5 Smart Things Unemployed Graduates Can Do To Survive In Nigeria
The Nigerian economy, presently, is not in an enviable condition and we all know that the ‘street’ is not friendly and it has not been easy with many graduates. Does this mean that one should continue to wait till a well-paying job comes along? NO!!! Staying idle, doing nothing is not just dangerous but also risky for any young man or woman in our society today! The language therefore is…Hustle! Hustle!! Hustle!!!
Many young graduates who thought that life was a bed of roses during their undergraduate days are now becoming more of realists after being faced with the harsh realities of living without a job in a developing country like Nigeria where the citizens hardly enjoy any meaningful welfare package!!!
The truth is that there’s nobody out there who doles out money to anyone so you need to get up, dust your ass and forge ahead! Below are some ways you can earn money as an unemployed graduate in Nigeria to take care of your pressing and immediate needs: wink cool
1) Freelance property Agent: You do not need a start-up fee or an office for this one. Just liase with big registered and trusted propery agencies and estate managers by bringing clients such as land buyers and people looking for accomodation. You can advertise your services via sign-posts or digital banners, placed in strategic places such as busy street and road junctions; make sure your contacts are clearly displayed. If any deal clicks, there’s a certain percentage you collect from the estate managers/housing agents based on agreement. You see, you don’t even need to move about like Johnny Walker cheesy. All you do is act like a sales person or a middle man that brings the clients to the agents! It pays!!! cool
2) Turn Food Vendors on Sundays: It shouldn’t surprise you why I advise you turn a food vendor on Sundays. It is a fact that Nigerians are very religious people and as such, most shops, restaurants and business ventures do not operate on Sundays. Have you ever felt badly hungry on Sunday before? I guess you know how it feels. There are lots of bachelors and spinsters who hardly have time to cook due to work pressure and others who are just generally too lazy to do that. Cooking assorted types of food to sell on Sundays can help people who hardly cook. You can position yourself in busy places that you know you will be easily seen! I tell you today, if your foods taste good and are well-packaged, you are neat, friendly or jovial, people will patronize you. You can also cook and take to night clubs on Fridays and Saturdays to sell. Make sure you include the local delicacies in that area to your food menu. What I mean is that it shouldn’t just be the normal rice, beans and ‘dodo’ stuff. For instance, if you reside in Warri, you should include foods such as Banga Soup, Ogwo Soup and Starch. Again, if your foods taste good and well packaged and you are also neat and friendly, people will patronize you! There’s no shame in hustle!!! cool
3) Customize Shirts and Sell To People: You can also generate income through this means. Buy shirts in bulk; especially, Golf and Polo shirts and customize them with the names of family members, friends, neighbours, church members and some notable figures in your neighbourhood who you are friendly with. When people see their names already crested on the shirts, they won’t have any other option than to buy, especially, when they have the cash. Since you are buying in bulk, you can buy the shirts for 800-1000Naira each and sell for 2.5k or 3k. You can be making a profit of 1.5k for every shirt you sell!!! wink. Take note that you will pay the person who customizes the shirts but still know it is cheaper when you customize in bulk!
4) Private Lesson/Tutoring: Dem say na ‘bros I dey shame, bros I dey shame na e make guy man turn to beggar o! It should be better if you possess teaching experience or have a strong passion for teaching. You can talk to family members, friends, acquaintances, church members, etc, that are in the teaching field to connect you to parents who want private home lesson teachers for their children. Some parents pay up to 15k per child while others pay up to 10k!!! Sometimes, you teach 3 children for 20k-25k!!! If you have up to 3 or 4 different families who you teach their kids, do you know how much that is? You could be making up to 70k every month! Some bankers can’t even boast of that as their monthly salary! I rented my first apartment with the money I realized from this; na wetin you nor know na e your mates take pass you o! wink.Take note please: If you don’t have passion for teaching or you are not sound upstairs, please don’t do this so that you don’t end up turning an already poor-performing child to a complete Olodo!!! wink
5) Freelance Marketer: You must not own a business or be a producer before you market things. You can earn money as a freelance marketer for other people’s product and get commission for your services. You would still have time to focus on other areas of your life since the establishments whose products you market did not directly employ you so cannot tie you down 24 hrs!!! You can liase with school owners during long holidays and win students over to their schools through oral personal adverts and practical demonstrations as new session begins for a particular fee!!! You can work as a freelance marketer for that boutique too!!! cool
Please, don’t mind some of my terms and language in this post, I was raised in the streets of Warri…where we hustle everyday!!!
May God bless the hustle of every Nigerian graduate out there trying hard to make success and life a reality even with the intimidating obstacles that seem to abound!!!