This article contains information on the twelve major lucrative business ideas for students in Nigerian universities to engage in and make a good profit to support themselves.
There are several side business ideas for students to start and hustle with while in school to make some extra cash to support themselves.
If you don’t have a good financial background, being a student in Nigeria will be very challenging.
Most of the time as an undergraduate in a University, Polytechnic, or College of Education, you get tired of waiting for weekly or monthly allowances from your parents or guardian, which are usually not enough to cover your expenses in school.
There are certainly some types of expenses you can’t tell people to help you out with. An average student in Nigeria will need extra hustle to meet up with what they already have.
Do you need an extra source of income to meet your everyday needs in school? Well, you are reading the right article.
I will briefly discuss 12 profitable business ideas for students in Nigeria to start while running their full-time program.
Table of Contents
Why Nigerian Students Should Engage In Business
- It will surely bring in extra cash to support what they already have. You don’t have to be fully dependent when you know that you reduce the burden, and build a brighter future for yourself.
- It can build platforms for a future career path. Statistics have shown that many solid businesses we see today, have their foundation as a campus side hustle.
- It gives you experiences on how the real business world works. With such experience, starting up a business after graduation will not be a very difficult task with the experience you already have.
- It builds your reputation within the campus. You will be a role model for many people.
Best Business For Nigerian Students
The following are some business ideas for students in Nigeria any student can start with little or no capital and make extra cash while in school without having to depend on their parents or guardian.
1. Graphic Design
In schools, different organizations, associations, departments, and even the student union organize programs and parties for the students.
After putting these events together, the next thing they do is to create awareness for the event using publicity materials such as flyers, posters, banners, etc.
If you can learn how to be a good graphic designer using software like Photoshop, Illustrator, and Corel Draw, you will be able to make some extra cash for yourself while you offer graphic design services to those who need them.
If taken seriously, this can be your major source of income even after school.
Learning graphics doesn’t take much time. In three months, you have already started creating amazing designs.
The best part of graphics design is that is you can learn it online by looking for who to give you a one-on-one lecture.
If you have a laptop, graphics designs should be one thing you have to consider.
2. Photography
Photography is a lucrative business to start on campus because many students love taking pictures.
Even though most of them use smartphones with cameras, professional photography services are still in high demand.
Apart from the passports that students will need for one registration or the other, they will also need beautiful photos to slay on the various social networking platforms they are on like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc.
Once you can build your credibility as a photographer, you will be called upon to cover major events on campus, and some other students can book a session from you to take pictures when celebrating memorable days like birthdays, matriculation, convocation, etc.
All you will need is a professional camera to take your pictures and a mini printer for hard copies. This can be a great source of income in school.
3. Cake Making
You can’t go wrong learning to bake and decorate cakes of different sizes and shapes.
What you will notice when you visit various campuses is that students love to celebrate and cakes are mostly needed for these celebrations.
There are special events on campus you will need to target, and some of them are Valentine’s day, birthdays, anniversaries, dinners, convocations, matriculation, etc.
You don’t even need to rent a space to do this business, even if you stay in the hostel, you can easily engage in this business.
If your cakes taste nice and you can package them well, you can be sure to sell your cakes at a good price and make some extra cash occasionally.
If you don’t know how to bake, you can enroll in it. In a few months, you are already an expert.
4. Hair Styling
Hairmaking is also known as hairstyling; this is also one way you can make extra cash while in school.
If you can properly learn how to make and style hair, you will not go a week without having money coming in.
The statistics of female students on campus are quite high, and almost every lady on campus does make their hair frequently.
If you are good at it, then you are sure you will be making some good money for yourself. It will not be a hindrance to your academics.
5. Barbing
Hairdressing for ladies, barbing for gentlemen, not anymore.
These days men are not the only ones cutting their hair to look good, some ladies are now going on low cut. It is a trending fashion among females nowadays.
You need to be very creative and know what is involved in the business. The reason is that if you are not, trendy students will not patronize you.
Now, you have the male students as your potential customers along with some female students on the low cut, delivering a good service to them will grow your business by word of mouth.
For this business you can either own space or not, having space can be expensive but you can start small by doing house calls. With time you then can choose to expand.
6. Selling of Wares
This is another lucrative business you can do on campus, selling both female and male wares will earn you a lot of cash, particularly ladies’ wares ranging from underwear to tops, shirts, blouses, trousers, bags, and footwear of all kinds.
Most students love to dress well. Avoiding too much repetition of a particular cloth is deemed necessary to survive social critics on campuses.
Meaning if you decide to engage in this business, you will be making cool money while you make the students look good.
Everyone knows that on campuses, there are so many social events throughout the semesters that students do engage in and for every occasion, there is a need for new apparel, which makes this business quite rewarding.
7. Laundry services
School can be so stressful and demanding, and as a result, many students do not enjoy thinking about doing their laundry themselves. They are always ready to pay for it.
Many students consider washing to be stressful and time-consuming; they don’t mind taking their clothes out to the laundry.
As a student interested in making extra cash, this is also one area you can make money while in school.
It shouldn’t be something you should be ashamed of, as long as it is putting food on your table.
At first, you may not be proud of it, but with time I promise that you will love it, you can even employ a non-student to assist you. So your shop will not be locked when you are off for a lecture.
One good thing about this business is that you get to bill at every stage, you charge for washing and ironing.
Some may just want to wash while others may want their clothes to be ironed since the supply of power may not be stable. It is no doubt lucrative to run a laundry business on campus.
From what I have seen back on campus, I don’t think if there is any other side hustle that is as lucrative as the laundry business.
8. Comedy
Are you an entertainer or M.C.?
Can you crack people up?
If your answer is yes, then you have a talent that will always be needed on campus.
There are a lot of social events in schools, and most of them, including religious organizations, invites comedians to crack the students up, and it’s not for free.
Apart from the fact you get to make money from these events, you make a name for yourself; you become famous!
To be candid, this business is among the most lucrative businesses you can engage in while in school and even make a name for yourself after school.
The best part of it is that it’s not time-consuming, and most events are on weekends, it will hardly clash with your academic activities.
9. Typing and Printing
Most students will pay to type their assignments, proposals, papers, and projects for them.
These services go together and will always be in demand in a school environment; you can be sure of making your sales daily.
The business of typing, printing, and photocopying documents is also a lucrative business idea for students in school. But it can be stressful and time-consuming.
You can operate this one without the need for space, all you need is your laptop and printer/photocopier in your room, and you are on your way to financial independence.
10. Sales of Stationery
This whole post will not be complete without mentioning this business. Students have needs for stationery such as books, pencils, biros, files, calculators, and so on.
Selling these stationeries is like meeting the primary needs of every student. Although not lucrative, it will fetch you little income regardless of whether you stay on campus or not, and it’s not so expensive to start this business in school.
11. Tutorials
Organizing tutorials and training has been one of the proven business ideas for students to start in school. If you are good at a course or you have some skill like software development.
Then you can think of holding tutorials or training sessions for interested coursemates and other students for a fee.
Not every student has a high capacity to grab what they are being taught immediately, and others might want to learn a skill while in school.
This makes this business very lucrative for students because once services can be rendered in this area, it will generate extra cash while you gain mastery in your course or skill.
12. Blogging
Blogging is one of the business ideas for students to start and make extra income.
You can read our article on how to start a blog if you choose to start a blog today. We also give guides to assist people there. You can drop questions in the comment section in the link.
Like other business ideas listed here, blogging is an online business students can rely on and prosper in it.
Running a blog can be a bit tricky, especially when the aim is for it to be profitable, but once you have figured out what you are doing, it can be very rewarding.
Before you start your blog, you should choose a niche with high search traffic and one that you are equally passionate about.
You must create quality content on your blog because you are not going to make money from it if people don’t read it.
Don’t expect to make immediate income from your blog. In most cases, it takes up to a year before a blog can start giving good returns.
The biggest secret of blogging success is consistency and full dedication. If you don’t see it as a business and have a perseverance attitude around it, it may never grow.
There are several ways to make money from blogging, and some of them are Google AdSense, Selling Ad Space, Consulting, Affiliate marketing, Selling digital products, etc.
Conclusion
Starting a small business while in school is a smart idea because this will get you extra income and also lay the foundation for your future career after school.
I hope you were able to get some ideas here that you are going to try out. It is important to note that the ideas shared here are not getting rich quick schemes.
You might not get the returns overnight, but as you keep improving and stay focused, you will achieve success.
You can raise the capital you will need to start your business from family and friends.
Before starting your business, do your market research properly, and it is also important you start small and grow from there.
Above all, Prayer is the Master Key, always remember to put your business in prayers, regardless of your religion. Prayers will build forces that will strengthen your business, and bless you from it.
Profitable Business Ideas For Students.
Thanks for reading. If you love this article, please remember to share it.
