Fakoyejo OlalekanAt a period Nigerian parents and their children in tertiary institutions are in a dilemma due to the hike in tuition fees, earning a living as a student has become crucial to the continuation of education in many households.
Parents now have to choose between their children dropping out of school or bearing the burden of the significant increase in school fees, as state governments, like Lagos State, gradually remove subsidies on education, by raising tuition fees to N190,750 from N21,000.
To reduce the financial burden on parents, there are several small businesses that students can operate while in school to earn income without the need for substantial startup capital.
35 new and profitable small business ideas for students in Nigeria
Dropshipping Business
As a student, you might not have enough capital to start a business, regardless of how small it is, but with dropshipping business, you don’t need to be liquid.
Dropshipping business allows you to profit from trade as a third party after facilitating a transaction between a buyer and a seller.
As a third party, you can help market a manufacturer’s goods or services to prospective clients and take a cut after the completion of the transaction.
Smoothie business
Nigerians are beginning to embrace smoothies more than ever, with companies like Boomsky Smoothies profiting from the cravings in the country.
A smoothie business doesn’t cost an arm and a leg as well, just a variety of fruits and a mixer is enough to become a player in the market and start earning your own money without piling up expenses.
Online Coaching Business
As more households join the online community, the possibility of teaching or coaching people without spending money on transportation has increased.
As a student, you can start an online class where you teach people about subjects or skill acquisition. You can use YouTube, Gradely, uLesson and even WhatsApp to conduct your classes and get paid for the knowledge you are impacting.
Social Media Management
If you are social media savvy, then social media management is for you. You can be your own boss by managing the social media handles of companies on a freelance.
Many companies are now looking for ways to boost the exposure of their goods and services without spending a fortune on marketing, and social media has become a cheaper alternative to draw attention to their goods.
Hence, the need for many companies to seek a social media manager, which as a student, could be done with just your laptop or your smartphone, as long as you know how to create content that attracts eyeballs.
Photography Business
This is one of those ventures with a low entry barrier because, with just a camera, you can start a photography business in the comfort of your home.
Apart from not being capital intensive, the photography business gives you the freedom to capture your clients from any location, which means you don’t have to use your home or add rentals to your expenses.
Hair Salon Business
All you need is your hands and the skill of hair styling to start a salon business. It doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to operate this venture.
As a student, it’s expected that you are not a deep-pocket individual, this is why the hair salon business is a perfect hustle, as you can specialise in home services, thereby, eliminating the need to rent a shop, which would eat into your earnings.
Blogging
Do you have a laptop? If not, then do not worry, as your Android smartphone or iPhone is enough to start a blogging business as a student.
Blogging doesn’t cost much, all it requires from you is data, articles a website and your laptop or smartphone. The more popular your website grows, the higher its chances of attracting advertisers, getting Google Adsense and third-party advertising offers.
Snack Production Business
Snack is a popular refreshment in schools, so diving into the snack business could fetch you the capital needed to fund your lifestyle and academic requirements.
Snacks come in different forms, Potato Chips, Oreos, Cookies, Cheese Crackers, Popcorn, Puff puff, Doughnuts and Pastries.
Note that this is also a business you can run from your apartment in school and sell anywhere, with cost only rising from the ingredients of the snacks.
PoS Business
Point of Sales (PoS) business is a small venture in vogue in Nigeria, as you can find a mobile money agent in the nooks and crannies of the country.
As a student, you can take advantage of this, as your savings and a PoS machine are enough to start a mobile money business without having to take up a loan.
Also, you can approach a bank to become their mobile money agent in order not to bear all the financial requirements or risks of the PoS business.
Copywriting Business
If you are creative with the pen, then copywriting business is the right fit for you. This is one business that comes at no cost, as all you have to do is write.
As a copywriter, you can be paid by companies in the financial, manufacturing, oil & gas, food and even healthcare industries to write about their brands.
This means you can be an image maker for corporate organisations when they have a brand crisis or trying to improve their market exposure.
Ushering Services
Ushering services is one of the easiest businesses to start with little or no capital, as you and your friends could collaborate to hit the ground running.
As a student, you have female and male friends or classmates that you could gather to grace an event where they would serve as ushers.
All you need to do is get events where they can appear. It doesn’t have to be the biggest event in the town, you can start small by serving as ushers at student-organised events.
Then gradually, you can make your way to the top events by exchanging cards with guests at every event you and your friends serve as ushers.
Graphic Design Business
Graphic designers are currently one of the most sought-after skill jobs in Nigeria, as small, medium and large organisations are constantly in search of them.
This is because graphic designers help companies tell their brand stories or market their goods and services through pictures and text, so you can take advantage of the demand for graphic designers by learning this skill, which only requires you to have a laptop.
Laundry Business
The laundry business is one of those enterprises that doesn’t require significant funds to startup, just bar soap, detergent and water to get the business going.
This is how some of the medium laundry businesses started before they grew into using washing machines to ease the stress that comes with the job.
Web Design Business
As the world went digital, many companies have begun to open virtual offices on the Internet by having a website of their own to bridge the gap between their goods and their prospective clients.
This is why Web designers have become a vital element in the private and public sectors, as both companies and government firms are in need of websites.
So as a student, this is a business you can dive into, as it requires only a laptop after learning the skill. Note that the advantage of being a Web designer is that you can also offer your services to foreign companies and get paid in foreign currencies.
Shoe-Making Business
Shoe making business is one of the most underrated ventures in Nigeria, which as a student, could serve you well financially, as the demand is high compared to the number of shoemakers in a school environment.
All you need is to get the shoe-making machine and gum for a start. Your customers’ payments could be used to buy the leather, thereby, reducing your startup capital for the business.
Food Delivery Service
There’s a possibility you have seen food delivery motorbikes on major roads around your area. You can start yours as well in your school.
There are individuals who love to eat at fast foods or buy food items to cook but are often discouraged due to the distance. After making your observations of the individuals, you can start buying fast food or food items for them as a token of the stress.
You don’t need to buy a motorcycle, as bicycles are good enough for such errand jobs in your school environment. The more customers you have, the more your business expands.
Bead-Making Business
The entry barrier into the bead-making business is very low. It requires just different types of beads, threads and cutters for starters.
As a bead maker, your goods are important almost every week, as people go to Owambe parties and also replace wristwatches with beads as fashion evolves.
Organising Tutorials
As a student in the university, you have expensive knowledge of secondary school subjects. This knowledge can be financially rewarding should you put it to good use.
You can organise tutorials for secondary students in the areas around your university, where you teach them subjects like mathematics, English, literature and economics, amongst others.
Also, you can organise tutorials for your classmates or juniors in the universities who are finding it difficult to comprehend the lectures from lecturers.
Fashion Design Business
With Nigerians now embracing affordable and luxury local attires, fashion is becoming more and more lucrative for persons in the sewing business within the country.
As a student, you can take up fashion to monetise the periods you don’t have lectures in school. Once you learn the skill and have your sewing machine and threads, you become your own boss and your classmates, as well as lecturers and people in your university’s community become your clients.
Other small businesses students can do as they are schooling are;
- Interpretation Services
- Interior Decoration Business
- Mini-importation Business
- Affiliate Marketing Business
- Liquid Soap Making Business
- Tiger Nut Drink Production Business
- Hibiscus Drink Production Business
- Phone Repair Services:
- Network Marketing Business
- Video Creation Business
- Proofreading And Editing Services
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