There are many profitable ventures in Nigeria, especially now that technology is shaping almost every sector and industry.
The demand for quality services and products is on the increase, and that is birthing more potential business ideas.
However, many of these fantastic and viable business ideas require some sort of capital, without doubt every type of business needs some capital to get started.
But the interesting thing is even with a small capital you can start a business in Nigeria.
In one of our previous posts, we discussed some fantastic business ideas that can be started with as little as 10,000 to 50,000 Naira.
Here are some profitable business ideas that you can start with 500,000 naira or more in Nigeria.
Before starting a business it’s very important to do your research and be sure off the best type of business suitable for your type of person and one that fits well with your initial capital.
As earlier hinted starting a business doesn’t have to be expensive. Some and industries and sectors requires little initial capital to get started and in today’s guide we are going to be looking at some of those.
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Can you start a business with 500,000 naira?
Of course yes! You can start a business in Nigeria with 500,000 naira, although the upfront may look a little but starting off on the right business idea that does not require much capital is the real deal.
We have heard a lot of success stories of business owners who started their business with less than 500,000 naira, and you can do it too.
Here is a list of businesses you can start with 500,000 naira in Nigeria
1. Affiliate marketing
Earning passive income online is one of the best ways than build a strong financial empire for yourself.
The advent of the internet is fast removing all the limitations of earning online.
There are several ways to earn on the internet with a website and one of the most reliable ways is affiliate marketing.
Earning with affiliate marketing is not complicated, you earn from posting affiliate links of other people’s product on your website and other social media channels.
Each time someone clicks through and follow your link to purchase the product you get a small commission, earning more of these types of commission can definitely accrue and paid out to you as monthly earnings to you as an affiliate to that particular product.
An initial capital is more than 500,000 naira is enough to set up your afraid marketing business.
First you need to understand what your interest are, your core areas of strength, the industry that you know so well, all these will determine the niche of septum that you’re going to start in as an affiliate marketer.
After picking a niche, it’s time to set up your marketing channels, one of the most viable to promote your affiliate products is an affiliate blog or Website, the next best medium is setting up social media marketing pages. Other platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter has proven very productive for affiliate marketing.
What is your marketing channels to set up and ready the next step would be to find the right affiliate marketing platforms, there are local both local affiliate marketing platforms and international ones, but based on experience I’ll suggest you heat your tent with a top athlete marketing platforms in the world.
Promoting products and platforms like Amazon affiliate, and Impact and the clickbank can somewhat competitive but more reliable.
You can learn more about starting upload marketing from a previous blog post.
2. Real Estate
The real estate industry in Nigeria has experienced consistent boom and growth in recent years.
Based on the recent report by the national bureau of statistics in construction and real estate sector in Nigeria, the real estate sector contributed over N20 trillion to the GDP in the first three quarter of the past year, and it can only get better.
Why 500,000 might not I’ll forward you an entry into the real estate business as an investor, however you can start off on a simple note by looking for new opportunities or invest.
Also there are several real estate co-investing platforms that you can join, like Risevest, Stow, Keble Africa, Piggyvest and more that you can invest in, alongside other investors on the platform.
You can also become a real estate agent if you have strong data marketing skills, and have access to the right real estate network or properties to promote.
3. Business Blogging
Someone like Adam Enfroy makes over $250,000 dollars per month from his digital marketing blog.
That’s to tell you how lucrative blogging business can be.
There’s a difference in between blogging for passion and blogging for business.
And today most blogs are created by passionate business owners.
Even while you’re in school you can start a blog and grow it from ground up, and there’s even a possibility that your blog can make you a millionaire even before you graduate from school.
You can put N500,000 to a good use starting a blog, first you need to pick a niche, next, pick a good domain name, create your website, do keyword research and start creating great contents on your blog.
A good part of your investment should go into content making and promoting your blog for more exposure.
If you need support to create a business blog, Web Design Nigeria is your surest plug.
We can help you set up your blog site in any niche, and walk you through the nitty gritty of creating a successful blog.
A recent statistics disclosed that over 60% of bloggers report that they made some success with their blog, when done right you can create a cash cow blog for yourself with less than half a million.
4. Social media influencing
Another digital business idea that you can start with 500,000 naira in Nigeria is becoming a social media influencer.
Social media influencers are people who seek to to become social media relevant by attracting a decent number of followers overtimes through content creation.
Overtime that attracted a good number of audiences and followers to their platform.
They’ve grown to become social media phenomenon, that way they can build a relationship with top brands, make money from endorsements and sponsored contents, sodium products and services.
It works because people who love their content also love their product recommendations.
Your initial investment of 500,000 naira as a social media influencer should be channeled to brushing up on your content creation skills, getting equipment, you want to get a professional microphone ,get a good camera or smartphone with a good camera, get good photography lighting gadgets, or or just set up a mini studio in your house to create your contents.
5. POS Business
Commercial bank seems to be doing their best to service the whole of the country, but it seems their best is yet not enough. Hence the need for POS agents according to the provisions of the CBN’s cashless policy, that explain to some extent why POS business in Nigeria is becoming more popular and widely embraced among the populace.
The head load of inconvenience people experience visiting banks and ATMs to get cash and do other transaction is uncalled for and thankfully POS agents are gradually filling this gap, they’re offer financial services within the local community.
If you already have a physical store or outlet, a POS business might be a good addition to your current business, the interesting thing is, it fits every type of retailing or business outlet.
Starting a POS agent business in Nigeria doesn’t require a large capital investment and no technical knowledge is necessary to start this business. You can start a POS business with a capital of 500k in Nigeria.
You’d need a good location with substantial traffic and business activities, you’d also need to register as a mobile money agent with a commercial bank, the commercial bank will provide you the the tech-enabling infrastructure such as a plug and play POS machine already programmed to work with their bank’s API.
All you need hence, is to have some cash at hand to pay your customers for their withdrawals.
6. Start a Salon
Another profitable you can start in Nigeria with 500k is a beauty salon. For a country with over 108 million female citizens, there can’t be enough beauty salons, Starting a beauty salon business is a top choice in Nigeria, it’s a venture that is particularly appealing for women entrepreneurs.
Women spend significant amounts on beauty services.
To get started with a Salon business, a lot of things need to be in place, first , you need to find a good location, skilled beauticians, and excellent customer service.
Next you need to create a strong business plan so as to prepare all things that are necessary for the business before launching your beauty opening a salon.
You’d need to create an effective marketing plan for your local salon, no business thrives today without marketing and positioning for better visibility, build stronger credibility and create more brand awareness around your business.
You can create a website, create a marketing channel ang get active on the channels, post shorts and Reals and Stories of your daily engagements with customers in your salon and create a fun-filled and memorable environment that people will love to be in.
Still on visibility, you can also partnering with local businesses and hosting events, attending trade fairs, to expand your reach. People like discounts, Offer them some discounts for referral reward them for their loyalty to your brand to encourage customer retention.
7. Start a barbing Salon
Just like beauty salon, barbing salon is also a profitable business if well managed. Quite a lot of people underestimate its profitability due to its low profile.
However, to create a successful barbing salon business, you need to find a good location, make sure your shop is in a busy area and it is easily accessible.
Preferably, go for residential areas close to major streets, workplaces and bubbling places during weekends.
Next, set up your barbing shop by getting all the needed equipment, including furnishings for your barbing salon and other essentials such as revolving chair, mirrors, waiting chairs, table cabinet for equipment, hair clippers for different uses and more.
To stand out in this business, you need to purchase more equipment that are more than above-average setup, make sure to only buy original items and equipment for durability and cost-effectiveness.
Your barbing shop will also need an electronic sterilizer to keep clippers sterilized, that way customers can be sure of hygiene. Also you’d need a good standby generator for uninterrupted power supply, if you have the budget for solar, you can also go for that.
You need to hire professional barbers who can be trusted, and build good relationship and rapport with people to work in your barbing salon. You can come into terms with them on the you want the place to be run and how everyone get to smile at the end of the day.
8. Logistics Business
Logistics and Courier business is not just lucrative in Nigeria even across the world. However, you need a considerable amount of initial capital and minimal ongoing expenses to pull through with the business.
Nigeria don’t have enough courier service providers yet, making it a good business to start today. There are several niches and categories in this industry that you can focus, for example you can concentrate on food export and shipment from Nigeria, there are several Nigerians in diaspora who can’t get enough of their local delicacies and consistently buy food items from Nigeria because it’s cheaper to buy directly from here and ship than to buy in their country of migration where prices of Nigerian food items are almost triple.
To start this business, you need a solidly written business plan, also you should conduct a feasibility study so as to identify problems and proffer workable solutions.
Your business must also be registered and licensed, you can deal with the Cooperate Affairs Commission (CAC) for business name or business incorporation needs and for industry license, you csn turn to NIPOST (Nigeria Postal Service) to register your logistic/courier business.
After all registration is done, you need to obtain office a space ti interface with customers, you can get an office in a business area such popular marketplaces like Computer village and other places where a lot of transactions take place daily.
Get all the necessary materials for the business, including furniture, office stationery, vehicles for transportation, and so on.
Make sure there are enough space to warehouse your customer’s consignment before they are shipped out and also insure the courier business with a reliable insurance company.
Employ capable and trained staff, if possible ones that have experience in the line of business, you can start with a few employees and increase the numbers with time as your business expands,
make sure they are effectively trained on business operations and taught proper package handling techniques.
Logistics and Courier business is super-capital intensive, and 500,000 naira is nothing compare to to what’s needed to run a standard logistic business, notwithstanding you can start on a small scale by getting bikes for intra-city logistics and delivery services, you can do deliveries for other small business owners in your circle or network. This is how most logistics companies in Lagos started.
9. Block Moulding
Block moulding business is another lucrative business that you can start with a capital of N500,000 naira in Nigeria.
The business thrives as long as real estate continues to grow and more houses are constructed.
However, you need to have a proper understanding how block moulding is done, the possible challenges of the business and then work out plans to overcome the possible limitations. The block moulding machine is not just the only thing you’d need, you need to also find a way to get the baked or dried moulded blocks to the site of your customers on request.
To do this business, you’d need to have some landed space for block-laying which should not be far from a water source. Other equipment needed for this business includes things like pallets, block moulders etc.
10. Create an Online Fashion Store
Selling clothes, shoes and bags is another profitable business you can start with N500,000 in Nigeria, you can open a physical shop or just stock up and display your wares online. People are looking for quality and affordable wears.
If you decide to open a physical store, it has to be in a favourable location, for example some near a campus, but you can save so much on renting a location if you sell online, it’s more cost effective, and you’d be able to reach more customers.
If you’re selling online you don’t need extra hands at first to manage your online shop, from posting your wears on social media to fulfilling orders, you should be fine handling that at the initial stage of the business.
Wether you choose to sell expensive brands, or selling affordable ones, there is a marketing waiting for both categories, you just have to hone your digital marketing skills to reach more people who are interested in your products.
To get the clothes, you need to break bulk in big markets such as Aba market, Eko/CMS in Lagos and more. You can also do your own research by finding out from people who are into this type of business, this will help you to avoid getting scammed or cheated and also optimize your profit.
A good example of this type of business is an online store called 2Kshop, the online store owner sources for cheap products mainly fashion from big markets in Nigeria, usually within 2K to 3K naira and sell on their Facebook and Instagram Page. They now have their own ecommerce website where you can make orders and they get it shipped to you in few days.
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