By Qistina Kamal
A few months ago, IIUM has been related to the needy students that were running out of money and with the high cost of living, the scholarship alone may not be enough for students to survive in campus. There is an English proverb that says “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
This concept can be implemented in the current situation of students that are in need of money and to start a small business to survive in the campus would be a great opportunity to help them. A business venture can be the basic for the students to earn more pocket money and also be a life-long strategy especially if it is in line with their career path.
There are a variety of business ventures that students could take part that fit their skills and complement their limited time which includes car rental, transporter, printing and photocopying, online writing, tutoring, selling sausages, fruit drinks, cosmetics, cupping, selling clothes or hijab. As long as the students have the interest and skills to start a business, any type of business is not an obstacle if you are not a professional in that field.
To be more specific, it is not odd to see a law student selling sausages every night by door to door service at the Mahallah. As long as the interest and skills to start a business is there, the money is ready to be yours because the primary target for any business is to generate income.
Due to the limited number of space in the job market, students should learn to not only be a job seeker, but also a job creator. At least, by having the experience of starting a business, it will help them to not only survive in campus, but also when they have graduated. Instead of being jobless while waiting for their dream job after graduating, business ventures can also help them to survive out there.
There are some steps that can be shared with those who want to start their own business:
- Choose a concept for your own business that suits your time and skills.
- Demandingly high prices will only make your business last for a short period. Thus, set prices that are affordable for students.
- Create a unique name for your business and save the URL because people will google your business in order to find the description for it. Make your media presence known to others.
- Develop your budget and strategic marketing plan by keeping the business running for one semester and it can also be a testing period for your business. If the phase is a success, then start with the second phase for the next semester.
- Be confident and keep your consistency in doing the business venture
Most students would prefer to only concentrate on their studies and avoid distraction especially if they are fully sponsored by their parents; or if they are on scholarship from any other source. The truth is that if a student can create time for socialising and online networking, they can as well create time to start and manage a business and generate income. This is a one-two punch combination of steps to start a business venture that will hopefully give the students a basis for entrepreneurism that will help them to survive in campus with the increasingly high cost of living. ***