In Nigeria,many business opportunities abound but only a few people are able to tap into these opportunities. Some however, are aware of these opportunities but are unable to do so due to financial set backs. Before we talk about businesses you can invest in, we need to tackle one problem. How do i get funds to start up a business? the answer is simple. Funds are everywhere. You may be surprised about this answer. Why do i say that funds are everywhere? In Nigeria,billions of Naira are exchanged on a daily basis. People spend and receive payments daily amidst tight economic conditions.
The question you should be asking is how do i add value to another person or an organization. Once you are able to figure that out you will get paid. Adding value in any organization could mean solving a problem or maximizing profit and you don’t have to be a staff of such organization to do that. Do you have a skill? talent ? or a valuable idea? these are what drives in money any where in the world.
To start up a business, you cannot do without capital. Forget all those tales you might have come across saying “How to start up a business with zero capital”. The chances of achieving business success without capital are slim.In addition,You can only do that when the business is not your own but if you want to establish your own business, the plain truth is that you need capital no matter how small it is. Even Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote is well aware of this fact when he once said ”money brings money”.
Since you now know that you need funds. You need to get a job with your skill,talent or education and start saving no matter how small it is. A vital key of business success is savings. I wouldn’t go into details of how you can get a job in this write-up as this post is for those who have some money and are looking for investment opportunities.
We will look at four sectors you can invest in that can boost your profit in no time.
-The first area is Transportation
Nigeria’s transport sector is very viable.With Nigeria’s population increasing on a daily basis,you can never invest in transportation business and loose funds. If you reside in Lagos. You can visit the third mainland bridge in the morning from 6 am to 8 am during working days. you will find out that the buses/cars are never enough to transport people to work. Many workers spend time waiting for buses. Can you tap into this field?
You will enjoy this business,when you take part in it yourself as getting a driver to drive for you might be risky due to lack of trust on some drivers. However, if you are able to devise a system that will make it impossible for a driver to cheat on you, you will always smile to the bank with this business.With a commercial bus, i have seen some people make a minimum of 10,000 Naira daily.
Asides buying a bus for commercial transport, you can also register your car with Taxi services like UBER and TAXIFY and receive steady income.
You can buy a trailer,register it with any company involved in transportation of goods from one part to another and you are already in the haulage business. Some big trucks make 80,000Naira-100,000Naira per day.Though this business is capital intensive, you can succeed in it with proper planning and a good insurance scheme in case anything happens to the truck.
-The second area you can invest money is Body care
We all want our clothes,body hair e.t.c to appear neat ,everyone feels stressed and sometimes need a massage. Everyone wants to look good. A popular song from Nigeria’s finest music duo P’square is tagged “Nobody ugly” The question is can you make people look more beautiful and handsome? If yes you should be in the Body care sector.
This area is broad as it covers, Salons, spas, laundry e.t.c. Do you live in a neighborhood that has only one barbing or hair-dressing salon? You might be surprised that more than one exist in your locality and these is because the turn-over in these industry is high. The average a barbing salon makes where i reside is 5,000 daily asides fuel and other expenses. Despite the competition you can still tap into this sector with a good concept and proper planning.
Look at what your competitors are doing and come up with your own concept. It is good that you get a very good training in any of these fields as they are quit sensitive.
Imagine you burnt a person’s cloth in your dry cleaning store do you think the person will come back again? the answer is NO or what if you give a customer a funny hairstyle. A hairstyle that makes the person look like a chimp instead of a human. How will such ones come back? It is not compulsory for you to barb the hair,dry clean the cloth or apply that make-up on your client.You can employ someone to do that but you should also learn the trade very well as the owner of the business so that when your employees leave your business does not leave with them.
-The third on the list is Food
Show me a person who does not eat. Then i will tell you he/she is not a human. Even though the economy of the entire world nose-dives, people will still bring out money to buy food both raw and cooked. This post however focuses on starting a small food outlet in your locality where people can eat good food.
In Nigeria not many people are able to afford eating in eateries so you can seize this opportunity by starting a good food business in a busy and strategic location.
Once you know how to cook or get someone who knows how, you are assured of good returns on investment. Once people taste your food and they see that is is delicious, they will refer friends and before you know it your food won’t be enough to serve people.
The best part is that this business requires a small start-up capital. You can start with as low as 30,000 Naira. With this business, you are guaranteed of making a minimum of 10,000 Naira daily if you get it right. Many food sellers in Nigeria are earning more than many corporate workers.
The last on this list is not really a business but a genuine investment plan for those who have at least 100,000 Naira in their account and don’t want to touch it. They just want interest on their money.
This brings us to investing in Treasury bills
You might be surprised to see T-bills on this list.If you are new to this term you may want to find out What are treasury bills? for a lay man, Treasury bills involves lending the government your money within a time period to finance government projects and the government in turn gives you your money back plus interest which could be paid immediately or up-front depending on your choice. The reason i put Treasury bills on this list is that it is risk-free,tax-free and high yielding as they are guaranteed by the Federal Government.
Treasury bills are best when you have large sum of money in your bank account.It is better than fixed deposit. Investors can get annual returns of 11-15%.
Lets break it down. If you have 20 million Naira in your account and you want to fix that amount in T-bills @ 14% per annum. It means you will be paid 2.8 million or a monthly earning of 233,000 Naira for the whole year and your 20 million Naira will still be credited back to your account. Many multi-millionaires choose this option instead of fixed deposit that pays 8% and below.
Asides T-bills, you can invest in equities and shares that is-ownership in companies listed on the Nigerian stock exchange.You make money through dividends the company may pay out each year, or capital gains which involves selling the share at a higher price. To succeed in this business, you need a good stock broker that will give you valuable advice on what shares to buy/sell and when to trade.
There are also some other investment options like bonds, shares and commercial papers but Treasury bills has a better risk-free profile.
To sum it all up no matter the business you want to invest in, you need to have a good knowledge in that business. You shouldn’t think that because Mr A is making money in this business i need to go into it as well. You might not be successful in it as Mr A.
Passion and perseverance too is key. Don’t enter into a business you don’t like because you want to make money because if the money is not forth-coming as quick as you think,you will opt-out as you do not have the zeal to continue. Business is about profit and loss so don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Reserve some money so that if the business fails, you have funds to set up another business or something to fall back on...
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