life was forever changed.

Jobs are great: they give you experience, opportunities, contact with people and a good learning foundation. This is especially helpful for recent college graduates; jobs get us started in the real world, we start taking on responsibilities and our life suddenly seems to have a bit more structure and purpose to it.

So yes, jobs are great when they’re fulfilling and enjoyable.

The problems start when the job becomes a drag: the thought of work depresses you, your mood darkens, you sigh and complain. Even as college students we’ve experienced this: working part-time at a fast food restaurant/bar/supermarket isn’t the most exciting thing in the world.

So I am a big supporter of checking out other options before getting a traditional job (or never getting one). The options really do depend on each person, so why not try one out? Not only will this earn you a different set of skills useful for a future job, but you’ll also get to experience something unconventional and new. Pretty cool for a college student/grad.

Here are some possible alternatives to a job (from least to most risky):

1. Self-employment/freelancing

Instead of jumping straight into the workforce, why not try offering your services directly to clients? It could have something to do with your degree or not, it’s up to you. Self-employment and freelancing range from online tutoring, to building websites and to Ubering around. The most important is to know how to hustle and have some discipline: the money comes in only when you’re working.

Self-employment doesn’t work for everyone but it does have some pretty sweet benefits. You get to set your own hours, you can choose who to work with (maybe not always, but still) and if it’s online you get to work from anywhere!

Check out UpworkandFiverr to see what kind of services freelancers are offering. Is there anything you think you could do?

2. Build an online business

It’s amazing: starting a business has never been easier. How? With the beautiful internet. 50 years ago you needed funding, permissions and experience. Now all you need is a wifi connection, a tiny bit of money, some hustle – and you’re done. The hardest part is the hustle: willingness to learn and not giving up. As with any business, online businesses require discipline, consistency and a goal. It’s just a little easier to get started when it’s online.

Don’t have an online business idea? No worries, here are two great ones for you:

1. A blog
2. An online shop

1. Blogging really is an online business: you provide content for your readers (some kind of research) and you can earn money through affiliate sales, ads, sponsorships, etc. What you’re reading right now is from a blog/website. I treat Financially Mint like a business: I produce content, I answer comments and try to make it a good experience for the reader.
2. Online shops are another cool business idea. I tried creating one (check Money Experiment 2) and really see this is a good business venture. You basically act as the middleman connecting the product with the client. It’s called drop-shipping and can be very lucrative if done well.

Other options include Youtuber, podcaster and other forms of content production. They all require some kind of initial effort without guaranteed return (like all businesses). Not for everyone, but another cool alternative to the 9-5.

3. Travel volunteering

Don’t want a job but want to travel? You still have options. Volunteering in general is another way to live without a job.

You could either DIY it: pay for the plane ticket and see where life gets you. People have done crazy things: travel the world on a bike, camp for weeks, volunteer in exchange for accommodation and food, you name it. It’s proper ‘Into the Wild’ kind of stuff. Maybe a bit extreme, but hey I’m just laying out options.

A safer and more viable option is doing travel volunteering through agencies such as STA TravelorProjects Abroad. You basically volunteer abroad and get housing and food in exchange. It’s all monitored and it’s mostly programs for gap year students. Pretty fun.

4. Creating

If you feel you’re particularly good at creating something, why not sell it? This could be writing a book, producing music, creating art, etc. Create something, market it and sell. Once again, you’ll have to put up an initial effort with no guaranteed return, but if you get it working it could be pretty fun. Eventually you could even turn it into a proper business (but hey, only if you want to).

People who have done this are Veronica Roth (author of Divergent series) and Bret Easton (author of American Psycho). And there are tons of students who sell their art on DevianArt or promote music on Soundcloud. Turn that hobby into a money-making machine.

5. Military

It’s not actually that risky (unless you’re actually sent off to war), it’s just not an option people really think of. But it’s worth mentioning.

Maybe a year or two in the army could help you figure out what kind of job you want or what you want to do next. You may find that you want to go back to uni and study something else, or that you really like the military and want to stay. Those years in the middle will help you gain discipline and even motivation to work on what you want to do.

You’ll be earning about the same than if you were at an entry level job, plus you’ll get some good benefits by not having to pay utility bills, healthcare, etc.

Find out more info on the Army and think of your options.

6. Investing/Property investing

Related: WTF is investing?

There’s a reason why this one is at the bottom of the list: risky af. You’ll need experience and some money to get started and succeed- but it’s still an option. If you have enough for a house deposit and calculate a good cashflow, that could be enough to get started on the property market. From there you learn and you experiment: how about trying the stock market? Or dare I say cryptocurrencies?

Related: WTF is property investing?

Once again, not for everyone, but for those who like to live on the edge and don’t mind the possibility of going broke at 23, it could be an option.

What’s pretty cool about all these options listed above is that you don’t have to restrict yourself to only doing one. How about becoming a self-employed proofreader and doing some blogging on the side? Or starting a drop-shipping business and experimenting with investing? Or even getting a traditional job and just treating these as ‘side-hustles’. It’s amazing the amount of flexibility we can achieve nowadays.

The main reason I included the more unusual alternatives on the list is to show you that you really don’t have to go down the traditional path and get a normal desk job if you don’t want to. No one is forcing you to (if your parents are, tell them to give me a call). Maybe you’d be down to try out the military, or travel the world out of a backpack, or even lose all your money on the stock market. The possibilities are endless, and the world is at your feet. It’s your life and you’re young – you get to choose what to do with it.