Students at the University of Zambia (UNZA) have taken up the initiative to start up different small scale businesses around campus to earn a living for themselves.
For some students it has become quite a sufficient way of earning extra money to pay for things like books, food and nights out while for others it has become a lifetime investment for the future.
A fourth-year student in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences Kabwe Kalebaila is one of the students that hopes to run a successful hair dressing business after university.
Ms Kalebaila mentioned that successful entrepreneurs in Zambia today made an early start to their business endeavors and that is one thing they share in common with many other entrepreneurs worldwide.
You do not always have to finish your studies before you decide to become an entrepreneur.
She said.
Notably, there is need for caution if a student is planning on getting a substantial business off the ground while still studying.
Ms Kalebaila further stressed the need for students to manage time and juggle their goals effectively so that business plans did not eclipse the reason for being at the University in the first place.
Meanwhile, second-year student Musonda Nyirenda, an aspiring makeup artist noted that the modern business landscape is changing rapidly.
She stated that a side effect of this evolution was that it would be far less likely that one would leave university and walk into a traditional job.
There is solid sense in getting one step ahead while you are still studying. Starting a small business can mean many different things; at one end of the scale, you may have plans to work independently ranging from freelance work to professional work.
Said Ms Nyirenda.
She observed that many kinds of freelance careers have proven to be dependent on having a solid reputation and portfolio of work and therefore, required students to build on those things as quickly as possible.
Some businesses that students have engaged in are baking, hair styling, and selling merchandise ranging from clothes to electronic gadgets within and outside campus.