Nura Fathima, now 19, started her bakery venture in Grade 8 and soon found that paying orders brought a lot of pressure. “It started as curiosity, but once people started ordering, I had to think about price, timing, packaging and delivery. It stopped feeling random very quickly,” she says.
This pattern runs through other student ventures as well, especially when college schedules and client expectations collide. Preksha Agarwal, a third-year BCom student and founder of Minaraa, a wellness venture, says the real test is maintaining credibility as a brand alongside day-to-day college work. “If schedules collide or you’re not prepared, people notice. I learned very early that discipline is what keeps a ministry alive,” she says.
Tiya Agarwal, another third-year BCom student, who runs a personalized gift brand, says the job teaches students how professional life actually works. “You’re dealing with clients, deadlines, content, pricing and follow-up,” she says, noting that experience teaches professionalism in a way that classes typically don’t.
