Many college and university students often struggle through their education due to financial challenges. Thanks to the high cost of living, students cannot afford basic necessities and some even drop out due to lack of fees.
Matters are not helped by the peer pressure they receive, which forces them to lead certain lifestyles, which are expensive to sustain.
However, the situation has led some to venture into small businesses in order to provide for themselves or earn extra income as an addition to what their parents may provide them.
Many students have different talents or what they are good at. They should take advantage and work out of experience or self-taught jobs they are familiar with or out of their hobbies. They can freelance in photography, modelling and acting, among others, to earn a living.
These are the other most relatable businesses for students as first-time entrepreneurs:
Part-time teaching
Students may opt to become part-time tutors in order to earn extra cash. For instance, they can teach primary or high school students, especially during the school holidays, in subjects that they are good at or in which they scored highly in their KCSE exams.
Though holiday tuition is banned, they can make private arrangements with parents to undertake coaching at their homes.
Web design
Web design has largely been accepted as a perfect business venture for young entrepreneurs. This is especially for university students that take courses such as graphic design and animation, information technology and many other technical courses.
Sales and Marketing
Sales and Marketing is one of the most popular business ventures in the world today. This is because it does not require a lot of funds to start a start-up. One can, for instance, venture into selling second-hand clothes and accessories, food vending and many more.
The world has also gone digital and there are very many online businesses coming up. One may opt to work as an online marketer for any product. The online world always has very ready customers or consumers who are ready to try new products.
Blogging
Online blogging is one of the key features of the digital market today. There are many upcoming young bloggers forming online blogs that earn them as they create content. This needs a lot of creativity and since most fall in the younger age group, creativity and coming up with content is not a problem to them.
Many YouTube channels are created on a daily to deliver online content and provide for viewers’ expectations. Students could venture into this and enjoy a wide range of vlogs in any area of choice as it pays.
Farming
Agricultural activities are the best jobs to take up. Students may go into farming by beginning small and grow as the business gets more established.
Examples include poultry and dairy farming. Students may broaden their domestic farming by selling chicken, milk and eggs as well as other farm produce as there is always a ready market.
Catering
University students majoring in catering services or hotel management courses can take up catering jobs as waitresses or waiters or even chefs in hotels part-time to put their learned skills to work. In addition to gaining experience and learning more practical skills, they will earn money to help them in their daily lives.
From the above, it is clear that small start-up businesses are the best for students considering that most of them are low funded and do not need a lot of money to start.
Also, most of the businesses do not take up a lot of time and cannot be too demanding when working as a part-time student or whenever employed one has the responsibility to outline their responsibilities in order to fit their schedules.
Apart from helping them pay their school fees and meet personal needs, the side businesses may even sustain their families if taken seriously.
