10 Businesses You Can Start During Your NYSC

Since NYSC is a compulsory scheme for all Nigerian youth who eventually plan to work in Nigeria, it is a time where you have to be creative and assertive if you want to earn more than the N19,800 that the government pays all youth corps members.

However, rumour has it that it would soon be increased to about N31,000 thereabout, and we still await proof from the youth corps members themselves to confirm this with their bank alerts.

There are certain lucrative businesses you can do during your NYSC year that would fit into your schedule regardless of where your PPA is.

It just requires that you take advantage of the opportunity this one year is offering you to find a sustainable business that you can do even after you finish serving.

Also, read 7 Things You Can Do To Make Money After NYSC

Here are 10 potential businesses you can do during your NYSC.

1. Home tutoring

As a corps member, you are most likely serving in a school. This alone affords you the tools you need to start a tutorial or a private teaching service. You can either do some extra lessons for your students in the school if the school authorities permit it or you can recruit students from outside.

Also, if you equipped for it, you can teach in a POST UTME/ JAMB tutorial center. This is a good choice because the teaching schedule for most centers are flexible and they pay according to the number of hours you teach in a week.

2. Tailoring and fashion designing

Starting a tailoring or fashion designing business is one of the most lucrative and creative ways to make money during NYSC. Most people are looking for a reliable tailor that would sew their outfits the way they want.

If this is a skill you already have, put it to use by making it a business during your service. You can start by sewing for your fellow corps members and build up from there. It would also save you money, as you would be sewing your clothes by yourself.

3. Trading during CDS and Clearance

This is a good place to build a client base for any kind of service you offer. It is also a good place to trade different items like bags, clothes, books, accessories and even snacks. The list of things to trade is endless.

If you start this business early enough, you would see that your fellow corpers would look out for your items during NYSC gatherings before you even start selling.

4. Sell on online marketplaces

This is another way to make money during your service year. You can become a seller on Jumia, Konga, Payporte and other marketplaces in Nigeria and start selling different items on it.

Selling through these means is good because it opens you up to a large number of possible buyers. On these sites, you can also find out what the best items to sell would be by checking the average number of sales of the items in different categories.

5. Start a pastry and baking business

People are always down to eat delicious snacks. If you are skilled in baking and making snacks, you can start selling snacks like chin chin, donuts, egg rolls, peanuts, popcorn and so forth.

You can get permission from the management to sell to students and staff if you work in a school so as to avoid any problems. If you also make cakes, you can advertise at the beginning of each month at NYSC gatherings so that those that have birthdays for that month can book you.

6. Become a fitness trainer

If you love exercising, this is a perfect side hustle for you. So many people are looking to lose weight and get in shape so you already have a target market. You can start Saturday aerobics classes and then take private clients that you can train in the mornings or evenings.

7. Start a cooperative savings scheme with friends

This one is not a business but it is a good way to save money. If you have trustworthy friends, you all can decide to start a cooperative saving scheme locally known as ‘ajoo’.

If you are 10 in number and each of you brings 10,000 or 5,000 per month for 10 months, you would have saved 100, 000 or 50,000 thousand naira. This would help you to have enough money to start a lucrative business after NYSC.

8. Start a food supply business

You can either start a raw foods supply business or cooked food. Most restaurants are looking for easier ways to source their food ingredients. If you are a reliable person that knows how to carry out tasks quickly, you can look for some restaurants around your area that would be open to this.

Also, you can deliver packed lunches to office workers that don’t necessarily have the time to go out and look for food. Start with your friends that you know already need this solution.

9. Write research projects

You can also write research projects for undergraduates in the final year. For different reasons, many of them might not be able to write their projects and you can turn this into a business.

One research project costs anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 naira and you can write about 5 a year if you are good at it.

10. Start small-scale agriculture

Even the government is focusing their resources on making young people more enthusiastic about the agricultural sector. You can start a poultry, fish or snail farm during your service year.

The capital you would need to start this business is an affordable one and you can source for ideas online and with people that you know that already do this business. Also, you can also tie this in with delivering these items to restaurants and other people who would need them in their own business.