Many people find it difficult to start businesses in Nigeria simply because they believe a huge chunk of money is required to do so, yet their little savings are enough to start one.
Starting a small-scale business in Nigeria can be a great way to build financial independence, especially with the right idea. We’ll explore some of the best business ideas, including dropshipping business ideas, internet business ideas, and AI business ideas, that can work in small towns or cities across the country.
You will not get rich overnight, but you will be able to provide for your family and meet your basic needs. Remember that most of the biggest business giant companies started as small setups. So, it’s better to properly organize your infant business, make some re-investments and expand your project with time.
Whether you’re a teen looking to start a venture or someone living in a small city, these small and easy business ideas are designed to be simple yet effective. From online-based businesses to small town small business ideas, we cover options that require minimal resources but offer potential for growth.
1. Grocery Shop
Starting a small groceries shop requires relatively low capital that mainly involves renting a small store room and shopping a few goods to start with.
One of the best options is to start with fewer and cheaper products and later increase the quantity after getting an established and strong reputation plus acquiring enough customers.
The best items to start with include vegetables, food spices, house detergents, flours, basic home groceries like cooking oil, sugar, among others.
You can also make some research around your area to determine the most demanded products to also include them in your shop.
Some of the best practices to maintain your business include; book keeping, re-investing, selling quality products, and good customer care.
You will also need to plan for your business’ growth and expansion into bigger projects like wholesales, supermarkets among others with time.
2. Baking & Confectionery
In Nigeria, it’s very difficult to find homes without bakery products mainly during breakfast meals. Bakeries like bread and cakes are so popular in Nigeria to the extent that they became part of people’s livelihoods.
Producing or selling bakery products is surely a rewarding business in every town and city in Nigeria yet less capital is required for such startups.
Selling bakeries can be done from grocery shops, open bakery shops or street vending. Most steps will be identical for starting grocery shop above. Although opening bakeries production business requires some skills and equipment.
You can get such skills by either searching online or taking courses from local tutors and online tutorials. Once, you have the skills, you can continue to purchase equipment, ingredients and start the production.
3. Blogging & Social Media
Blogging and social media influencing are other simple ways of making money with small capital in Nigeria. Blogging is good for people with enough writing skills and social media influencing is ideal for people with creativity skills.
You can start a blog about niches you are familiar with and monetize it with ads, affiliate marketing, and more but make sure they have enough popularity mainly in the Nigerian society. You can check How to start a successful WordPress blog (step by step).
Similarly, social media influencing for the purpose of getting some income requires starting social accounts focusing on the most popular niches in your society.
Therefore, remember to check that before you decide. Once you have enough audience or followers, you can monetize your channels by different means. You can check this guide to help you out.
4. Selling Cold Drinks
Selling cold drinks is very profitable during hot weather conditions along busy areas like streets, car parks, markets, and more. That being said, drinks are also consumed in cold weather but not as much as in hotter conditions.
Selling drinks is ideas for mobile vendors who move from one place to another based on the available market. Therefore, a few Nairas are enough to stalk your first drinks, buy carrying containers and you are good to go.
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5. Selling Clothes
Another micro business opportunity to open in Nigeria is selling clothes. You do not need to start with expensive clothes because your main target is middle class buyers.
Start by selling cheaper clothes but make sure they are clean and attractive. You can also try out second-hand clothes. But here, you’ll need to wash the clothes and iron them to become neat.
Clothes can be sold in small shops or by mobile vending based on areas with the right market for you. You can also add more related products for your customers with time such as shoes, bags and more. Remember to plan for your business to grow with time.
6. Restaurants
Small restaurants can be visible in all busy towns in Nigeria. These perform a great role of feeding the hungry work force of men and women who mostly come from distant areas everyday to work in towns.
This makes it difficult for such people to cook from their homes hence a huge opportunity for food sellers. You can also sell fast foods and other eats in addition to food in your restaurant.
To start, you’ll need to identify a good spot with enough customers and less competition since you are starting small. Rent a small room, buy some utensils, make some marketing by talking to people around your workplace and start your business.
7. Farming
Farming is another simple project to open in Nigeria. This type of business is best for people living in village areas with enough fertile agricultural land.
But also hiring farm land is another alternative if you do not own enough land. Food crop production is one of the fastest paying farming venture. This is due to the high population of Nigeria that needs sums of food day by day.
You will need to practise better farming methods such as early planting, mulching, irrigation, spraying with pesticides, applying fertilizers, and more.
All seeds and other farm inputs can be obtained from certified agro-shops near you. Some of the best crops to grow include cassava, ground nuts, maize, plantain, yams, beans and more
8. Laundry Services
This is another micro business idea that requires less capital. The moment you establish your self for about one month, you’ll start to receive a huge number of customers day by day.
The best option for this jobs is to open your business in areas with many people and most importantly in rental areas.
All you need to do is buying a washing machine and a few detergents. You do not need to worry about renting any space because you can start this business at your home. Start by washing clothes from neighbors and friends and your project will expand with time.
There are many small business ideas you can start in your area in addition to those listed above provided, you make enough research about such opportunities and invest wisely for a smooth running business.
