20 Profitable Business Ideas for a Student.
Being at the University is an experience that many strive for on their academic journey. It’s a good experience filled with fun. But some factors come into play to enhance your experience. “Money” is one of the main factors. Unfortunately, it’s shall never be enough.
Though there are ways you can get more. Perhaps fairly enough to keep a smile on your face. In this article, I present to you 20 small startup profitable business Ideas for a Student. You can start some of these to earn additional money to what is given to you as upkeep. If you are not a university student, you can also read through. You’ll find some very good ideas you can start in a university and earn from them.
Why do you need a side hustle as a student?
- As a university student, money simplifies all your life. You need it to clear your tuition and other basic needs. So, you need a side hustle to supplement what you are given. From our profitable business Ideas for a Student, you can choose one and earn more money.
- A side hustle can introduce you to your working environment. If you take on one that is in your career line. It shall be a continuation after graduation hence giving you a kickstart in your career.
- You can learn a new skill doing a side hustle at the university. How does it feel graduating with two achievements? One, what you were studying and two, the skill from the side hustle.
- A side hustle can improve your CV even before you actually start off with your career. This is awesome.
- At the university, you can come up with life-changing ideas. Then you can use side hustles to test out those ideas.
The reasons you need a side hustle are many. You can read more about why you need a side hustle here.
Is it possible to run a business while studying?
“Do one thing at a Time” is a saying by Swami Vivekananda which you may choose to go by. But given the above reasons you need a side hustle, You have to give that saying a second thought. If you have all you need at the university from your caretaker, that’s good but not good enough. A side hustle can tremendously change your life or promote your knowledge in your career.
It’s possible to do the two. A side hustle and studies simultaneously. Some side hustles don’t require a lot of your resources and time as we shall see. Try to minimize the hustle’s negative effects on your studies by saving time for it. You can read more on How to save time for the side hustle in your tight university schedule here. This can give you a guide on how you are to push the two forward simultaneously.
Read also: How to save more time for your side hustles.
Below are some of the profitable business ideas for a student.
Before we look at the independent business ideas, let’s look at the easiest and most important ideas for you and your career. These are businesses or tasks related to your career. You can do these and earn good money. In addition to good money, there are more advantages of career-related hustles. I would recommend you take these on.
- They improve your knowledge in your career as you take on tasks in your Career path. The list of profitable Business Ideas for a Student includes career related hustles which do this.
- Such side hustles jumpstart your career. When you do such side hustles, your career is a continuation of your side hustle after your graduation.
- They are easy to start as you have the required skills already.
- You have a tutor or someone that can help you out in your hustle. this is your tutor or lecturer. What you are doing is what they taught.
A good example of these side hustles that are career-related is drawing architectural drawings for clients while studying architecture or engineering. This is a career-related side hustle.
To find one that is in line with your career, think about the task you’ll do in your career. Those you can do at that moment are your career-related side hustles. You can also learn some career-related side hustles if, at that moment, you can do no task. This is common if you are at the start of the course.
Profitable business ideas for a student.
Event planner/ promoter.
The university is a place to enjoy life. That is what it is to some students there. Then provide that. You can make money by planning events, promoting them, and more that is related to this. It’s a very good money-making opportunity for those who are willing to take on the risk.
WIFI business.
You may say that this can’t work simply because universities provide that. That may be true. Though a lot of challenges come with university networks. They are slow, not reliable, and more. Start a WIFI business and eliminate all the shortfalls of the colleges’. You’ll earn while seated.
Mobile money.
This comes up here again. If you’ve read some of our articles, you’ve probably noticed this one is common. This shows how good it is.
University students receive a lot of money from caretakers and load airtime frequently. You can exploit this. Start a mobile money business and earn a commission. If agent sim cards are the problem, you can learn how to start a mobile money side hustle with your smartphone here
Internet bundle reselling.
Internet is a resource that university students can’t live without. They use it to learn, do business, communicate, and more. You can buy big internet bundle packages that fellow students can’t afford, break them down and resell them in small affordable sizes at a profit. This is very easy to start and run as it doesn’t take a lot of time.
Mini stationery.
Books, pens, and other stationery are heavily utilized at the university. In addition, printing services too are heavily used at the university. Start a mini stationery and provide all these at a good price.
Baking chapati, mandazi, birthday cakes, cupcakes, and more.
Any eatables can make you money at the university. You can start one that you have some skills in and that won’t take a lot of your time. Take an example of birthday cakes. Almost all university students celebrate their birthdays. There is a ready market for cakes so exploit it.
Read also: 7 easy profitable baking businesses for you.
Jewelry.
This is one of the easiest businesses with a lot of demand, especially from campus ladies. The products you can deal in include earrings, bungles, and more. This requires some skills which you can learn easily. Try it out and you’ll share your success story.
Graphics design and photography.
You can do this with a camera and computer. Though university students have phones, sometimes they go to photo studios to take good photos. In addition to this, you can make different posters for events, university political campaigns, and more.
Writing content and proofreading.
If you like reading and writing, you can do that and earn money. This is a good one as you’ll be earning from what you like doing or your hobby. If it’s not your hobby, you can still do it and earn good money writing content or proofreading other people’s. Sites like scribendi, and many more can help you achieve this.
Blogging.
This is another on the list of top profitable business ideas for university students. This is related to content creation and proofreading. The difference is that in this, you are creating content and proofreading for yourself. You can earn money by running advertisements on your blog and more.
Website design and development.
This is one of the career-related businesses though not only limited to that. You can teach yourself website design and development. It’s not easy but it’s doable. The market potential of this is high as online businesses are picking up nowadays especially on the African continent. Try it out and you can earn yourself a fortune.
Read also: Top small start-up side hustle ideas in Uganda today.
Mini money lending.
This is a tricky but good one. You all know that in every society, people have to borrow money to cater for unplanned issues. You can start lending fellow students money and earn interest. Try to formalize the process and come up with a written and signed agreement between you and the person you are lending. Value the security they provide to ensure that it’s worth a multiple of your lent sum.
Research writing.
It’s bad that some university students don’t actually do their research but hire someone to do it for them. Our concern is what side hustle can we do. Since such students exist, then it’s an opportunity to make money helping them do their research. Try to involve the student you are researching for so that they own the research. This is to avoid the negative impacts of the refusal of the research to your hustle.
Hairdressing and styling.
The university is full of ladies and gentlemen who always want to trend. They can readily purchase some of these stylish wear like watches and more. In addition to this, some ladies and gentlemen often style their hair. Maybe weakly, daily, or at any intervals. Whatever the case, you can avail these goods and services to them and earn a profit.
Computer servicing, repair, and software installation.
Many university students have computers. These often need servicing such as minor repairs, software updates, and more. In addition, you can do software installation and updating and earn a living. This side hustle requires some skills which you can learn by yourself.
Motivational speaker of MC.
This is one of the Profitable business Ideas for a student. If you are a good speaker, try this out. It’s one of the high-paying hustles that require very little investment with very small or no risk involved. You lose nothing when you are not invited to speak or as a master of ceremony. Those who can talk and talk and talk, try to earn from your gift of talking.
Read also: Top roadside businesses in Uganda.
Comedian.
This is one of the side hustles that can earn you good money and it’s not crowded with people. Doing comedy requires skill. Some people cannot just be funny, act funny, and speak funny. Making people laugh is hard though you can learn with practice and achieve your goal.
Mini restaurant and juice retailing.
Most university students don’t cook as there is no time to cook anyway. You can use this as a stepping stone to start a mini restaurant and take away at the university. Try to make it simple and nice looking. Quality cheap food is the main factor that shall bring you customers. The ball is in your hands.
Dancing and being a DJ.
Are you a good dancer? if you are, how do you benefit from it? Dancing requires a lot of practice. Being a DJ too. You have to learn how to dance or mix music respectively. Don’t do it for fun only. It can benefit you twice, have fun and let the pocket smile. All this you can do by just upping your game in any of these hustles. I wish you the best of luck.
Social media management, marketing, and influencing.
Are you social? Do you spend most of your time on social media? If you are a culprit of any of those questions above, and you don’t get money doing that? it’s sad. It’s never too late anyway. You can continue with your way while earning money through marketing products on social media, managing other people’s accounts, and influencing other people. If social media isn’t your game, but money-making is, then you can also adapt and earn some money.
Conclusion.
Profitable Business Ideas for a Student are many but what is most important at the moment is the course you are doing. Yes, at some point you may not end up doing something in line with what you studied but at the moment you don’t know your destiny. It’s wise to do your hustle but without forgetting the core reason you are at the university. I wish you the best of luck doing business.
