Think and Begin!!!

The Nigerian tertiary institutions are full of opportunities students can key into to make money and be even employers of labour while still studying. All that is needed is for daring and enterprising students to identify these opportunities and harness them, as there are so many of them begging for attention.

You may say, my school authorities would not hear of that or allow us engage in such out-of-school activities. But I daresay that is not the whole truth because most tertiary institutions in the country are in one way or another trying to encourage entrepreneurship among students. Some have even gone ahead to include it as one of the core courses a student must take and pass before graduating. However, if your school is not favourably disposed towards it, never mind because the business world has something for everyone. And as we unfold some of the ventures students could go into, you will surely see or know where you belong.

So, no matter where your school is situated, so long there are human beings (students) living there, there must be some need to satisfy. And if there are needs, then there are markets calling for sellers.

Making money starts by fulfilling needs, first on charity and later for the money. Indeed, most company owners never set out to make money. Their initial aim was to fulfil some needs, but as time went on, their services began to fetch money. So, think of first fulfilling a need and other things will follow.

The good thing is that one may not really have a special skill or a huge amount of money to start some of the businesses, which I will be highlighting on this column. Just develop interest in entrepreneurship and plan your studies in a way that your business interest does not clash with your studies.

For a start, think of those things you like most and begin to think of how you can use them to help your fellow students. Never mind that your mates or even parents may discourage you, but persevere and you will in no time begin to make money.

One may ask: ‘why must I engage in business enterprise, when my parents have the capability to provide all my needs? However, the truth is that one day, you will become a graduate, leave school or probably be free from your parents, which means you will begin to fend for yourself. So, starting now would afford any student the privilege of making use of his/her idle time to begin to plan for his/her future business empire.

Also, starting now would give you the chance to make mistakes, learn from them and then move ahead in case you want to take the venture further after school. So, it serves as a learning ground to immediately combine practice with theory. Besides, it would put you ahead of your mates, when you would have left school. For, while you would have garnered experience and grown your business to earn money while waiting for a better paid job or whatever, your mates may still be dependent on their parents, which is not always a palatable period for most people, especially if your parents have a very slim purse.

Businesses don’t necessarily cost much to start neither do they take up all your time. Rather, it makes one to discipline his/herself with time. For, while your friends might be frittering their free time away in the Student Union café or partying, you could be making the most use of your passion or expertise, raking in revenue from your ventures.

From next week, this column would start discussing business ideas that students could develop and still come up tops in their examinations.