So, I’m a freshmen right now, and have resold comic books for the past three years (grossed about 8k and have about 100 positive feedback) because my parents financial situation isn’t horrible but it’s not the best either so I needed the cash (at the time) my “healthy food budget”. But, most of it’s now in bonds. Comic collection is a dried up now and I have lost interest. My intended major is computer science would it help if I repaired phones (have some experience already) and resold them? Expected gross profit first year is 1.5k (I currently have a supply of 30 iPhone 5S/6’s I’ve accumulated)
Thanks 
IMO, anything that makes you (kids) $ and is legal, is fine by me, and good on you for having the initiative and drive to do so. Many kids are happy to sit back and be ‘maintained’
Yes, run it like a real business, and it can definitely be a great EC. Keep in mind that colleges want to see revenue and profit, not number of customers or number of phones repaired (which connotates a hobby, not a business).
Alright for sure thanks for the heads up!
any small business always looks good. If you figured out a way to say, distributed some of those phones to the homeless or to women’s shelters, colleges would love that kinda project.
@bluebayou Oh that’s a really good idea. I’ll consider donating a portion of the phones to a women’s shelter
I suspect any unique activity like this has the potential to be a “good” extracurricular. Whether it appeals to the college depends on what you demonstrate through your description of the activity. Honestly, I don’t believe it will move the needle for most colleges if your revenues are $50k compared to only $2k, what will move the needle is how you describe why you did this, what you learned, how it challenged you, how you grew from it, how you’ll take those lessons and curiosity to the next level.
IOW, you’re unlikely to be able to earn enough money doing this that the $$$ discussion will be a determining factor. But no matter how little it earns, how you describe your experience could be a huge determining factor in demonstrating the attributes the colleges want to see.
Many successful entrepreneurs are “serial” entrepreneurs and started from an early age. If you look back at their first half dozen ventures the individual ventures weren’t impressive on their own. What was impressive was the drive they showed by hustling, the determination they showed by bootstrapping one project to the next, the creativity they showed in making money out of nothing, and their ability to learn from each venture and keep growing. Sound like this could be you? Tell the story…
Instead of donating phones, do a phone drive where you get people to donate old phones which you fix then donate. Just a suggestion.
Also, great work!
The process and mind-set is the value to colleges, which is not nearly the same as what the person doing the work might desire. If it grows enough to hire other kids, for example, that’d exhibit the substance and style they want.
Make sure you have tangible financials, how is the business set up? Taxes, insurance, that sort of thing. A real paper trail.
@Sybylla don’t think I can setup my taxes and such but I do have my eBay page a valid stats