Most Likely To Succeed The 9 best businesses to start from your dorm.

The days when college students split their time between studyingand flipping burgers at the local fast-food joint are over. Insteadof serving up fries for minimum wage, college students are makingsome serious cash running businesses right out of their own dormrooms. And who can blame them? There's no overhead, Mom and Dadoften foot the bills and there's direct access to thousands ofcustomers. College used to be considered the training ground fortomorrow's managers and corporate execs, but now it'sbecoming the place to get hands-on experience in businessownership. Here's a look at the top nine businesses you canstart from your dorm room.

Frances Huffman is a freelance writer and publisher/editorof U: The National College Magazine, based in LosAngeles.

Web-Site Developing

Companies are stumbling over each other in the race to get onthe Web, but many corporate execs are still in the Dark Ages whenit comes to high-tech. College students have a tremendous advantagein the computer arena: They get free access to their schools'computer labs--which usually have some of the most up-to-dateequipment.

Charles Strader and his two roommates, Richard Skelton and PabloMondal, all 21-year-old seniors at Boston University, got wiredinto entrepreneurship when they were sophomores in 1996. That'swhen the partners, who worked in the school's computer center,fielded a call from a local hair salon that wanted help launching aWeb site. Using their own computers and the computer center'sscanners, the trio launched the site--and their own business, NetOne--from their off-campus apartment.

"It was great," says Strader. "We were able touse our own computers and shareware graphics programs so our costswere near zero." The site really made the grade, and sincethen, the Net One crew has worked on about 50 sites for feesranging from $300 to $35,000. With the addition of a secondWeb-site design business, Digital Commerce Laboratories, launchedin partnership with another local company, the students expect tocash in to the tune of about $83,000 in 1998.

Club Promotions

If anybody has the energy to go clubbing 'til dawn--then hitcampus for an early-morning class--it's college students.That's why so many college students are starting businesses asclub promoters. Working with local club owners, students promotethe clubs by handing out fliers and coupons of the "get infree before 10 p.m." variety.

To make it as a club promoter, you've got to know the clubscene, and serious schmoozing is a requirement. The more people youknow, the better chance you'll have of getting a big draw atthe door. Most promoters get a percentage of the take at the door,so in a single evening, students can rake in several hundreddollars.

Promoting also means a lot of late nights--once you'vegotten people in the door, you've got to work the room andentice them to go to your next club event. Start-up costs areminimal, but you need lots of charisma to convince club owners youcan host an event and bring people in.

Tutoring

To start a tutoring business, you've really got to know yourstuff. But if you're a whiz at math or tops in your Frenchclass, why not impart that knowledge to your fellowstudents . . . for a fee, of course. Tutorscharge anywhere from $5 to $15 per hour, depending on the regionand the subject matter. Highly technical subjects command higherrates than liberal arts subjects, and students in majormetropolitan areas generally charge more than their ruralcounterparts. Students who tutor in required subjects such asEnglish or math often enjoy the greatest success, because everystudent has to pass those courses to earn a degree.

To advertise your service, place a classified ad in the schoolpaper, put up fliers around campus or create your own Web site.Your Web site or fliers might offer something like "10 Tips toPass English 101" for free, and include your phone number forprivate tutoring.

Resume Writing

Graduation day used to be the day students started thinkingabout getting jobs. No more. These days, students have to startthinking about landing "real jobs" from the minute theyenter college. What all that job-hunting means for entrepreneurs issure-fire success with a resume-writing business.

Helping students create professional, eye-catching resumes canturn into a resume-builder of your own. What you need is a goodgraphics software program such as QuarkXpress or PageMaker, whichcost about $1,000, and a way with words. Your ability to tailorresumes to the types of jobs students are seeking will determineyour success. For instance, a student seeking a position inaccounting should have a no-nonsense resume that looks conservativeand professional, while a fine arts student might require a morecreatively designed resume. What you charge (most resume writerscharge between $10 and $15 per hour) will depend on your locationand can be an hourly or a flat fee.

T-shirts

Take a stroll across any college campus and you'll seehundreds of students wearing the same thing--jeans and a T-shirt.Levi's may have cornered the jeans market, but students aremaking their own mark in the T-shirt arena. All you need are somekiller designs, a place to store your inventory, some sales abilityand enough cash to buy an initial inventory of T-shirts and pay forthe silk-screening. With some slick negotiating, you may not evenneed all that cash upfront.

University of Southern California (USC) student Scott Yamanoconvinced a T-shirt manufacturer to give him a "net 90"on his first order of 150 T-shirts, which means he had 90 daysbefore he had to fork over the cash, when he started his company in1995. That initial $750 investment has grown into a T-shirt, hatand beanie business called Limit Co. in Laguna Niguel, California.The company projects $10,000 in sales in 1998.

Yamano, 22, now sells his apparel line in a skateboard shop andon campus through word-of-mouth, and he's capitalizing on whathe learns in USC's entrepreneurial studies program.

Proofreading

Can you spot a typo from a mile away? Do errant apostrophes giveyou hives? If so, read between the lines: Starting a proofreadingbusiness could be your ideal money-maker. In the business world, anad, brochure or business letter that contains errors can make acompany look unprofessional. Small companies, especially, need asecond pair of eyes to review sales and marketing materials beforethey hit the streets. That's where you come in.

Proofreaders generally charge $5 to $10 per hour and sometimescharge a flat fee for certain projects. You need an excellent graspof the English language, punctuation, grammar and spelling to makeit in this field. If you do a good job, the companies you work forwill tell other companies about your services.

In the meantime, some local advertising can help you get yourstart. Target businesses with fliers about your proofreadingprowess. With this business, your overhead is virtually zero--justenough money to buy a few red pens for editing.

Computer Repair

According to a 1995 Roper College Track study, 29 percent of allcollege students have a personal computer at college. Consideringthe Census Bureau says there are more than 15 million collegestudents in the United States, that means more than 5 millionstudents have computers at school. And that number keeps growing.Although students are becoming extremely techno-savvy when it comesto using their computers, they aren't always so adept atkeeping them humming. Students who know how to repair computerswhen they go on the blink can make some serious cash in college.Being able to diagnose and fix even minor computer problems canmake you the most popular person in the dorm.

What you need is a strong knowledge of the inner workings ofcomputer hardware. You may want to specialize in either Mac or PCsystems--along with the quirks and most common snafus associatedwith the most popular software programs. As your school'scomputer 911 tech, you can charge an hourly rate (usually between$10 and $20) or a per-project rate. For late-night or early-morningemergency calls, you can slap on a premium.

In this business, it's imperative that you stay up to dateon the latest advances in technology, and it's important tohave adequate equipment yourself--software programs that diagnoseproblems, such as Norton Utilities, are especially useful.

Take advantage of computer-based advertising avenues such ase-mail and your own Web site. On a Web site, which you may be ableto upload for free on your university server (be sure to getpermission if you are soliciting clients through the universityserver), you might offer possible solutions to some of the mostcommon computer problems or give answers to frequently askedcomputer questions. This helps establish your credibility as acomputer expert and promotes good will that you are offering someadvice for free.

Word Processing

Some business professionals never learned how to type; othersdon't have the luxury of a full-time secretary and would ratherspend their time on more important tasks than typing. If you haveadequate typing skills, a personal computer and a printer, you canbe a word processor.

To let local companies know about your word-processing business,pass out or mail fliers in the community. As a word processor forlocal businesses, you'll be able to work on some projects fromhome; for others, you may need to go to a client's office anduse their computers. Being flexible and available when clients needyou is key to success in this business. Note that if you charge bythe hour (typically in the $5-to-$10 range), the quicker you type,the more money you'll make. You may want to opt for a flat feeor a set price per page.

Laundry Pickup and Delivery

Sure, it's great to be away from the parents, but hordes ofstudents really miss Mom when it comes to doing laundry. Laundrywoes are a rite of passage for many college students, and it maytake only one load of ruined clothes to make them sign up for alaundry service.

When it comes to a laundry business, you have a number ofoptions. You can contract out with a local laundry service, meaningyou provide the pickup and delivery service, and the customers paythe same amount they would pay if they brought the laundry inthemselves. The clincher is the cleaner gives you a bulk discount,so you keep the difference.

Other entrepreneurs tack a small service charge ($2 to $3) ontop of the regular price for pickup and delivery. If you have just10 customers a day, five days a week, that could be $150 extra perweek for you.

Young Guns

Thinking about starting a business while in college? Check outthe Young Entrepreneurs Network in Boston. The Network offers peersupport, business resources, consulting and contact with a networkof entrepreneurs from around the world. For more information, call(617) 867-4690 or visit http://www.idye.com

Young Entrepreneurs Network, 376 Boylston St., #304,Boston, MA 02116

Contact Sources

Limit Co., 7 Hastings, Laguna Niguel, CA 92677, (714)496-1895

Net One, 729 Boylston St., #206, Boston, MA 02116,http://www.onechoice.com