In my quest to discover the perfect side hustle to juggle with school, I interviewed 9 people who have/had different side hustles while studying in a tertiary institution in Nigeria. 

According to Amphy’s blog, Side hustles is defined as a secondary job or income source that individuals pursue outside their regular job or primary source of income. However, in the case of students, our primary source of income is either our parents or we have no prior source at all. This is why I’m here to help.

Side hustles for school students in Nigeria is a rigorous path. University students are mostly torn between maintaining a stellar academic performance and the dire need to live a “comfortable” life, especially with the miserable economic climate.

These 9 people discussed with me: Why they got into their side hustle, How much they earned from it, the most difficult experience they had, how feasible it is to juggle with school, and finalized by dropping wise words for anyone who wants to tread the same path as them. 

Let’s begin 

What is your side hustle? 

Amarachi Nduka(23): Tailoring 

Shalom Ayianna(21): Content Creation 

Anita(23): Wig ventilation 

Katherine (22): Ui/Ux designer 

Joy(22): Retailer 

David Aka Alaska (22): Club Promoter 

Ifechi (22): I transitioned from a social media influencer to a Crytpo and Web 3 babe 

Shallie(23): Culture Journalist (writer)

Daniel Bisi-Aretola(23): Graphic designer 

What course do /did you study in school? 

Amarachi: Medical Laboratory 

Aiyanna: Law 

Anita: Law

Katherine: Health Education 

Joy: Nursing 

David: Education History 

Ifechi: Nursing 

Shallie: Chemistry 

Daniel: Law

How old and what level were you in when you started? 

Amarachi: I was 19 years old and I was in 100 level. 

Aiyanna: I was 16. I was in my first year of university

Anita: 22. I was in 300 level 

Katherine : 20.  I was in 400 level 

Joy: I'm not saying my age. I was in 100 level 

David: 300 level 

Ifechi: I started with Social media influencing at 18 and slowly entered the world of Crypto at 20

Shallie: 20 and I was at home (COVID)

Daniel: ⁠I think I was about 16. I started in my first year at the university.

What made you start it? 

Amarachi: Starting it had nothing to do with passion. I just started it because I needed to make money to survive in school. School billing choke

Aiyanna: I did not realize I was actually going into content creation. It was during lockdown. I just started with randomly dressing up, taking pictures, and posting.

Anita: I was seriously tired of not having money and the previous year I had made so many mistakes that could have been avoided if I had money

Katherine: A friend told me about it two years before I started. However, I couldn’t start because I didn’t have a laptop and I wasn’t so interested. Until I met a developer who encouraged me to start and even bought my first course for me

Joy: Independence. I needed a source of income 

David: I have so much love for the entertainment industry. I suddenly started to get so many applauds for how good I would be in the PR space, so yeah I got myself in

Ifechi: I started influencing because I managed to grow my brand on Twitter. My friends proceeded to onboard me into web3 because of the influencing advantages I had.

Shallie: I started it because I was broke, I was at home and I needed money

Daniel: Well, I was heavily invested in Comics and I had this dream of publishing my own comic books. I inquired into the process and realized that I needed graphic design skills

How much capital did you need to start? 

Amarachi: My aunt gifted me a sewing machine, so no cost there. I actually learned tailoring before I gained admission. I learned the skill with 20,000 naira. I did an upgrade in 2022 with 80,000 naira. It is good to note that this 80,000 excludes money spent on practicals in the fashion Academy, transport, feeding, etc. I also worked from home so I didn’t spend money on shop or anything. I ran paid ads for the business and really advertised myself a lot in school.

Aiyanna: I didn’t need any capital to start at the time especially because I didn’t think it was something I would do long term. I started in my home with my phone. It’s good to note I have had to acquire some equipment as I grow 

Anita: Well, things were not so bad in 2022 when I started. I used about 200, 00 naira to commence the business. It covered training and tools. 

Katherine: Zero capital. I just needed a laptop, new courses, and data. My aunty got me a laptop and for the courses, I didn’t pay for it directly when I started so that’s no capital on my side

Joy: No funds. I started with preordering 

David: No capital 

Ifechi: None actually. But for crypto, my first and only investment was about 60k, I bought 1.5 Solana and minted an NFT that gave me about $400, it was up from there

Shalom: I just needed my phone, so none 

Daniel: At the time, the laptop I needed to kickstart was about 100 thousand naira, and extra expenses for software and other things were about 20 thousand naira

How much did/do you make it from it? 

Amarachi: When I began the journey ,I didn’t care about savings. I just wanted to be able to have enough to eat and pay for school stuff. But in 2022, I started saving. In the space of 3 months, I made roughly 200,000 to 300,000 naira 

Aiyanna: That’s not something I’m comfortable sharing.

Anita: The amount I make varies. However, I don’t make less than 50,000 naira a month 

Katherine: I don’t work full time. I’m freelancing right now, so it’s difficult to say. Nonetheless, I’ve made around 2000 dollars from a project before

Joy: Let’s say average of 30,000-60,000 naira monthly. That was 2020

David: I don’t like saying this. However, we can estimate a hundred thousand… thereabouts 

Ifechi: Monthly, I’ll say an estimate of about $750

Shallie: When I was freelancing I would make about 200,000 naira monthly.  

Daniel: Well, subsequently, I started making about 50,000 to 60,000 naira a month

Was it easy to juggle with your university course? 

Amarachi: To be very honest, it wasn’t easy because I’m doing a professional course. The everyday lectures, practicals, and exams were always tiring. But I have God and good friends who helped out. It didn’t stop it from being hard, just softened it. At some point, I felt alone and stressed. I can recount my lab posting days at FMC (Federal Medical Center) and specialist hospitals, they were always tedious.

Aiyanna: Laughs . Definitely not. There were times I’d stop creating for a while because of my exams and there were times when I completely skipped school for weeks because I was creating. Both sides have taken losses due to the presence of the other.

Anita: It’s really difficult to combine the two, especially because I’m studying a demanding course. Most times one (school) has to suffer and the only time school comes first is during the examination period.

Katherine: It wasn’t easy. It could have been if I started earlier. But I was in my final year with loads of projects, going to classes, and preparing for tests and exams. I lost an internship once because of it and I had to stop designing at a point

Joy: Wasn’t easy at all with studies

David: I’ve never really been a school person and yes, it got worse when I started The PR Nightlife thing. I hardly go to school and all. My grades fell off a bit, but that’s fine

Ifechi: Ah, it was very hard, I had to reduce my web3 presence after I saw my 200-level result. However, after I fixed that, I have managed to juggle both

Shallie: Chemistry is a very demanding course so it was easy to juggle at all 

Daniel: To be honest, I would say yes. I had clear-cut time for graphic designing and work policies to make sure I didn’t disregard my books.

Can you recount any difficult experience that almost made you give up on the side hustle? 

Amarachi: I haven’t really thought of giving up. Instead I want to get better everyday and I’m grateful for my growth. It just gets tough because I have to work alone and when I have lots of orders. And sometimes bad experiences with clients can make you doubt your abilities. Some customers even talk down on you and make you feel less. It’s a lot but giving up, no. 

Aiyanna: Honestly, no. Just because it is not a side hustle to me. There were moments when I wanted to give up on school instead but being the girl that I am and coming from the type of family I do, it wasn’t an option.

Anita: Well, I’ve not really thought of giving up. It wasn’t easy building a loyal customer base.

Katherine: In 2022, I had a recruiter reach out to me for a role and I was so excited about it because I wasn’t applying for jobs and it felt so unreal that I was reached out to. I did three rounds of interviews and didn’t get the job. The most painful part was I stayed up all night to finish a design I had to present to them. I was up from 8 pm to 5 am working to present for the third interview and still didn’t get it. They actually ghosted and didn’t even send a rejection mail till I reached out again. It was so humbling and I couldn’t get myself to design for a whole month. I couldn’t even open my laptop at all

Joy: A lot of things almost made me quit: Cost of shipping from China, lack of funds, poor marketing, delivery challenges, location differences, school exams, etcetera 

David: There was this time I wasn’t getting what I deserved in compensation, and still they were expecting so much from m. Nonetheless, I had to deliver cause I wasn’t doing whatever I was doing for the pay but the passion. It was a difficult time for me

Ifechi: School was my difficulty. My side hustle needed me to be on my phone 24/7, classes wouldn’t let me do that.

Shallie: There was no time I almost gave up. It just gets frustrating when I have exams. 

Daniel: ⁠An experience I remember was when my laptop became faulty and I was told I needed a new laptop. At that point, I couldn’t afford to purchase a new laptop. A job that should ordinarily take an hour started averaging three-four hours to get completed. You can imagine the frustration, I almost gave up.

One major advice for someone who wants to take the same route as you 

Amarachi: It’s never too late to learn that skill. It’s best you know it now because I believe doing it after school can be frustrating. The earlier you learn, the earlier you build your client base and gain a lot of experience. It will definitely be hard but you should be resilient and persistent. The light will always still be at the end of the tunnel.

Aiyanna: Enter content creation because you love it or because you want to know if you’ll like it. In truth, your love for it will keep you in dry seasons(that is seasons where there’s no PR, money, or engagements).

Anita: I’d honestly advise the person to stick to their guns. Nothing beats financial independence

Katherine: Be consistent. I really wish I was 

David: Pray always. Be patient. Stay focused. Overlook anything that has to do with competition. And think differently, not just differently, but creatively too! 

Daniel: It pays to have an extra source of income so keep at it. Over time, you’ll be glad you went down that path

Get to know more of the interviewees

Amarachi: Find my business page on Instagram:stitches_by_amaah

Aiyanna : I’m helping the girls up their makeup game on Instagram : Shalom Ayianna

Katherine: Hi, send my portfolio to high-paying companies 

Alaska: We can always talk business here

Shallie: You can find me on Twitter doing journalism things 

Daniel: Currently riding the waves of law school but here is my Instagram page: spectragrahicz