If you’re a Kenyan student, there are many side hustles to do that will generate money for you. As a student, you don’t have to rely on your parents for upkeep and school fees, all you need is the idea to start a side hustle and dedicate your free time into running the business. Since we understand that you don’t have enough time to run the side hustle full time, we provide a list of side hustles you can do even when you are actively in class.
- Become a blogger
Blogging is an excellent venture for students. This is something you’ll start as a side hustle and end up making it your main hustle. Believe it or not, there are bloggers in Kenya earning over Ksh1 million every month. The capital required to start blogging in Kenya is Ksh 3,000 to Ksh10,000.
You need to start by registering a domain name, buying hosting plan and designing a website. Bluehost will register your domain name for free and offer hosting for Ksh300 per month. To get your new domain,click on this link
Alternatively, register your domain from Skyhost Kenya, then tell them to design a website for you—they’ll charge you small amount for web design. Skyhost is one of the best web design companies in Kenya. To get your new domain, hosting plan and web design services,click here to visit Skyhost
After coming up with a blog, start posting. Make sure your content is good enough to attract companies to advertise on it. Bloggers in Kenya make money through Google AdSense. To register for AdSense is very free.
If AdSense does not approve your site, MGID is also there. The rules for joining MGID are not as many as those of AdSense. To register for MGID,follow this link
Bloggers earn money based on the traffic their sites attract. If you manage to get 1 million visitors, be sure of making over Ksh200,000
- Betting on football matches
While you are relaxing in your room doing nothing, register with a reliable betting company and bet on football matches. One of the best betting companies in Kenya is 22Bet—it gives welcome bonus of 100%.To register for 22Bet,click on this link
You can also bet on jackpots and win up to Ksh500 million. Never shy away from betting on jackpots because that’s the only way you can come a millionaire quickly.
- Sell products on social media
Social media is a perfect platform which you’ll use to sell your own products to other students. Some of the sellable products include: smartphones, clothes, electronics and shoes. You should own serious social media pages in order to sell your products.
- Own a business near the university/college
There are many businesses a student can open near a university or college. However, knowing the best performing business is the most ideal thing to do. Below is some of the best businesses to do near a university in Kenya:
- Run a pool table
- Start fast food restaurant
- Start juice blending business
- Wines and spirits shop
- General restaurant business
- Photocopy, printing and scanning business
- Electronics shop
- Phone repair shop
- MPESA shop
- Become a YouTuber
YouTube is a platform to join for free, post videos and earn money through AdSense. Even if you’re a high school student, you can comfortably run a YouTube channel.
But you are only allowed to monetize your channel when it’s at least 12 months only, has over 4,000 watch hours and with at least 1,000 subscribers.
With 1,000 views, YouTube will generate at least Ksh100 for you. Imagine getting 1 million views, that’s a cool Ksh200,000.
- Entertain people on social media and get paid through MPESA
Comedians, journalists and DJs are some of the people who entertain their audience and get paid through MPESA.Start by sharing nice jokes, playing music until you get good following, then provide your MPESA number for support.
I know of people earning up to Ksh50,000 per day by just entertaining their followers.
- Do academic writing
Academic writing is hot cake nowadays. Within the university/college there are students who will pay you to do assignments and projects. Simple tasks that you will finish within few hours. Final year students also have several project which you can do for them and earn a living.
Here online, numerous academic writing companies exist. All of them pay depending on the number of pages you successfully complete—they pay Ksh200 to Ksh500 per page.
- Offer tuition services
Even if you’re not a teacher, you can offer tuition services during holiday period and get paid.I also did the same when I was a student and I used to earn Ksh5,000 in a single month. During my days,I never asked for money from my parents because I had enough. I also used to operate a pool table within the college.
- Affiliate marketing
Companies like Jumia, Kilimall and 22Bet offer opportunities to Kenya to market their products and earn commissions. Affiliate marketing is one of the best side hustles for those who want to earn recurring income. A company like 22Bet will pay up to 40% of the money your players lose. Personally, I earn over Ksh400,000 every month from 22Bet alone. Currently, I am marketing over 20 products which generate for me more than Ksh1.5 million every month.
Participate in online Paid Surveys
Another good hustle for students is online paid surveys. There are a number of survey companies which pay Kenyans when they answer questions-identify them, register and start making money. They include:
- Triaba
- Mobrog
- Ipsos I-Say
- Pinecone Research
- Toluna
- Inbox Dollars
- My Survey
- Swagbucks
- Point Club
- Nielsen Digital Voice
- Build and sell websites and domains
To buy a domain name costs less than Ksh1000 but you can sell the same for Ksh 100,000. Creating a website costs less than Ksh 10,000 but one can sell the same for more than Ksh 500,000.I once sold my website for Ksh3 million. The site used to receive over 300,000 visitors per month.A company approached me with the intention of buying it and when I quoted Ksh4 million, they bargained to Ksh3 million.I was happy.
If you want to start this business, go to Bluehost and register as many domains as possible, then create a website where you’ll list them. To register your domain name,click on this link
- Start ecommerce business
Don’t wait until you finish college in order to start an ecommerce website. The future of online market falls in the ecommerce business. While in school, you have enough time to build the business from scratch. You know, people like Zuckerberg, Bill Gates started their businesses while in college. You have a golden opportunity while in school because as a student, you don’t have many responsibilities. Kenya Website Experts will register and ecommerce website for you for as low as ksh500.Web hosting for one year costs Ksh2,100 only. To create such a site,click on this link
- Sell past papers online
Majority of people doing courses like CPA and CFA are students. As a student, you can sample reading materials, past papers and answers and sell them to other students. Use Facebook and your personal blog to sell the papers. I am sure you’ll become a millionaire within a short time.
- Rent rooms and let out to other students
When schools are opening, students get hard time to find accommodation. As a clever student, you should rush and book rooms in advance and when schools open, rent out the rooms to other students at a profit. I used to do such a thing when I was in Maseno University. I made over Ksh10,000 every semester by letting out the rooms.
- Start boda boda business
Bodaboda business is hotcake within colleges because it’s the only affordable means of transport. If you can afford at least Ksh 50,000 to buy a bodaboda, do so and start earning money by carrying other students at a fee.
- Photography
During college days that’s when students like taking photos.In most cases,they prefer group photos that are taken by a professional photographer. Buy a good camera and start taking photos to earn money. You can also visit various places, take photos and sell them online.
