Did you know that 10% of college students run their businesses?
College is a time of big change but it is also a time of independence and opportunity. Tuition is expensive, and classes take up a lot of time to maintain a full-time job.
So, what can you do? You can get a side hustle, where you can make your hours and dictate your terms.
One of the best side hustles out there for a college student is to become a bookie.
But, how do you do this? And, why is this being a bookie the best side hustle for you?
This is your guide.
Work From Your Dorm
One of the best perks to becoming a bookie in college is that you do not have to travel to get to your job or company. It is as easy as connecting to the internet in your dorm room.
The pandemic has changed the game when it comes to working remotely. Before it, only about 6% of Americans did so primarily.
Now, about 33% of Americans work remotely as of the end of 2020.
It is becoming more and more of a legitimate option, and in these times, it can be a major perk to not only keeping yourself healthy and socially distant but keeping your work productivity up as well.
Working from your dorm also saves you transportation time. Instead of taking up to two hours of roundtrip travel time to your job, you may not even have to leave your bed.
There could also be fewer distractions. Besides your dorm roommate, there is no one that you have to worry about distracting you from an office. You have more direct control over your work environment.
Best of all, you can dress however you want. In an office job, you have to wear a suit and tie, or a dress for the ladies. Working from a dorm, you can work in your underwear if you so desire.
Be comfortable and take advantage of work opportunities that have minimal interference of your daily routine.
Technical Support
When it comes to running a sports betting platform, you may assume it is a one-man show. Well, it does not have to be.
With sportsbooks transitioning towards the online and mobile marketplace, it requires more support for websites and apps. You may not know how to do all of that as a college student, and you do not have to.
You can hire a pay-per-head service to take care of all of your technical needs for your sportsbook. This is exactly what it sounds like, your needs are taken care of, and in return, you give a company a cut of each person that bets on your platform.
So, let’s say that you have 200 bettors place a bet within the next week with your sportsbook. The typical fee for the per head system is $10 a bettor.
You would then have to pay out $2,000 out to this company. However, in return, you might end up getting tens of thousands of dollars in bets.
So, what type of technology can you expect? The software that will keep your platform user-friendly while also making sure all of your odds change live at a moment’s notice to keep your profit margins up.
Also, the hardware and security to make sure that your website and/or app never crashes, and to keep your bettor’s personal information safe. There is also graphic design offered to create your website and customer support to help your bettors.
This not only allows you to receive professional support but also has a team behind you to prevent you from having to go about everything it takes to run a sportsbook alone.
Networking
It is hard to beat a college campus when it comes to opportunities to network. The biggest campuses have tens of thousands of students that attend one university, so that is plenty of people to have a chance to speak to.
In the beginning, it may take a while to get your sportsbook out there, and you will need some early bettors that can vouch for your company, keep your early business months sustainable, and help spread the word.
A college campus gives you plenty of chances to do that, because it is essentially having younger people out on their own for the first time in one bubble, with the commonality of being around the same age, having new independence, high tuition, and taking classes.
So, you can talk to your roommate, talk to people in your dorm building, your classes, and even clubs or sports teams to get the word out about your sportsbook. You can even give some sports betting tips to your peers if you are feeling generous to reel them in.
Yes, you may have some initial setbacks of 21 being the legal age to gamble, but there is still almost half of the student population left to work with there.
About 19% of people that are 18 and older bet on sports. Of those, 50% of the bettors are between 18-34. So, your odds increase going after a college audience, and you may have a uniquely interesting product to offer them.
On top of this, if you tell people in college that you run your own business, it can lead to expanded social and business networking opportunities around campus.
Choose Your Hours
Let’s face it. In college, you want to be flexible, especially with your potential class schedule.
You could have a class at 10 a.m. on Mondays and 7 p.m. on Tuesdays. So, working a 9-5 job or a 5-1 job may not be able to work for you because of your class schedule.
With tuition costs and the pursuit of your degree, your classes come first, and most students try to work around that when trying to get a job that will help pay the bills or give them some extra pocket money.
Well, with being a bookie, you can make your own hours. This is not the type of business that will make you sit or be in one place for specific hours of the day.
In this business, the needs change, so that gives you the flexibility of not having to be around at a certain time. Of course, the disadvantage to running your own book is that you may need to solve a problem right at that moment and work extra hours that no one is paying you to do.
Whether it is networking to get new bettors on your platform, checking in with technical support to make sure there are no issues, managing your books and finances, or marketing your sportsbook online, you have the option to knock these tasks out whenever you deem fit.
Gain Business Experience
At the age of 18, there are not a lot of regular companies that will offer you a job that puts you on top of the food chain. Running a sportsbook, however, does just that.
With this, you get to be THE boss. You will learn through trial and error about what that truly entails.
Most kids at the college level will be doing things such as becoming a RA, working in their recreation center, working at a clothing store, electronics store, amusement park, or a restaurant. At best, most will have an entry-level position or perhaps a supervisor role.
Running a sportsbook takes a little more guts. It does require you to put up your own startup money, and your decisions about how to run this company can and will impact whether you turn a profit or lose your hard-earned money.
It is not for the faint of heart, especially when potentially facing paying off your tuition. However, if done right, becoming a bookie will allow you to achieve a higher reward than your peers, and put that money you earn away and build towards the future.
Industry on the Rise
Finally, sports betting as a whole is a growing industry. The betting market is anticipated to double in the next five years.
With sports betting getting more and more accessible whether it is through legality, or more sportsbooks being created for websites and mobile apps, more people are buying into the idea of betting on sports.
Canada is currently working on making betting easier by trying to change the law that restricts betting to parlays only and allows single-betting. As for the US, more and more states are legalizing this, and all 50 states could have sports betting legal soon.
Become a Bookie
College is one of the biggest stages of your life. While it is important to focus on your classes and get your degree, a side hustle while doing this can be a good life skill.
Are you ready to become a bookie? Contact us and get a six-week free today!