Marketing and management second year student Lewis Wall has started The Student Hand, a local business aimed at connecting students to residents who have everyday small or one-off jobs they need completed.
Mr Wall, who grew up in Dunedin, said the idea came to him when he and his flatmate were working a cash-based job in Milton, chopping firewood.
"We were chopping wood all day and I thought why don’t we try match up students who want a few hours work a week to get them an extra $40-$80, with residents," he said.
He thought it would be a great way to improve the relationship between the two parties because historically it was "rather hostile at times".
"Our number one goal is to bridge the gap between university students and Dunedin residents whilst helping both parties."
Students would generally be doing physical labour, but he had decided to add an NCEA tutoring system.
"I went to Arana last year and I thought, wow there’s a lot of really intelligent people here, why don’t we get them into tutoring for a couple hours a week."
It was a great alternative to commercial tutoring services offered around the city, and was generally cheaper, he said.
After the launch this week, 200 students had signed up within the first 24 hours and they had five job offers already.
The Student Hand charges $30 an hour for its services, because Mr Wall believed everyone should be paid the living wage.
So far he had only received positive feedback on the work done, but welcomed criticism as he believed it would assist in growing and developing the business.
Mr Hall was expecting operations to be in full swing over the next two weeks.
