How to Build a Successful Business as a Student in Nigeria

Student entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart, and I know this from my sister’s experience as a student entrepreneur.

As a perfume vendor, she often speaks of how she has to carry her products to sell in school, create content for social media, procure goods from her supplier, and get a panic attack when the price of a bottle of perfume soars by 30%, due to inflation — all this while trying to attend lectures, prepare for school presentation and project work, read for tests and exams, etc.

This and more are the peculiarities associated with being a student entrepreneur. However, it is one of the best decisions you can make if you intend to be self-employed after graduation. In this article, we’ll examine 7 things you can do to build a successful business as a student. Let’s get into it.

7 Things to do to build a successful business as a student

Succeeding as a student entrepreneur requires understanding the basics of business operations and how to balance your academics and business. Here, we’ll examine 7 things you can do to succeed as a student entrepreneur.

1. Create a business plan

The first step is to create a business plan with details on the type of business, the target market and audience, value proposition, mode of operation, etc. With a business plan, you have a clear understanding of how to go from ideation to execution, enabling you to establish your business with clarity.

For student entrepreneurs, you can start with a business model canvas- a mini business plan, containing details about your customers, value proposition, sales model, etc. With a business model canvas, investors, employees, and other stakeholders can get a clear understanding of your business and how it works.

2. Understand your niche, target market and audience

Your niche refers to the business landscape your business operated in, such as fashion, technology, food, education, etc. And it is key to understand how things are done in that niche, to help you make the right decisions regarding what to venture into and how. By understanding your niche, you can discover your competitors, the best pricing model to adopt, how to attract customers, sales tactics peculiar to your industry, etc.

For example, in the fashion industry, you can decide to focus on Aso-ebi or Ready to Wear clothes. By understanding what it takes to do either, you can then make the right decision on which to focus on.

Next is to understand your target market. This refers to a group of people with shared characteristics that you can advertise your products to. The target market is a broad group from which you can pick your target audience depending on the product offerings. For example, if you are in the fashion niche, and you want to start a clothing line for young ladies aged 20–35, your target audience will be individuals within this age bracket.

So, conduct your research on these individuals to understand their pain points in fashion, the kind of clothes they like, the social media platforms where they can be found, the content that appeals to them, etc. This understanding will help you attract them, to make them Know, Like, and Trust you.

3. Leverage technology to make your life easy

Technology has made life easy and you should leverage it to build your business faster and better. There are tools you can use now for managing your business money, sending invoices to customers, creating content for social media, etc all for free.

With a tool like ChatGPT, you can create content for your business with ease, Canva can help with creating stunning designs. With Capcut, you can create and edit videos to advertise your business. With Wave, you can track income and expenses for free, etc.

4. Always stay atop your finances

Managing business money is one of the challenges many business owners face, and student entrepreneurs are not exempted. From managing your business cash flow, creating a business budget, tracking expenses, setting prices, etc. you must be armed with information and systems to organize your finances to build a successful business.

Another mistake newbie business owners make is mixing business money with personal money. To avoid this, open a separate bank account for your business where customers make payments, and through which you carry out business-related transactions. This will keep your business finances in check and help you not spend business money on personal expenses.

5. Get a mentor

Mentorship is key for success in life, whether for business, academic, career, etc. In business, you need someone who can hold your hands and teach you what to do to make your business journey blissful. With mentors, you can shorten your trial-and-error phase and get it right early.

When choosing a mentor, go for someone with knowledge of business and your business niche, if possible. This could be someone older than you in age or even your age mate, who is more experienced with business than you are. Also, ensure you maximize the access you get to that mentor to get the best from the relationship.

6. Be open to failing and learning

You can’t let your failures define you. You have to let your failures teach you.” ― Barack Obama. Failure is a part of life and learning. So, it is key that you are open to the possibility of failure and allow the failure to teach you instead of define you.

So, irrespective of whatever circumstances you may encounter, be prepared to stay through the course and build your business even amidst turbulent economic periods.

7. Join a community to learn, network, and grow

Being part of a business community is one of the best things you can do for yourself as a student entrepreneur. Many of these communities are there to help you connect with individuals who have more experience than you, and so, can share what works with you. You also get to ask questions and get answers from seasoned experts, share your opinions on business discussions, get access to tools, etc, depending on the offering of the community.

In our community in Triift Africa, we offer the above benefits and much more to our members, alongside giving loans, discounted access to business tools, etc. Join us today.

Get it right early

Being a student entrepreneur means you can gather all the experience, expertise, skills, etc you need to grow your business while you are still in school, before getting into a full-time business after graduation. With this, you have the opportunity to make your mistakes early, learn from them, expand your network, and gather all the arsenal you need to build a successful business.

At Triift Africa, we are committed to making it easier for business owners like you to access the financial and business resources they need to start and grow. Have a niggling business problem you need solutions to? Visit our website www.triift.africa or send a message to us at triiftafrica@gmail.com.

Got value from this article? Then give us as many claps as possible, and share this article with a student entrepreneur you know. Trust me, they will thank you for it.