continued review of business ideas

GREETINGS for the day once more. This blog is a continuation of some of the reviews that i gave you yesterday on some of the business ideas im seeing at NUST campus. Some of the ideas i am going to talk about today can also be used by other non academic individuals as they are equally beneficial.
1) Selling food and drinks
When it comes to NUST, food and drinks have the largest market. There are a number of formal providers and many informal ones. Based on the fact that it is a small business it would be best to start informally and then become formal with time. There are a few ladies who sell rice, chicken, sadza and beef at a dollar per meal including food containers. There are a number of problems associated with this kind of business but there are some traits that i admire. One of the ladies is very popular with the students because she pays attention to individual needs and provides students with ice cold water as an added bonus. This lady makes around $5-$15 per day in terms of profit. The same cannot be said for other women who try and provide food as well but do not make as much profit. This kind of business is simple in that you make the food yourself but you have to be careful to provide clean, healthy and appetizing meals which are also balanced. You would require about $30 to start such a business and reaping profit would only be possible if you find affordable service providers. For ideas on how to cook the food consult recipe books and the link below.
http://www.framedcooks.com/2013/06/summer-chicken-rice-salad.html

You can also view the videos above for added cooking inspiration.

2) Plaiting hair and styling locks
For anyone who has gone through university it is common knowledge that women and female students at institutes are the largest market for hair products and services. I know of several girls who are paying their rentals using money earned from plaiting people's hair. The most common hairstyles are weaves and braids and these have always been very popular. Students pay from as little as $5 to as much as $25 just to get their hair done. So if you do not mind getting dirty and standing for hours on end this would be the best business idea for you. Ive posted videos for those who want to learn how to plait hair and make some extra cash doing so..GOODLUCK my friends. That is all for today.

A review of small businesses at university

Greetings students. The whole purpose of my blog was to provide students with business ideas that they could do at University. The purpose of this blog is to therefore talk about some of the ideas that i have witnessed this week and suggest ways to implement the ideas.

1) selling crisps, sweets and jewellery. More than 25 students sell food and jewellery at my university and based on the growing number of students it appears that this is the most low budget and relatively low profit kind of business. The only advantage is that a student has a consistant flow of  money every week for bread, tomatoes and the like. A very enterprising student that i know sells jewellery, makeup and belts. This is a particularly good kind of business because of the existence of a large market at Nust. This is where market research and knowledge becomes very important. I can estimate that for one to start such a business one should have $5 dollars to buy a pack of chips and $3 for a packet of sweets and each of those things will be sold at either a rand or two each. Profits range from a dollar to $3 for all of the products.

2) selling hot dogs, french fries and burgers

Very few students opt for this business idea because it is very demanding in terms of time , commitment and even hard work. I only know of two people who sell this kind of food and they have very high profit margins. One of the advantage of this idea is you have loyal customers who will buy from you on a daily basis and you easily cultivate relationships with them. It is even better if you have a bubbling personality and have lots of friends who are willing to help. It usually takes about $30 to start this business and profit margins range from about $3-$10 per week. However as i mentioned before this kind of business is very demanding. 

That is all for today and i hope you can find an idea that is applicable to you. Other ideas will be posted in the following blogs so keep reading my blog. HAPPY MONEYMAKING. I have uploaded some videos that you can use for your business.

http://www.mytopbusinessideas.com/college-students/

my personal business story

Greetings businesspeople and fellow students

 We are approaching the end of the week and i thought i would share with you my own personal small business experience and look at ideas that you can do over the weekend and make money. During my own semester break i was very much in need of some cash and my parents were cash-strapped. Besides that, i wanted to travel but i had no money and i could not borrow any from anyone due to the infamous January disease. I sat down for the longest time thinking about ideas and i figured the only way i stood a chance of making money was through selling some of the clothes that my family did not use. It seemed a feasible idea and i searched through the house and set up my business in front of our yard. This kind of business is commonly called "kutengesa mabhero" or a yard sale if you have other goods. Given my bad timing i did not manage to sell more than 3 pieces of clothing : all of which were sold at a ridiculous amount. I returned to school broke and discouraged. The point of this blog is not a narration of my own personal business failures but there is a point to be made. Timing is very important in any business. Consider the needs of consumers at that particular time and what they would be willing to spend money on. Now that my point is made i would like to focus on small business ventures that can be carried out over the weekend with great results.
1) The yard/garage sale
This basically involves selling pieces of furniture clothing books cutlery and other things that you may not need for money. Yard sales can be done over the weekend and with sufficient advertising an individual can make quite the hefty sum of money.
http://www.yardsalequeen.com/yardsale.htm

2)Events management
This of course implies catering and baking for events and involves doing the deco too. This of course would apply to events that will be done over the weekend and never weekdays.

3) Be a tutor or a nanny
I was a tutor during my high school days and this was a great way to keep money flowing in.

4)If you are a musician or an artist perform at your local restaurant or wait tables
This one is particularly good for students who have limited time.

5)Freelance writing
If you have a way with words you can submit good news stories to your local paper and make about $7 per story.

That will be all for this week. Other ideas are at the bottom of this post. Happy Valentines weekend my friends. Namaste.
http://www.powerhomebiz.com/business-ideas/10-home-business-ideas-for-the-weekend.htm
http://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/205884

Introduction to small business ideas for students.

Greetings business people and fellow students.
This is my first blog and for the purposes of understanding my blog, this post is going to be introductory. I am a student doing part 2 at NUST and in my two years i have witnessed and experienced many financial difficulties. However i have been inspired by the students at the institute who try to make a living while paying for their studies. Given the financial crisis our country is facing this blog will be a survival tool not only for students but for Zimbabweans as a whole. Below is a list of how you can come up with a small business idea even though you might know economics or anything commercially related.

1) Relax! This will help you to come up with an idea that is suitable for you.
2) Discover what financial needs you may have and thus the amount of money you are willing to save towards your business
3) Research and find out what other people are doing and select a potential idea from their experiences.
4) Select an idea and draft a business plan for future investors and others who may show interest.
5)  Find funding for your idea and allocate resources be it employees, time, money and equipments and your products.
6) Do a market research and find a suitable target market for for your products.
7) Go forth and reap your harvest!

Below is a list of links which may aid you in this process.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/businessplan/index.html
https://www.sba.gov/tools/business-plan/1
http://www.business.gov.au/business-topics/starting-a-business/Pages/default.aspx