If you are currently living in Nigeria, you would agree with me that being a salary earner no longer has a place in the Nigerian economy, especially with the recurring recession and hike in prices of goods. Even the current rate of unemployment is dealing so hard with many people. This is one of the reasons why many Nigerians are looking for a gateway to self employment which will put an end to job hunting.
A very popular way of becoming self employed in Nigeria is by owning a business. You can have the financial freedom you’ve so much desired as a business owner. With a business, there is a guaranteed daily or weekly returns on investments. In fact, owning a business has so many advantages that cannot be likened to any other thing. With a business, you can work at your own pace without any disturbance.
20 Hot Business Opportunities In Nigeria
While planning to start a business, getting the idea on the best business to go into usually pose a big problem to most people. The type of business you do determines your profit margin. If your business idea is good, you will be able to materialize it to turn things around. There are lots of business opportunities arising everyday, but people are unable to learn about them due to lack of information. We understand how hard it is to get the best idea, that is why we have compiled a list of hot business opportunities in Nigeria.
1. Dry-cleaning and Laundry Business
Due to the tight and busy schedule of most workers, having their clothes laundered is usually a problem for them. This is why they are always willing to pay to have their laundry done. Dry cleaning and laundry is a lucrative business opportunity that is often overlooked. In past times, laundry men wash clothes with bare hands and have since evolved to the use of washing machine. If you are based in an area that is filled with people whose job makes them busy, then you can earn even more.
2. Copywriting
Copy writing is a very lucrative business opportunity in Nigeria presently. It is a business model that combines the knowledge of marketing with writing skills. Many products and companies always need adverts, jingles, direct mails, sales copy to create awareness for their products and persuade potential customers to buy them. It is surprising what a well written copy can do to bring more sales to a product or service. This is why business owners are always willing to pay huge amount of money to have one written for them.
3. Petroleum Business
Selling of petroleum and its associated products is another profitable business opportunity in Nigeria. You can do it in a large scale by starting a local filling station to sell fuel for vehicles or small scale by selling cooking gas, paints, engine oil and so on. One very lucrative and not so capital intensive aspect of this business category is distribution and sales of cooking gas. Many people rely on gas as fuel to cook their food. All you need to do is to look for a good location in a residential area to start this business model.
4. Restaurant Business
Food is a very important and vital need of every human being. People spend a lot of money on the daily purchase of meals regardless of the situation. Most people have become millionaires as a result of this hot and evergreen business. Even some people currently find it difficult to cook food at home due to their busy and tight schedules. To start this business you would need to have cooking skills. Some people without cooking skills sometimes hire professional cooks to help them out. To maximize sales and gain greater edge over competitors, you can add mobile food vending and delivery to your restaurant business.
5. Agriculture
Agriculture is another lucrative business opportunity in Nigeria. It is based on the demand for fresh food and cash crops and animal protein. You can decide to go for livestock farming or crop farming. To begin this business you will need to have knowledge of either crop farming or livestock farming. You can also hire a professional who will work to ensure your proceeds come out well. For crop farming, you can decide to plant cassava, cocoa, plantain, vegetables, fruits among others or you can go for poultry farming, catfish farming, snail rearing, piggery, goat rearing or cattle rearing for your livestock farming.
6. Clothing Business
Clothing is one of the basic necessities needed for man’s survival. It is required by human beings in different sizes, designs, texture, shape all for different uses. You can decide to sell children’s clothes, made to measure, women’s clothes, men’s clothes, corporate wears, among others. You might not necessary need a shop for a clothes selling business as you can have the goods delivered to your customers’ doorstep. You can also maximize your sales with the power of social media and create awareness.
7. Selling of Building Materials
Shelter is the third of the basic needs of every man after food and clothing. Every single day, people keep building houses and purchase materials for their construction at various levels. They pay large amount of money to purchase these materials from which the vendor can make huge profits. You can choose the category of material you want to sell. You can decide to go for the sales and distribution of cement, blocks, roofing sheets, asbestos, PVC ceilings, POP materials, plumbing materials, etc.
8. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of the the business model of the digital world. It adopts the use of digital technologies to promote or market products or services. Several producers, manufacturers and business owners need a means by which their products can be advertised to potential customers who need them online. This is where affiliate marketing comes in. Affiliate marketers adopt different means to advertise the products to a wide range of audience. Whenever a customer clicks on the link, the affiliate marketer get paid a certain commission. With a large audience, there is a guarantee that sales would be made daily and you would earn your commission as a marketer.
9. Importation of Phone, Phone Accessories and Other Technological Products
Technological products like phone, laptop, power bank and other accessories are important needs of every individual. This is why the business is a lucrative one to go into. Getting the products to sell might pose a challenge, but after the first importation, the rest comes easily. You can decide to sell your goods in a computer village or any high tech market around you. You can also serve as a dealer and supply to retailers.
10. Telecommunications
Telecommunications is the new deal of the digital age. It is one of the major sectors driving the Nigerian economy. It cut across several areas like; recharge card printing business, sales of recharge card in bulk, virtual or physical call center, pay TV subscription center, sale of network equipment and devices, telecommunication mast installation and so on.
11. Photography
Photography is a skill that is in high demand especially in this 21st century. It is a business model for individual who love documenting events and special moments. You can decide to open a studio and organize photoshoots for clients or visit events to take pictures and get paid for it. You can also sell your photographs in online marketplaces like etsy, Alamy, iStock photo, shutter stock etc.
12. Car Wash
Car wash business is one of the most lucrative and profitable business of all times. It is a business that is going to be forever in demand as long as people continue to purchase vehicles. Many people now combine their carwash business with a viewing center, snack bar in a bid to make it customer friendly. For a start, you can decide to leave washing machine out of it and hire helps to assist you.
13. Mobile Phone Repair
Phone usage is a norm among different people across the country. People use different phones ranging from mobile phone to android, among other. Imagine the phone of 50 average individuals get damaged, they will never want to buy a new phone especially with the high prices of phone. Instead, they will look for repairers for their phones. You can acquire a skill in phone repair and help people in repairing their phones for a fee.
14. Exportation Of Agricultural Products
Many Nigerians reside abroad and always want to have a taste of the Nigerian home made food. Getting the best food product for their use is always a problem for them. You can help to solve this problem by exporting agricultural products like, locust beans, palm kernel oil, charcoal, cashew nuts, palm oil, cocoa beans, Shea butter, smoked sea foods among others. All you need to do is to decide on a specific product and register with the Export Promotion Council of Nigeria.
15. Health and Fitness Training
Health is one very crucial part of our lives that we never take for granted. Apart from eating heathy and good quality foods, we need to perform exercises to stay fit. However there are not so many well equipped gyms for people especially those in small towns. You can help solve this problem by opening a fitness center that will be equipped with the required training facilities and equipment.
16. Sachet Water Manufacturing
For many people, access to clean and quality water supply for drinking is a big problem. Drinking water is very essential for man’s survival, hence they would be left with no choice than to purchase sachet water for drinking. You can produce clean sachet water and supply them to areas where there is no access to drinkable water. This business requires little capital and is highly lucrative.
17. Customized Press Printing
It is a common sight nowadays to see many individuals rocking customized T-shirts, mugs, picture frame, pillowcase, head rest, pen, cap, jotters, etc. These products are often used as souvenirs in parties, hence there is demand for them. The skill is easy to acquire and start up capital is not exactly high. With the knowledge obtained from the skill, you can open a studio and in any good location and start making money from printing customized products for people.
18. Snacks Making
Whether you are on the go, at home or at work, you surely feel like crunching some snacks at some point in time. What if you decide to start making your favourite snack for sale? Definitely, there are lots of people out there who need those snacks like you. You can advertise your new business on the Internet to gain more patronage. You can also supply to schools, grocery stores and road side sellers popular for selling snacks in traffic.
19. Sale Of Beauty Care Products
A large number of Nigerians especially women love looking good. They pride themselves for their beauty and can spend high just to have their skin and looks beautified. Among the beauty products in high demand are artificial hair, attachments, fake eyelashes, slimming pills, make up products and so many you would hardly believe exists.
20. Mini Importation
As a Nigerian, you would agree with me that Nigerians love imported products no matter how expensive they are especially if they are designed to solve life problems. You can import goods from countries like; China, U.S.A, Germany, Dubai, Italy among others. There are different hot selling products you can look out for if you wish to go into mini importation.