Student by day, hustler by night: The reality of campus entrepreneurship

At Laikipia University, a generation of student entrepreneurs is running businesses to survive — and learning lessons no lecture can teach.

By Kennedy Candice

I missed my CAT because of smokies.

At 8:30 a.m., my supplier was waiting at Nyahururu terminus with my stock. He threatened to sell it to someone else if I did not arrive within 20 minutes. My continuous assessment test was at 9 a.m. I chose the smokies.

Before you judge me, I am not alone. At Laikipia University, students are running small businesses alongside their studies every single day — selling second-hand clothes, operating food stalls in Chexika and Kanyuga, and marketing products through WhatsApp late into the night. On social media, it looks like “Student CEO” culture. In reality, it is survival.

The familiar smokie trolley — fuel for students and a lifeline for student hustlers across Kenya

The challenges are not rooted in laziness. They are rooted in time, money, and sheer exhaustion. Most student entrepreneurs start with little more than pocket money from their parents, and their customers are fellow students who are equally broke. Profits are thin. We close up at 10 p.m., respond to customer messages on WhatsApp, then rise at 5:30 a.m. for a 7 a.m. lecture. Grades suffer. Health suffers. Sleep becomes a luxury.

Yet we continue — because running a business teaches what no lecture can: negotiation, resilience, and the discipline to show up exhausted and still deliver.

That is why I am writing to Laikipia’s county leaders. We are not asking for handouts. We are asking for recognition and modest support — a small business hub on campus, access to mentorship, or affordable credit. These are not big requests. But they could turn today’s small hustles into tomorrow’s real jobs.

Laikipia’s students are not simply studying for degrees. We are already building the economy.

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