Top 5 Small-Scale Businesses For Undergraduates

As a student, you are always in need of a little extra money. It doesn't matter what you are being given by your parents, it is just never enough. Students always have unforeseen expenses springing up all the time and most of these expenses are not covered in the monthly or weekly stipends given to them by their parents. This article highlights top 5 small-scale businesses for undergraduates.

Students who struggle financially, especially those who are not from wealthy homes, should have a means of making quick money on the side. You could either get a part-time job or start a small business that would not take the bulk of your time. Remember that your primary reason for being in school is to get a good education and graduate with a good grade.

Small-scale businesses are businesses that require little or no capital to start up. They require a few employees and are mostly privately owned with a bulk of the profits going to the owner. Small-scale business owners do not need to target a large customer base and this makes it easy to manage.

Below is a list of 5 small-scale businesses that undergraduates can use to make income :

1. Affiliate marketing

It is the practice of recommending a company's product or services to potential customers. This business requires no capital to start up and has good earning possibilities depending on the marketer's ability to sell the products.

Affiliate marketers make use of blogs, social media, and emails to market these products and earn a commission off the sale of the product. It is of immense benefit to students because marketers can work from home, they do not need a huge capital to start up and it enables them to learn new skills like content creation and email marketing.

An average affiliate marketing product costs about 30 thousand naira to purchase and the cost can be financed from content creation gigs. The product can then be sold for however much is essential to enable the marketer to get their profit.

2. Catering services

This is perfect for those people who would want to turn their passion for cooking to a means of generating income. Students love to eat but most times it takes so much time to prepare food especially after a stressful day, this is where a catering service comes in. In an interview with a catering service in Ondo State, Nigeria called Gleam foods.

The business owner who is a final year student at the Federal University of Technology Akure explains that major patrons are students of the institution who are sometimes too busy or lazy to cook. According to her, an average meal from her business costs between 1000 naira to 1500 naira to prepare, and upon the sale, she makes a 15 percent profit.

Some students also require her services to prepare large quantities of food that can last a week, this service could cost about 5000 naira. So far her biggest challenges are unexpected expenses due to the unstable price of raw food in the market and low patronage. Finance for catering services is easily sourced by receiving an advance payment from customers.

3. Laundry services

You do not need washing machines to start up a laundry business, washing can easily be done with your hands till you can afford the capital to invest in washing machines. An average laundry service requires no capital to start up, the major challenge with the business is sourcing for customers.

You can include money for detergent and other washing materials in the service charge. Extra money can also be charged for home service and ironing services.

4. Freelancing

Students who have acquired digital skills like graphic design, software development, Ul/UX, content writing, and search engine optimization can sell their skills on different freelancing platforms like Scrollforth, Fiverr, Guru amongst many others. This does not require any capital to start up as most of these services can be rendered on phones and laptops.

5.Tutorial centers

Last but not least of the top 5 small-scale businesses for undergraduates is tutoring. This is perhaps one of the most popular businesses amongst students. Students can organize tutorial classes for their peers and students in lower levels for a fee.

Most of these businesses can be run on the weekends and do not necessarily have to infringe on the regular school schedule. Students can generate awareness for their business by printing flyers and running social media campaigns to generate publicity.