In my first year in FUTO, I had a roommate whose mother had a buka in school.
They specialized in fries - Akara, Fried Plantain, Fried Yam, Fried Potatoes, Fried Fish, Fried Eggs and Pap. They later added rice meals to their menu.
They had monopoly of this menu for the 5 years I spent in FUTO.
And you know how students can like finger foods, so they always had crowd on most nights.
The buka was what was sustaining the woman and fending for her children
Seyi, the mechanic who services my car has been my only mechanic since I moved to Port Harcourt. He has a regular roadside type of mechanic workshop but he lives in his own house with his family - land bought, house built, funds from his mechanic work.
Now have you ever wondered, how did some parents manage to send their children to school from money made from doing what many people call small roadside businesses?
Like selling cooked food, selling foodstuff in the market, mechanic work, bus driving, tailoring etc.
Some people assume these kinds of work are small money work for people who didn't go to school. Very funny.
People who did these "roadside" work have sponsored people from primary school to university.
One would have thought that, when the people they sent to school graduate, they wouldn't be looking for "office" work, they'd use their educational knowledge to repackage and upgrade the family business that generated the money that paid their school fees.
If you are someone from this kind of background, have you considered how you can repackage and scale up the business that brought the money that saw you through school?
Don't just retire your folks.
They will be happier to see you upgrade their business.
Instead of Papa doing guess-work with modern cars, get a vehicle diagnostic machine. Anyone you use it on their vehicle, will be happy to tell someone else about your workshop.
Create adverts for the workshop and market it, online and offline.
Offer free car washing for everyone who patronizes you.
Liaise with a nearby carwash to give free exterior washing for your customers, you are steadily giving them customers so they should give you a discounted rate. Meanwhile part of the washing bill is incorporated in the total bill for the service, but customers don't care at that point because it's "FREE" car washing. If they want interior detailing, they pay for that one.
Instead of Mama waiting for customers to come and buy beans and rice at her shop inside the market, find a way to collect her regular customers' info, create a customer database, make supplies and deliveries to them while they pay a little convenience fee.
Market her shop online and offline.
Many big women and single people don't like entering "inside-inside" market where the things are cheaper than in the outer shops. Close that gap for them.
Don't wait for them to call you, mark the date you supplied them, then check on them when you know that their foodstuff in the house will likely be exhausted.
Once in a while give them "FREE" tomato paste or seasoning sachets.
Make sure the garri, egusi, beans, rice, crayfish etc are clean, stone-free and dirt-free, then seal them in transparent poly bags of standard retail quantities.
Get a POS for customers who want to pay without cash.
Try and Show your folks that you really went to the school they sent you to by what you do to improve their business.