Business Ideas for Students
The combination of being a serious student and being seriously broke is one of the greatest tortures ever known to man.
Trust me, I have been there, you don’t want to be in that situation.
I am sure that at some point as a student, you have needed some extra cash to buy a new phone or do some other stuff that is super important but your parents wouldn’t give you any more money because you already collected some cash the previous week.
And you are stuck with the age old question every average student has asked, “How do I get the extra cash I need?”
I have a simple solution. Work!
I understand that the schooling system in some part of the world (e.g. Nigeria) doesn’t particularly allow you work and study at the same time. This is mostly because of the overcrowded curriculum, strenuous school calendar and demanding nature of most jobs.
But wait…
Who is talking about working for some boss that would demand your presence at work every day at the expense of your degree?
Definitely, not me!
What I am talking about, is student entrepreneurship?
Due to the alarming rate of unemployment predominant amongst college graduates in this country, it is considered a wise decision to establish financial goals while still in school.
A student entrepreneur is a person who combines academic activities with business. He/she owns and manages a business enterprise with the aim of making profit whilst bagging a degree.
Benefits of Being a Student Entrepreneur
- Improves your entrepreneurial skills.
- Gives you access to income.
- After college, you would pride yourself as an experienced worker during job interviews.
- Help you master the skill of decision making.
- Gives you options after school (to look for a job or continue with your business).
Other benefits include; teaching you to cultivate unique skills and think outside the box, creating job opportunities for others, instilling confidence and stimulating economy growth.
It’s not just enough for me to tell you that you can make money from being a student entrepreneur. I intend to show you.
Together, let’s uncover a list of top business ideas you can tap into earn some money with little or no startup capital required whilst chasing that degree.
Tutoring
Do you like teaching? Are you a natural at it? If yes, you can put that skill into good use. And boom! You’ve found yourself a source of income. Start up your private tutoring business. You can decide to tutor fellow college students or teach primary and secondary school students’ private home lessons. Choose a subject that you are really good at. Choose a suitable time to engage yourself in these tutoring sessions. You may decide to do it over the weekends or in the evenings. Whichever you choose, you would still be left with enough time for your school activity and personal life. How would you get customers? Tell your friends to tell their friends or open a business page on any social media platform; Facebook and Instagram is a more preferable platform for this type of business.
Freelance writing
Do you enjoy writing articles and blog posts? You can become a freelance writer and register on the websites for freelancers to start getting writing jobs from across the world on those websites. This job is not stressful at all because you can work from anywhere. You just need a laptop and good internet access. To get high paying clients, your writing skills have to be very good. No one wants to pay huge sum of money for bad writing. You need to improve your writing skills by consulting materials on how to improve your writing skills written by professionals. Get a good editor to help you edit your work before getting them across to your client. Always deliver your writings in time to avoid losing clients. You can decide to own your own blog or seek for jobs with an already established blog; this way, getting clients wouldn’t be difficult because the blog you work for have clients. Discuss payments with your clients so you don’t end up doing a free job or getting under-paid. Remember to stay original; this would separate you from other writers, giving you your own identity.
Graphic and web design
Graphic and web design is huge right now. You would be needing a lot of training to do this kind of job of course, but the training always pays. People are always in need of websites, logos, banners, custom clothes, brochures and business cards. There are a vast number of opportunities you can get from being a web or graphic designer, as long as you are good at what you do.
Baking
Baking is a very lucrative business in any school environment because college students generally have a sweet-tooth. So if you are good at baking, instead of baking for just you and few friends over the weekend, why not bake to make money. You can decide to get a little shop in school or bake over the weekend at home for events. Particularly, baking of cakes is more lucrative than pastries in general. Students are always celebrating their birthdays. Take advantage of the available market. Don’t take on so many contracts a week; this might affect your school work. Figure out how much cakes you want to bake in a week. If you get more than that, decline the contract or push it to the next week. Remember, you are trying to make money as a student; the latter part is equally important.
Fashion business
Everyone needs fashion items. So quit saying, “you don’t know if anyone would patronize you”. There are 3 sectors in the fashion business; you can decide to go into the retail sector; where you would buy and resell fashion items, and there are the fashion and design sectors; serving as a fashion designer or sewing clothes. This particular business is very lucrative because there are a large range of fashion items that can be sold. From Shoes to Clothes, hair, Watches, Hats, fashion statement pieces, and Jewelries. First, you need to identify the audience you would be selling to; whether male or female. Then, you can go ahead to pick which fashion item you want to sell to them (remember to take on what you can handle don’t sell everything). When you have successfully done that, think of where you can get those items at the cheapest rate. You can advertise your business on your WhatsApp or Instagram. You may occasionally visit the hostel to market your wares.
There are other lucrative businesses out there. But these are just a few to get you started. Remember, every idea remains in your head until you put in an effort to materialize those ideas.
Quit complaining about not having money. Start doing something to make money.