How to Get Consistent Clients for Your Student Business (Because University Students Are Stingier Than Mr Krabs)

Alright, you’ve finally decided to start a student business because, let’s be honest, your account balance is looking like a badly written mid-semester exam score. You’re ready to hustle, but there’s just one problem: Where are the customers? Your friends say they support you, but the only thing they’ve supported so far is your free trials. Bombastic side-eye. So how do you get people to actually pay for your services or products…consistently {because one-time sales are a recipe for starving CEO? Well, sit tight, my dear aspiring mogul, because I’m ‘bout to put you on game.

1. Turn Your Useless Friends into Walking Billboards

You love your friends, but let’s be real, some of them are absolutely useless to your hustle. I’m talking about the professional “I’ll pay you next week” friends and the “I shouldn’t have to pay, we’re friends” people. Time to put them to work! Instead of begging them to pay, ask them to help you market your business if they want free goodies. If you sell clothes, let them wear and post about it. Not just regular posts, I’m talking tag you every day and hype you up like it’s an extra credit project. And if they can’t, maybe limit the free goods. You’re building a business, not a charity. If you bake, let them “accidentally” carry your cupcakes to class and watch as people beg for a bite. Word-of-mouth marketing is real, and in uni, where gossip spreads faster than silly TikTok sounds, this is your golden ticket.

2. Make Noise on WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Instagram (Or whatever else you’re wasting time on)

Listen, if your WhatsApp status/Snapchat is just funny memes and heartbreak quotes, you’re missing money. Start posting about your business EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Show behind-the-scenes content, customer testimonials (even if the “customer” is your mum), and promo deals. Join student group chats (you know those chaotic ones) and subtly plug your business. On Instagram, use student-related hashtags, especially tags for your university, and follow people who might need your services. Turn your socials to your business hub. Post your business like a deranged maniac. If the billionaire companies are still bombarding people with ads all over social media, who do you think you are? POST!!

3. Capitalize on The Poverty of Students

College students are disgracefully broke and unashamedly desperate. That’s not shade, that’s a fact. This means they salivate over any sort of discount or freebie. So offer discounts to customers who bring you new clients. For example, if you’re a photographer, tell your customers they’ll get a free edited picture for every two people they refer. If you sell wigs, offer a free installation for referrals. It’s like turning your customers into mini marketers—except you don’t have to pay them a salary! Capitalize on the poverty of your peers, don’t hold back, don’t play nice. (I mean… Don’t be a soul-sucking capitalist, but don’t miss out on a chance to make money either.)

4. Become the Suspicious Plug in Your Department

You know that one person who everyone seems to know? Like, no one is truly friends with them, but you all just know them? Yeah, become that person. How? Move with the powerful. If you’re not friends with at least one course rep/student committee member, what are you doing? These people hold power! Give them special discounts so they can hype your business to other students in authority and their friends. Before you know it, you’ll have random people calling you up to buy from you. Word gets round. If you do graphic design, offer to create fliers and banners for a campaigning student executive for free (just once), and soon, everyone will be running to you when they need cool graphics. Remember to ask them to tag you on their posts though. 

5. Use the ‘Try Before You Buy’ Strategy and Be A Walking Advert

If you’re selling something like skincare products or perfume oils, let people test before they buy. Carry small samples in your bag and offer them to your classmates when they start complaining about their skin or how they need to “change their look.” Once they see results, they’ll come back with their wallets. Remember that you’re your own walking billboard too. How can you be a nail technician with the most basic nude set? I saw a Pinterest account a while ago that supposedly belonged to a professional Pinterest manager but only had 500 monthly views. How would anyone trust her to manage their Pinterest? If you sell a product, be your own biggest advertiser. I don’t care if you’ve spent 600 hours a week fixing banging nail sets for your clients, find another 1 or 2 hours to put a cute set on your own hands. Even when you don’t feel like it, rock your own products.

6. Slide into DMs Like an Unhinged Stalker

Cold messaging is not just for desperate guys in Instagram DMs. If you sell custom T-shirts, message student organizations about printing their group shirts. If you’re a hairstylist, message girls with “bad hair day” captions and offer your services. The key is to make your message casual but persuasive. Something like: “Hey girl! I saw you’re looking for someone to braid your hair. I do amazing braids for students at affordable prices! Lemme hook you up.” Simple and effective. Stalk every contact on your phone. Go through group chats and stalk people’s socials to find potential clients. It’s a full-time job and you’ve still got schoolwork, I know. But nobody said it was easy to grow a business… I might have said that once. Forgive me, I lied.

7. Strategic Giveaways (AKA Fake Competition)

People love free things, but you’re not Mr Beast, so let’s be smart about this. Do a small giveaway where to enter, people must tag their friends, share your post, or repost your business page. The more they engage, the more visibility you get. Just make sure your prize is something that attracts your target audience, not just random giveaway hunters. The goal is to get your business in everybody and their mother’s faces. If some hater isn’t telling you, “You’re trying too hard”, then you haven’t tried hard enough. {PS: I’m pushing the Go Hard or Go Home mentality, but please know that I value your mental health. Burnout is real and it is TERRIBLE, so only go as hard as you realistically can.} You got this boo, for real.

8. Network Like a Sleazy Politician Campaigning for Reelection

Attend events on campus and talk about what you do. You never know when the person next to you is looking for exactly what you offer. If you’re into fashion, attend campus fashion shows and local fashion shows around town. If you sell snacks, be at every school event with samples. Do the same at local events. You’ll find power mums excited to patronize a young college student (who offers a decent discount). Shake hands, introduce yourself, and slide your business in there like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Again, you GOT this! …But take it easy.

9. Offer Poverty-Stricken-Student-Friendly Pricing

You’re not a luxury brand (yet), so price your services in a way that students can actually afford. Instead of charging an arm, a leg, and 13 human souls for a wig installation, maybe do a special student price. Once you have a loyal customer base, then you can start increasing your prices gradually. Take it slow, and you’ll see growth as time goes on.

10. Be So Good They Can’t Ignore You

At the end of the day, all the marketing tricks in the world won’t help if your product or service is trash. Do your best work every time, be reliable (don’t collect money from people and disappear like a one-hit wonder), and treat your customers well. A happy customer will bring five more, and that’s how you secure the bag long-term.

Work Hard, Market Hard, Get Rich (Or At Least Don’t Be The Brokest in Your Friend Group)

Building a consistent customer base takes time, effort, and a little bit of street-smart strategy. But if you stay consistent, keep improving, and apply these tips, your side hustle will turn into a full-blown student empire. So, young CEO in the making, go make that money—your account balance will thank you!

AGAIN, don’t overwork yourself. If you can only consistently do one out of the ten tips here, then just do the one and stick with it. God bless your hustle.

Wishing you peace and funds,

Dee