Summarize the following:
The first thing you need to do is figure out what your peers want to purchase. This can include a wide variety of things. In order to do this, spend some time observing what your friends and peers buy, what is popular, and what people want. Consider making a list of popular items.  Clothes. Food. Games, toys, or collectables. Information like study guides. Services like tutoring or dog walking. Now that you’ve got an idea of what your peers would like to purchase, you need to figure out what they can and will buy from you. Needless to say, monetary constraints might be an issue. While some of your potential customers might have their own money saved up – from allowances, odd jobs, or other sources – many of them will probably be relying on money from their parents or financial aid if they’re in college. Knowing the resources of your potential customers will help inform your choice of goods or services (and help set your prices). You should consider a number of things when you picking and pricing your goods and services:  A low price means more potential customers. A larger customer base means higher profits at a lower margin. If you do pick a higher price point or more premium goods or services, make sure that the margin or markup is high enough to make it worth the fact that you’ll be relying on a much smaller pool of potential customers. You’ve got an idea of what people want, you know what your peers can spend, now you just need to narrow down the list of what you could sell. When doing this, you need to consider a few factors:  Going with a high volume, low margin product. This might include candy, food, or similar items. These are items that you won’t make too much money on, but that people will buy repeatedly from you, possibly several times a week. Picking a low volume, high margin product. This could include tennis shoes, collectables, or clothes. These are items you’ll only sell a few of, but you’ll make decent money selling them. Selling a number of things that are “hot.” There might be a new toy, game, or electronic that everyone wants for Christmas but is sold out in your area. If you have the ability and resources, you can travel to a neighboring city and purchase these products there. Then, at home, you can resell them to people at school. Offering a service, like tutoring or something similar, that will gain you reliable and repeat customers. Most people today know about the success story of Facebook. Facebook represents possibly the most successful business that was started at a school. Consider embracing this type of innovation in order to create a successful business.  Don’t limit yourself to just selling products out of your backpack. Consider selling information, like notes, test-tips, or similar services. Consider creating a webpage that offers a novel service if you’re in a school that is large enough. Now that you’ve identified your market and you know what you want to sell, you need to make sure it’s actually legal and permissible to do so before you do anything else.   If you’re offering a good or service on a college campus, you should contact the appropriate authority on campus to see if you can exchange goods or services on campus. Consider advertising at school, but exchanging money for goods or services elsewhere. This might enable you to get around any rules or regulations your college or school might have. Make sure you don’t need a business license to operate. In many places, you can do a certain amount of business (under a certain dollar figure) without actually having to apply for a business license. However, if your business is successful and you want to expand, you might need to apply for a license.
Find out what your peers want. Know the resources of your potential customers. Think about pricing in relation to your potential customers. Narrow down the list of potential products or services. Think outside the box, and consider goods or services that are novel or unique. Determine if there any rules, laws, or ordinances that might restrict your business.