Welcome dear friend, to the ABC. Hope you’re good today?
Today I want to share with you some lucrative businesses in Nigeria you can venture into.
Let me start with a warning.
You see, there is this great misconception by people who are just planning to be business owners or who are new in the business world.
They tend to see business as if some businesses are gold while others are stone. They tend to think, “If only I can get the gold, I will be rich in short time”, that is, if I can discover that lucrative business idea, I will make it fast.
This is ignorance!
The Real Truth about Lucrative Businesses in Nigeria
No business is gold and no business is stone, at least to a good extent.
Selling cars in Nigeria, we could assume is a very lucrative business, right? Yet, many people who are selling water in Nigeria are richer than car sellers.
If my above analogy didn’t seem to make much sense, think about this one;
I was with a business partner of mine who is into poultry business last week and as we were talking he told me about some of his middlemen (or you call them middlewomen because they are women) who usually buy like 50 creates of eggs from him and other poultry farmers every day.
According to him, these women make as much as #5,000 every day just by being eggs distributors. #5,000 in 25 working days (not to talk about some of them who work every day) means #125,000.
My friend confessed to me, “Even we who are working tirelessly on the poultry farm are not making as much as they are making”.
Get me right!
This is not to say that poultry business is not profitable. This is to show you that business profitability is not really what people think it is.
It pains my heart sometimes when I look at some great business ignorance in our day, but I know the cause.
The reason why so many people assume that there are certain magical business ideas that are so much profitable and could make them millions in a short time is because so many people never for once consider or prepare to be an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurship, for most people, is just a burden being placed on them by the lack of jobs.
If you have prepared for business world, you should have learned this immutable truth;
Businesses are NOT profitable; entrepreneurs make them so.
Instead of concentrating on searching for some magical lucrative businesses in Nigeria, I will soon tell you what you should focus your attention on, but for now, let me make it very clear to you that businesses are NOT like gold.
No business is naturally profitable. It’s smart business owners that make their businesses profitable.
How can I claim no business is naturally profitable?
You take some time to look at any industry and you will see rich businesses and very poor businesses, in the same industry.
Start from the richest industries in Nigeria. Think about banking industries.
There are very rich banks in Nigeria and there are struggling banks too (don’t let me mention names), in the same industry, doing the same business.
You think about petroleum industry in Nigeria.
Is every company and business there rich and successful? No.
There are very rich players and there are very poor, bankrupt businesses, in the Nigeria petroleum industry.
If you cannot see the top players and their debt profile, you can see the fuel stations (petrol retailers/stations).
Don’t you see how wretched many of them are? Don’t you see that many of them have run into lost and went out of the market?
Which other industry can I use as an example in Nigeria?
Remind me please. Okay, telecommunication industry. By far, the telecom industry is one of the richest industries in the world. But is this a very profitable industry?
Is telecom business lucrative?
Yes and no.
It could be profitable for smart business owners and it can never be for the weak or ignorant entrepreneurs.
If you love argument, you think about Airtel, Visafone and other failed telecom businesses who had millions, invested it and lost it in the Nigeria telecommunication business.
If you think about the great success of Google and the fact that Google has virtually become the king of the internet with their more than 100 products (Gmail, Youtube, and many complex ones you may not understand), you will be tempted to think that search engine is a very lucrative business.
But that will be a very wrong conclusion because there are hundreds of people who ventured into search engine business and failed.
In fact, I have a friend who started a search engine business and probably never make a kobo from his venture. Why?
Because business is NOT naturally profitable. Businesses only become profitable when the owner (you) are smart and got “business education” requires to run a successful business.
If you truly want to discover lucrative businesses in Nigeria, you have to understand this hidden business truth I am revealing to you!
Let’s move forward.
After I have made it clear to you that business is not naturally lucrative and shown you some very good examples, what else should I tell you?
Learn How to Make a Business Lucrative in Nigeria.
Yes, stop looking for a profitable business in Nigeria! Start learning how to make a business profitable.
This is the business truth I discovered over 7 years ago and I can bet my life on it that you will find it unquestionably true anywhere in the world that lucrative businesses are made, not found it.
If this is the case, what am I advocating?
Really, not a very easy thing, especially for Africans. So many Africans hate learning or reading. I cry in my heart because of this.
Business is a very complex profession and that is the reason why so many people prefer to work for someone else than to run their own business but now that every sane person already knows that job security is a myth, everyone wants to start a business.
I salute your courage. But I challenge you to really take the bull by the horn. Be willing to do all it takes to really succeed in the business world.
The first thing it takes is NOT to discover a profitable business in Nigeria because there is nothing like that. All you can do is to learn how to make your business profitable.
Stephen, How Exactly Can I Learn How to Make My Business Lucrative in Nigeria?
By taking some time out to study some good business books about how to start, run and make money from a business.
These books will teach you business strategies, tactics and techniques to win competitors, sell many products and win the market.
You can argue with me if you have talent for argument but I will tell you the truth… business is NOT what most people think it is.
It’s deeper, tougher and contains too many things than most people ever know.
If business were easy, why will people love jobs? The truth is, people love job mainly because it’s very difficult to make a business profitable.
Why is it difficult to make a business profitable?
Because business is like a war. Business is tough. Business is not ABC. It’s sometimes BYH and sometimes KPX, so it’s sometimes confusing for anyone who is not prepared.
Go out to the nearby book store and buy some good books about business, marketing, negotiation, leadership and human relationship. These are the titles that will give you the skills to make your business profitable.
I know nobody else is telling you this. I know you might have read few other blogs on the internet and all they do is to list some businesses you can go into to make much money.
If you get to this page through Google, you can go back to read some other blog posts listed after you search for “Lucrative Business in Nigeria” and come and tell me what you see.
I bet none of them will tell you this truth I am telling you because none of them (as at the time of writing this tutorial) knows how to own a profitable business.
I mean it!
You will see them telling you that if you could go into fishery business, snailery business, importation business, soap making business, travel agency business, poultry business, transportation business, dry cleaning business, private primary/secondary school business, blogging business, online retailing business, etc. you will make a lot of money.
They are ignorant and by saying this I don’t mean to be abusive. If you want to know that these people don’t know anything about business, you take a survey about the numbers of people who have gone into any of the above-listed businesses and ran into lost.
Anybody could tell you that poultry farming business is very lucrative, but ask them, “How many people are making much money from poultry business?”
The honest answer could be 2 out of 100 people who start poultry business.
Why can’t everyone who go into soap making business become millionaires like makers of Canoe, Lux etc?
It’s not about the products you sell; it’s about HOW you sell it and what you know about making business successful.
Go and equip yourself with business skills. Go and learn how to run business and how to sell profitably.
You can start from the ABC. We have a lot of business tutorials you could read to sharpen your business ax here on this website. They are all free.
We also have some very good business books that have trained many African how to start, run and have a lucrative business either in Nigeria or in any other part of the continent.
Please note that it’s NOT a must for you to read the ABC business books to become a successful business owner, but it’s a must for you to read good business books.
You can go out to a nearby bookstore and get some very good business books that will teach you business strategies, techniques, and tactics to make your intending business successful.
Someone will ask me, but Stephen, why can’t you just tell me those business strategies here and let me go and use them, instead of me to go and be reading books?
I know such people are the lazy ones who are always looking for the easy way out of life.
The truth is, your biology teachers could have called you on your first day of the Senior High school and say, “I want to teach you everything you must know about biology TODAY”, but it’s not possible.
Your Mathematics teachers could have spent a week to teach you everything you need to know about Math, in a single week, but you have to spend more than 15 years, learning Mathematics.
What am I saying in essence?
Entrepreneurship journey is a life-long journey of learning and growing that nobody ever graduates from.
Before I went to the business world fully in July 2008, I have touched and read from more than 200 books. You would have assumed that I knew so much about how to start, run and make profit from business, but I didn’t.
From there till now, I am always learning, reading and asking questions from those ahead of me.
In fact, just last week I was in a bookshop in Lagos and came out with 8 books.
Why?
Because business and life is tough and you have to know more than most people to succeed in the business world.
This is very simple to understand yet, most people don’t understand it.
Life is complex and competitive. Business is a war and very competitive. No matter what business you are planning to start, there are thousands of people in that same business who also want to make money.
You cannot become the largest market shareholder if you know only what everyone knows and do what everyone does.
You have to be smarter, wiser and more strategic.
The best way to do this is to learn how to do it from people who have done it before.
If you don’t know, that’s the reason why we read business books from people who have been into business before, to learn from them the secrets they use to make money and be successful
Please don’t forget my point.
There is no naturally lucrative business in Nigeria (or anywhere in the world). There are only entrepreneurs who know how to make their businesses lucrative.
So I advise you to stop searching Google for “Lucrative Business in Nigeria”. Instead, take time to learn how to make your intending business profitable.
If you don’t understand all my argument in this tutorial, I am sorry, you need a magic or some lies.
If you understand me, then, it shall be well with you because you have discovered the truth.
My conclusion;
Just as I have been emphasizing since I started this tutorial, no business is naturally profitable. It is business owners who learn and master the art and science of making their businesses lucrative.
You can start any business of your interest and make it profitable if you know how to, if you can take time to learn how to.
Any of the below businesses could make you some money and some of them could make you millions, (IF) you know how to run business like an entrepreneur.
(Kindly click on anyone of them if you want to read more about them)
The Complete List of 37 Lucrative Businesses You Can Start Today
- Poultry farming. Poultry farming could be a very lucrative business IF you are willing to learn both the technical part of the poultry business and the business part. You can attend our practical poultry farming training here.
- Fish farming. As Nigeria population grows, so will the demand for fish grows. Up till now, Nigeria still import fish to feed her citizens. You can go into fish farming business and make a lot of money if you strive to learn and act. You can attend our practical fish farming training here.
- Snail farming. Snail Farming could be started with little capital and that could be a stepping stone for you toward a much more lucrative business in Nigeria.
- Pig farming. We also have a practical pig farming training here that seeks to teach you how to start, run and make much money from your piggery business.
- Private primary/secondary school. Private primary and secondary school could be a profitable business in Nigeria, if you have the require patience, persistent and passion to deal with young children.
- Fast Food Restaurant. The truth is, our world is becoming more and more busy, so there will always be need for fast food restaurant
s. Don`t forget what I said earlier... profitability in business is a subject of the entrepreneurs` creativity and skills. - Real Estate Investment. If you have the capital require, real estate is one of the best investments you can consider. One important thing to know however is that you cannot make money overnight in the real estate business. This is a long term investment and doesn`t promise you instant profitability.
- Sales of Building materials could make you some money if you are well located.
- Transportation Business too could be a very lucrative business in Nigeria, especially in one of our metropolitan cities.
- Exportation Business. Exportation business could be a very profitable business in Nigeria if you are able to identify some cheaply produced commodities or raw materials in Nigeria and identify one or countries of the world where such product is scarce and expensive. Other areas you could consider include;
- Fashion Business
- Car wash
- Hotel Business
- Furniture Making and Selling
- Rice Farming
- Maize Farming
- Soap Making (if you could come up with good branding and packaging to win competition)
- Snacks Making
- Catering Services
- Bread Making (If you could be creative and make some good loaf)
- Bead Making
- Computer Repair Services
- Web Designing. I have a friend who has made (and still making) a lot of money as a web designer. He`s working for companies like Etisalat and others. You can start somewhere.
- Online Article writing (If you have passion for writing)
- Electrical Services
- Plumbing services
- Pharmacy retail store
- Wedding and Event Planning Services
- Dry Cleaning Services
- Pure Water and Bottle Water Business
- Driving School
- Pet Breeding
- Photography Services. Some of these guys charge as high as #100,000 for wedding and some other high profile ceremonies. Because I know much about this business, I know they are cheating (some of them making a lot of money). Lol
- Video Coverage Service (Just like above, this business could be lucrative if you do it the way you should)
- House Painting Services
- Ice Cream Production
- And just any other business you have interest in and in which you are willing to learn, act and be persistent
You can forget everything I wrote in this tutorial but don`t forget this;
No business is naturally profitable!
If you want to have a lucrative business in Nigeria, you`ll have to work hard to train your mind to think and see things like an entrepreneur.
Business is not easy and it will never be easy. If anybody tells you that there is a magical business that is automatically lucrative that you can do which will make you rich, that`s a lie.
There are two areas you must pay attention to.
First is the technical aspect of your business.
You must learn as much as you can about the technical aspect of your business, i.e. how to produce what you are producing or how to render the service you`re rendering.
The second aspect you have to pay attention to is the business aspect of your business.
You must learn how to market your products, negotiation, leadership, cash flow management and so many other things that separate successful business form the failure.
I really wish you a good success.