Haulat Afolabi
Many university students often look for survival strategy to meet their out-of-pocket expenses while in school. Some of the ways they can achieve this is through small and medium enterprises like selling of recharge cards, supplying of cat fish and eggs, engaging in handiwork like hairdressing, bead making, graphics design, among others.
There are however several ways you can generate alternative sources of income as a university student, without relying completely on the money given to you by your parents.
While you are still in school as a youth, you can spare yourself from being sustained by your friends and family even after graduation.
Sitting tight till graduation to begin job hunting is a major exercise in futility, whereas, we have a huge number of young people out there that are unemployed.
You only need to set aside some time that won’t affect your lectures to do this business which will cost you just a little capital to begin with.
Here are some business ideas that can give you some cool cash as a University or Polytechnic student.
Be a home tutor for primary and secondary school students
As a student, setting aside few hours per week as a private home tutor for primary and secondary school students shouldn’t be a barrier. This will definitely not take much of your time as you can spare five to seven hours of your time in a week and will earn you up to N10, 000 or more per month.
For you to get more patronage, you can set up a short advert on the school’s notice board and walkways on your private education for kids and the rates. You will get teachers or staffs that will need to draw in their kids for such.
Buying and selling of recharge cards
Whenever you get your monthly allowance from home, you can save some to get few things you can sell to your friends and other students on campus and there are many things you can sell on campus such as recharge cards, ladies wears, foot wears and so on.
Universities and polytechnics in Nigeria are one of the places where the best phones and personal cpmputers are utilised. You see students with costly phones and different devices you never expected.
Often time, students are found searching for who to buy their used gadgets or exchange it for another. As a guy, you can establish yourself as a trustworthy reseller who can help them sell or buy specific used gadgets within the school premises and get your own commission from both parties.
The more you sell, the more money you make which means you have made your allowance back with interest on it.Handiwork like bead making, graphics design can be an added
advantage
If you have a hobby for creativity, you can turn it into a business while in school. There are various creative things you can do, such as bead making, graphics designing, fashion designing, shirt making, hair dressing and many more.
All you need to do is to make samples of what you are doing, showcase to your hostel mates as well as course mates. From there , you would get more patronage from more people that need your services.
Catering or ushering business
There are always parties or events every Saturday. You can get yourself engaged by one or two catering service providers around. Once they have engagement, they will only give you a call to come around during weekend.
While doing this, you can also become an usher. You can also establish an ushering team with your friends and offer ushering services at weekends. If you are not being engaged within the school, you get engagement outside the school. Doing this is not capital intensive, it only requires you to be smart and work as a team with your friends.
Be an egg or cat fish supplier
Every institution has countless number of eateries (bukas) where they need egg suppliers to sell for them on a daily basis. Also, there are joints where they sell fish barbecue on campus and off campus where you can supply cat fish to them.
Why not think of being a supplier of egg or fish to five to ten of those bukas and joints and see how easy it is to earn money as a student. All it takes you is to get a poultry farm outside the school where you can easily get egg supply at wholesale and a fish farm.
Approach most of these bukas and tell them you are a student and just want to make ends meet through this business .
