Notes from Covenant University Students Business Owners, Building Enterprises while Earning Degrees
One minute, they’re paying apt attention to the lecturer, scribbling notes and answering questions. But when the clock hits 5 pm, they are nowhere to be found. As fast as the wind, they leave the familiar classroom scene to face their next battlefield. Where are they? Well, they could be at the corner of their rooms, their favourite table at the library, or the park. Why? To find the peace and quiet to unfold the many ideas that crowd their minds, eager to make them a reality. What do they do? They think of ways to solve a problem, to make things better, and to make some cash. Who are they? They are the student entrepreneurs of Covenant University, breaking the norms as they juggle academic excellence with business brilliance. How do they do it? Well, welcome to the busy world of Covenant University student entrepreneurs, where achieving academic success is just one part of their multifaceted lives as they deal with the challenges of being a business owner.
While other students spend their days complaining about the demands of their academics and how stressful school is, these students not only excel and attain high grades but also use the university environment to their advantage as entrepreneurs - creating connections, building networks, and turning the students and lecturers on campus to loyal lifelong customers, while establishing the groundwork for a prosperous career outside of University.
From clothing brands to tech startups, university student business owners are juggling the responsibilities of running a company with the pressures of academia. They have mastered the art of multitasking, squeezing every minute out of their day to ensure their business and studies flourish.
We met and interviewed 3 Covenant University business entrepreneurs to find out how they do it, the struggles they face and advice they can offer to aspiring student business owners. And this is what we learned.
“When NARW was making loads of sales it was hectic, as there was much work to do, especially during trade fair. Funny enough, I had exams a week after. So, I balanced it by creating a schedule”. That’s what Daniel Ogbe, co-founder of NARW, a Christian streetwear brand, answered when asked how he manages his time. He explained he knows when to work and when to read, emphasizing the importance of having a schedule.
Time management is an essential tool for students, but for student entrepreneurs, it is something they swear by. This is to ensure that both areas are attended to properly. Creating schedules comes in handy. This could be done with a physical planner or digital calendars. With these tools, time for classes, business tasks, study sessions, and even personal downtime are allotted to different hours of the day, to ensure no area is left behind. And of course, these schedules are to be followed strictly for it to work. For Salome, CEO of Abba’s Daughters Wears, it’s important to ‘balance it’ and allot time to every task. “I just balance it. I give time to each of them. When I’m in class, I focus in class, so when I’m out of class, I can focus on my business because I’ve already learned a bulk of it in class.”
Another important key to their success is the power of prioritization. Sometimes, that product launch may have to stay at the backseat in order to ace that impending exam. However, when classes are not so tasking, the entrepreneurial drive kicks up again and they can focus on their business. They must be really focused as well as have good flexibility to adjust to the demands of both the classroom and the business world. These are qualities that will surely help them in their studies and future endeavours. Salome tells us, “I set my priorities right. My tasks for my business are very little now because I have exams. I’ve almost stopped selling, I just sell bracelets now. Because now my priority is to study for my exams.”
As glamorous as it may sound, managing a business and still being a student comes with its challenges. One of them is the solitary nature of one’s business. Most student businesses are sole proprietorships meaning, a lot of the operations of the business, be it idea execution, delivery, customer service, and the likes are handled by one student. The same student that is also struggling to get an A in that difficult course! Hence, the tendency to feel alone and overwhelmed can not be inevitable. But for Adebogun Esther, owner of Glossy Pride, a beauty brand, these challenges might be there but God is too. “Early this year, the business was making massive sales as a result of the sales in December. I didn’t want to resume school because I knew that if I came back to school the sales would not have been as consistent as when I was around because I was a major part of the marketing. And just then God told me to stop the business and focus on the responsibilities that I had in school. I’m not going to lie it was a hard decision. This is where I had to trust God. In the end, I got my 5.0 GPA and I’m currently making 3 times more profit than what we made in January.”
What of the grades of these busy students? Has it ever suffered from their focus on their business? Daniel tells us his business is not the only factor that has affected his academics. “NARW was not my only business, so a combination of different things affected my academics last semester. That’s because I allocated my time to too many things at the same time, but now I’ve decided to stick to just NARW and my school work. With that strategy, I got my best result so far even in my 200-level omega even while handling NARW.” And for Esther, her business has not affected her academics at all. “Definitely not, anybody who knows me knows that I love school. My academics are a big deal to me so despite the fact that I have a business, school is my number 1 priority.”
For these entrepreneurs, Covenant University’s environment plays a crucial role in fostering their entrepreneurial spirit. Not only does this environment provide students as customers or patronage to their brands/services but Salome informs of us a compulsory course known as Entrepreneurial Studies (EDS) that teaches the students on what it takes to build a business. She says; “Being an entrepreneur in Covenant University has been motivating, because we’ve been offering EDS from 100 level. In each class, you keep on hearing take the risk, create your business, start your idea, etc.”
So, maybe going for EDS class is not so bad after all!
There are many students out there who want to start their business in school but don’t know how to. Esther's advice is to JUST START! “I’ve been speaking to a lot of people and they have the mentality that to start a business you have to have checked all the boxes. You don’t always have everything figured out. Just start if you know it’s something you can be committed to. If you feel you can juggle it go for it, but your academics should never suffer for it.” But while it’s important to just start no matter how small, Daniel also advises to have a structure so you don’t get lost in the way. “You have to have a vision because that’s the only thing that keeps you going even when the chips are down. Also, you need to know how to manage your profit and how to invest that money to the betterment of your business.”
In conclusion, these students have proven that achieving academic success and commercial success can go hand in hand. These people surpass expectations and take full advantage of their academic setting to achieve success in both domains. Their resilience, inventiveness, and tenacity are on full display as they manage the demands of both entrepreneurship and academia. By delving into their lives, we have learned a great deal about the special possibilities and difficulties they face, emphasizing the commitment and resourcefulness required to manage this dual position. While we applaud their achievements, we also recognize that their experiences may have a lasting influence on how education and business develop in the future.
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