In the bleak midwinter, university libraries provide respite from the hounding winds that frost the Midlands’ campuses. Final year students sit bundled against the cold, backs creaking and laptop chargers hot. Between these hushed aisles the dreams of students weigh heavy in the air.

Amidst these aspirations buzzes an entrepreneurial spirit, held by students who, amongst their textbooks and deadlines, strive to grow their own start-ups and side-hustles. Sitting down with henna artist Hannah Pathan, start-up founder Florian Mealing, and aspiring fashion designer Zahra Tasneem, I explore how being at university benefits final year students managing start-ups and small businesses alongside their degrees.

Pathan, a final year PPL student at the University of Warwick, runs a henna business offering services to clients across the Midlands. With bookings usually sourced from word of mouth, building reputation and trust within her community is vital. Pathan utilises university social networks to gain clients and grow her business. Cultural societies such as Warwick’s Daughters of the East Soc, Islamic Soc, and UoB’s Henna Soc have hired Pathan and enabled her to tap into a wider web of potential clients that carry beyond student circles and into cultural communities.

Henna also makes for lucrative business. Charging £7-10 per hand and spending £4 per cone (enough for about 8 designs), Pathan’s profit margin soars at 90-95%. The flexibility of her side-hustle allows her to select her hours and fit bookings around her university schedule. For Pathan, the side-hustle, built on consistency and reputation, and benefiting from the web of student networks, proves a worth-while effort.

At UoB, final year Mechatronic & Robotic Engineering student Florian Mealing has founded his start-up SyncMove, an app which connects gym goers seeking workout partners to help people overcome gym anxiety. For Mealing, the University’s support systems have been nothing short of instrumental.

SyncMove is signed onto UoB’s competitive B-Elevate programme, an incubator based at The Exchange providing access to exclusive events, mentoring sessions, and a shared office space. Through the B-Enterprising team, SyncMove also acquired a start-up grant of £500, covering database costs and entrance into the Apple Developer Programme.

Whilst being a UoB student has opened doors to funding and guidance, balancing his start-up with academic work proves challenging. Each Sunday, Mealing draws up a 9am–9pm working schedule for the week. He spends eight hours a day on his start-up, every day.

This demand on time proved unsustainable for his initial team of students, who all stepped aside due to other commitments. Since then, new students have joined the team, and the University has also supplied paid student interns, enabling Mealing to distribute work more evenly.

Mealing expresses gratitude for his position as a student, when taking the risk of a business is possible with few responsibilities holding him back. Zahra Tasneem repeats this sentiment, pointing to this period as a time for exploration and stretching ambition.

Tasneem, a final year English Literature student at Warwick, plans to launch a sustainable women’s wear brand post-university, which will couple feminine silhouettes with fun fabrics to offer consumers staple yet unique items.

Her time spent on her year abroad in Singapore broadened her perspective, and her trip to Japan, where she viewed the style and quality of clothing in independent stores in Osaka, solidified her passion. For now though, Tasneem has put this plan on hold to focus on her degree, wanting to give her future business her full attention.

Warwick’s Creative Futures Incubator is a six-month programme which fosters West Midlands creative talent and can provide similar services to UoB’s Elevate programme. This would be an option to support Tasneem in the future, along with utilising the network of her university’s alumni.

Whether utilising social networks, funding and mentorship programmes, or expanding perspectives, these students’ eye for opportunity and creativity empowers their ambitions whilst at university. Yet, for final year students, time is their limitation. This stage offers the grounds for ideas, skills and ambition to take root, which will fuel the growth of their ventures beyond graduation.

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