Small business ideas in Nigeria

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The level of frustration among youths and graduates in Nigeria is very high as a result of unemployment. Nevertheless, the legitimate way out is to consider starting your own small business. Thereafter, With effective and efficient management, your business is more likely to grow big on a long run. Then, You will enjoy high level of freedom and independence of which you can never achieve working for someone.

Business exists in different forms and sizes. It can be undertaking on a small scale and grow to become large. What is small is relatively depending on individual perception so, we shall be looking at the basic characteristics, benefits, list of small businesses you can do in Nigeria as well as their challenges and solutions.

A small business is any business that is independently owned and managed by one or few individuals and few number of employees who produce goods and services to satisfy the needs of the locality for profit motive.

Post contents

• Characteristics of small business
• Benefits of having a small business
• Reasons some individuals go into business
• List of small businesses ideas in Nigeria
• Why small business quickly failed in Nigeria
• Attitude of successful small business owners
• Signs that your small business is failing
• Conclusion

Characteristics of small business

These are some basic features that distinguish small business from large ones

1. Size of the business; small business mostly serve only the needs of the local community. The numbers of employees are few, the scope of operations is very narrow.
2. Easy to form; small businesses are easy to form. Most of them in Nigeria are not mandatory to register before commencing operation.
3. Ownership structure; small business are owned by one or few individuals
4. Independent management; small businesses are usually manage and control by the owners.
5. Owners cordial relationships; small business owners maintain cordial relationship among their customers, employees and business associates.
6. Mortality rate; small businesses are more likely to die off either as a result of poor management, government or community policy, dead of the owners, disagreement among the owners or environmental changes

Benefits of having a small business

Being self-employed, you will be responsible for only yourself, you will not have to report or take instruction from anyone, you will be your own boss.
They are many benefits you can drive from owning a business, for instance;

1. Independence; with your business, you are expected to lead, no one would maltreat or harass you, it is an opportunity for you to utilize your potential to the fullest capacity, nobody will obstruct your opinion.l
2. Income and profits; the profits made from this business served as salaries and wages to the owners.
3. Social and psychological satisfaction; having your own business serves as pride, respect, security to the owners, opportunity to meet people and transact business give maximum mental satisfaction to the owners.
4. Encourage creativity; small business gives room to the owners to be creative and invent new and astonished products.

Reasons some individuals go into business

People go into business for different reasons. It is in one way or the other serves as a means for business owners to drive benefits. They include;

Additional income

People who do regular or salary work venture into business to get additional income or multiple streams of income. This is to have something to pull back to whenever they get fired, retired or resign.

Freedom

People start their own business to be in control, no boss to shout at them, there is no fear of losing their job, no unnecessary harassment, they have full authority over themselves, hence takes decisions best known to them.

Inability to secure regular employment

We can see that the rate of unemployment in Nigeria is very high. Most people go into business because getting a paid job is difficult and there are bills on the queue

Job dissatisfaction

Every employee desires maximum level of satisfaction to drive, for instance, maximum utilization of skills, ability to contribute to the organization, opportunity for self development and realization and also poor and delay payment, lack of incentives and exploitation, lack of job security are some of the things that push people to start up a business

Termination of life pursuit

For instance, when someone is expelled or withdraw from school, when someone is out of jail or out of career, or lost their certificateln, they go into business as an alternative means of livelihood.

Favorable government policy, Inheritance, service to humanity, power and influence also make people to go into business

List of small business ideas in Nigeria

Most people who would like to work for themselves find it difficult to decide what type of business to start. Nevertheless, If you wish to choose a business that suits you, you should start by thinking about yourself, then, develop technical knowledge and skills that are needed in your industry and community.

Your ideas are needed, sell them to earn a good living.
These are some of the small businesses available in Nigeria you may consider starting.

This post highlights the best small businesses according to thier industries.

1. Online business
2. Agent/agency
3. Farming
4. Printing
5. Event planning
6. Food and restaurant
7. Chacoal
8. Trading
9. Fashion
10. Photography and videography
11. ICT
12. Beauty and cosmetic
13. Environment and beautification
14. Installation and repairs
15. Cleaning services
16. Handwork or vocational related business
17. Others
    

1. Online business

Online business is conducted on the internet. Provided you have a functional smartphone, system and good internet connection, you can operate from anywhere.

There are many benefits you can drive from doing online business like easy access to the international market, wider audience, freedom, flexibility, low startup and operational cost.

However, to start an online business, you need to choose a niche, get trained, obtain smart phone and other gadgets and commence the operation of your business.

Some of the best online business ideas for example are Dropshipping, mini importation, e-commerce, blogging, online tutoring, Vlogging, freelancing, affiliate marketing and many others.

2. Agent/Agency

This is one of the cheapest industry you should consider starting up. Here, you don’t have to own a product, your duty is to promote other people’s products as well as acting between business owners and customers and then, get paid.

You can start this kind of business from home or rent an office space, Interestingly, your office doesn’t need heavy equipment, with few office gadgets, you are good to go.

Some businesses under this industry include, real estate agency or agent, travel agency/agent, POS agent, advertising agency, car marketing, security services, Ushering services, recruiting service, consulting services etc

3. Farming or agri-business

Farming simply means rearing of animals and cultivation of crops for sale or family use. This is one of the most demanding industry worldwide as both humans and animals wholy survive on foods.

In Nigeria, a lot of people has made huge fortune from farming still, the industry is unsatisfied because of the surge demand for food. Besides, many youths who should be aggressively engaged in farming are roaming the streets of major cities in Nigeria leaving this industry untapped.

Some small farming activities you could engage in include: fish farming, vegetable farming (tomatoes, onions, garden eggs, carrots etc), poultry, bee keeping, snail rearing, rabittry, mushroom farming etc.

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4. Printing

Printing service is one of the most high paying business opportunities in Nigeria. The demand for printing services is high. besides, churches, NGOs, government agencies, individuals and corporate bodies need printing services for thier respective activities.

This industry offers vast printing services for instance, book printing and publishing, t-shirts printing, flex, flyers, business cards, large format printing and many others.

However, starting a printing business is capital intensive. The machines used for printing are costly. Nevertheless, one can start small and expand later on.

5. Events planning

Nigerians are one of the most happiest and socialable people in the world. Even when things go wrong, we still find way or the other to celebrate. Thus, making this business a profitable niche to consider.

Events like birthday parties, burials, funerals, child dedication, weddings, music concerts, business, government and charity events take place oftenly. Thereby, the success of these events depend greatly on a professional event planner, this is where your service comes in.

Event planning is the process of making arrangement and provision to ensure a successful event. For instance, a successful event entails nice music, good food, convenient event center, nice MC service, nice decoration and many more.

They aare many other business opportunities under this industry which includes catering services, Ushering services, rental services, Dj, MC, bouncers and security services

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6. Food and restaurant

The demand for food is very high all over the world as we all know human depend solely on food for survival. Animals reared by humans also need appropriate balance feeding to survival.

They are many opportunities in food business for instance, distribution and sales of food items, restaurant, food delivery services, catering services, and many more.

7. Chacoal business

Chacoal business is a hidden and underrated business opportunities in Nigeria. This business is very lucrative but people under look it.

Some of the uses of chacoal are cooking, brushing of tooth, curing of poison and skin disease, manure, shisha, barbecue and others.

The demand for chacoal is high as majority of the households depend on it for various purposes. It is also a good source of export product.

8. Trading

Trading simply means buying and selling of goods. It is one of the businesses alongside small scale farming that has been sustaining majority of low income earners in Nigeria.

Trading of affordable and mini items like wristwatches, necklaces, rings, perfumes, phone parts, laptop parts, fashion accessories, foodstuff and others can be very rewarding.
Some of these items can be imported from manufacturing countries like China at cheap prices. Afterward, you can sell them locally at high price.

READ ABOUT mini importation

9. Fashion

Nigerians are very much in love with fashion, it’s among the top profitable businesses you can start small. Making and, or selling of items like shoes, beads, bets, bags, caps, t-shirts, pulse, dresses, rapers, okrika, and others can give you a considerable income.

10. Photography and videography

Photo and video services are also in high demand, the rise in content creation, social media, YouTube and events has made this business to stay on spotlight. Though most individuals can do this by themselves because of the rapid development in technology such as smartphone, trypord, mobiles apps where people can record, take pictures and edit them at ease.

However, you can add up extra services for instance drone service to create stunning videos and pictures. You can use drones to capture images and record videos from the sky for industry like real estate, event business, entertainment, construction, you can as well sell your photos on Pinterest, fiverr and others.

11. ICT

Since the emergence of ICT, the way we do things has changed drastically, with ICT, individuals and businesses can perform tasks at ease. It has taken over many works,
Ict experts are the most sought after people currently.

Interestingly, You can learn skills like data analysis, programming, coding, website development, wepsite design, graphic design, softwares design and installation at your comfort zone with YouTube or other online platforms and start up your IT journey.

12. Beauty and cosmetic

In as much as women exist, this business will continue to shine, they are very much desperate to look good, beauty can never be separated from them even at their old age.

Some business ideas here include, hair dressing, wig making, makeup artist, feet cleaning, maniccure, pedicure,
Also production and, or selling of cosmetic products like hair conditional, shampoo, makeup kits, creams, soaps, and others are very lucrative

13. Environment and beautification

I’m sure you might have heard about horticulture, gardening, orchards, tree planting, crop nursing before. Well, this is one of the coolest businesses most people are yet to know.

READ ABOUT; Hidden business opportunities in Nigeria

All those beautiful trees, gardens, flowers you see in the city and also planting of ecommic trees like mangoes, pawpaw, oil palm, cashew, crop nursing are are under this business.

I remember one of my friends that was making cool money from this industry before he traveled abroad for his masters. He used to have a million naira contract. He bought and supplied cash crops to large scale farmers as well as planting and scouting of economic trees.

14. Installation and repairs

Another business you have to think of is installation and repairs of items for instance, AC, phones, computers, printers, dispensing machines, refregrators, CCTV, decoders, softwares.

Also Automobile works like panting and spraying, wheel alignment and balancing, auto electrical, auto wiring, mechanic, interior, aluminum and others are profitable businesses.

15. Cleaning services

Cleaning services is also a good business to consider starting up. There is huge potential in this industry to harness.

For examples, cleansing services include commercial cleaning, industrial cleaning, corporate cleaning, residential cleaning, laundry services, car and rug washing.

The emerging cities like Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt etc bring endless opportunities for cleaning services.

16. Hand work or vocational related business

Some of the businesses mentioned above are part of handwork. While other profitable ones are mechanic, plumbing, electrical works, furniture, fabrication, tiling, roofing, Mason, painting, Pop, barbing, and many more.

Others business ideas

Some of these businesses can be capital intensive while others can be started small for instance rental services, Jim house, Jim instructor, tattoo drawings, football academy, daycare center, driving school, body messaging, music classes, special school, creative art etc.

Why small business quickly fail in Nigeria

Most small businesses failed or die off as soon as they are started. This result from both external and internal factors like changing in government economic policy, difficulty in reasing fund from banks, infrastructural deficit for instance, poor power supply, bad road network, poor water supply, poor network connection.
However most small business fails as a result of incompetent of the manager or business owner like;

1. Insufficient experience or knowledge; every business requires peculiar skills and basic experience. Starting a business you know nothing about is like putting all eggs in one basket. It’s expected of one to work or partner with an existing similar venture for more exposure.
2. Poor location; wrong location is one of the basic factors that can cripple your business within few month of operation.
   Several factors must be considered before sitting your business. Factors such as good transportation, good network, availability of market, water and power supply, security and accessibility. All this indicator should thoroughly scrutinize before locating your business.
3. Little promotional effort; most small business owners are ignorant of promoting their businesses. They just establish the business without taking measure to increase the business revenue. Ensure you embark on aggressive promotional strategies to get your brand noticed
4. Insufficient startup and operational capital; most small business owners do not have enough fund before they start up. Along the line when the business needs more finance to perform, this hinders them and result to failure.
5. Other factors may include poor time management, poor record keeping, natural disaster, lack of skill employees, attitude of the owner, improper inventory management, narrow product line, extravagant lifestyle etc.

Attitudes of successful small business owners

Successful entrepreneurs denied themselves manly things to ensure they succeed. If you really want to be successful, you must take some of these measures;

• Self motivation. which may result in seriously, initiatives, persistent, ambitious
• creativity, and analytical ablility
• ready to take calculated risk
• self descipline, self confidence, self control, ability to take effective decisions
• sociability, consideration, respect for others, effective verbal and written communication, trustworthiness, loyalty and honesty,
• ability to use tools, use resources judiciously, follow right procedures and techniques, ability to adapt to changes in business environment.

Signs that your small business is failing

A business does show some dangerous signs before failing, these signs should alert the owners or mangers to take corrective measures. These signs include;

1. Reduction in sales

Declining or reduction in sales is a bad signals to both small and large businesses. Because, decline in sales leads to decline in profits.

Moreover, cause by poor product quality, poor customer relationship, too high price, poor distribution, poor promotion, irregular supplies of products.

However, this sign can be corrected by improving the product quality for instance, size, color, shape, package. Improve customer service, set competing price, embark on aggressive promotional activities.

2. Declining profit

Another big problem that show your business is failing is declining profit. It is cause by decline in sales, high operating cost, high taxes, high labour cost, unusual loses for instance, spoilage, defection, shortage of raw materials and finished product.

Nevertheless, it can be corrected by increasing sales, improving in operation to avert product defection and spoilage, reduce in labour cost by retrenching staff or lower thier allowances, source for cheap and alternative source of raw materials.

3. Higher Dept ratio

This occurs when a venture buys on credit and borrow excessively. 60 percent of Money needed to operate and expand your enterprise should come from retained profit.

Conclusion

Lastly, they are many profitable businesses to start small , the chances of you to succeed depends on your ability to solve people’s problems.

If you can discover a need in your community, then, make provision for such need the best way others could not do, you are more likely to succeed.

Nigerian population is very high, anything taken to market tend to sell. However, if you take it to the wrong place or at the wrong time also if you are not selling quality, and do not maintain good customer relationship or venture into a business without experience and managerial skills, the chances of you succeeding is not there at all.

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