Thinking of starting an online business in Nigeria but not sure of how to get started?
Now is the best time to get online and start creating your business footprint in Nigeria. According to datareportal.com there are over 122.5 million internet users in Nigeria at the start of the year 2023, with internet penetration at an interesting rate of 55.4 percent.
Over 15 percent of the country’s population uses one or more type of social media, this currently translates to over 35 million social media users in Nigeria.
Reports also have it that there are over 194 active mobile devices spread across the country. The above growth pattern can be ascribed to the nation’s increasingly embracing of the use of technology in her day to day personal and business activities.
Looking at the above stats, you’d agree that now is the perfect time to start an online business.
The beauty of online entrepreneurship is in its accessibility – meaning that anyone can make money online with little to zero financial investment.
One of the hard tasks to put in when starting a new business is to find an investiture that fits well with your skill sets and interest. This is why we have put together this epic list of top online business ideas to give you an expansive online business idea that you can explore today.
Table of Contents
Online Business Ideas in Nigeria
Our goal in this article is to give you a simple blueprint of online businesses as we explore some of the best online business ideas to start in 2023.
1. Blogging for Business
One of the best business opportunities you can start online in Nigeria on a shoe string budget is blogging, it is an online business idea with a very high return on investment (ROI) when done properly. It’s also a nice investiture for people who want to be in control of their time and work form anywhere they are.
There are mainly two categories of bloggers, those who blog as a hobby (do those still exist?) and those who blog for business i.e. to earn from the blog. Business bloggers are a set of bloggers who use blogging as a means of acquiring customers or generating leads for their business.
Whether you are trying to get more sales directly to your business through blogging or trying to get more monetizable traffic to your website, blogging is a reliable business growth hacking tool to harness.
There are quite a few processes that goes in to creating a blog that brings great result, and that includes:
- Picking a profitable blogging niche
- Brainstorming a domain name
- Getting a web hosting provider to host your blog site
- Picking the ideal blogging platform
- Creating your blog
- Doing keyword research
- Creating content that attracts visitors for your blog, and most importantly,
- Monetizing your audience
We have addressed quite a number of these blogging related topics in a series of blog posts, so we implore you to take your time to visit each of the above links to get detailed information on each of the subjects.
Overall, to be successful as a blogger, you need to find professional blogging niches, and here are some useful tips to help you find the ideal blogging niche:
- Pick a blog niche that is less competitive
- Pick a blog niche that is of personal interest to you, where you’d enjoy crafting your type of content
- Pick a niche with potential for commercialization
- Pick a blogging niche that has a sizeable addressable market
If you can, create an impacting blog that fits well with the above elements, and a you also have a solid grip on how best you want to monetize your blog audience, you’d be on your way to making good earnings online as a blogger in Nigeria.
We recommend that you read our blog posts on 16 blogging mistakes to avoid when you’re just getting started with your business blog.
We’ve given some few tips to help you achieve success as blogger in Nigeria.
2. Niche eCommerce
Another reliable way to be your own boss and be in charge of your future is to start a niche ecommerce business. From the above stats we can deduce that Nigeria has a growing market that is propelled by internet penetration, thus opening up several opportunities across different online sectors including ecommerce. Already there are ecommerce websites like Konga and Jumia that sells everything,
There is no better time to start a niche ecommerce website that now, and here are some stats to prove that:
- Nigeria’s ecommerce market is the 40th largest in the world with an estimated revenue of US$6,653.5 million in 2023 and a projected market volume of US$10,026.9 million by 2027.
- The ecommerce growth in Nigeria made a mark on the total worldwide growth in the industry by 9.6% in 2023.
- There are about 5 key players dominating Nigeria’s ecommerce market.
You can see from the above stats that the future of ecommerce in Nigeria is super bright, you can position to get a slice of that pie that starting an ecommerce business even on a small scale. You need to pick a niche to have an idea of products you want to sell to prospective customers.
For example, an ecommerce for selling things, under N5000 naira, career female fashion, home and bathroom fittings, Furnitures, vintage products, and more. Well, there’s a sheer number of choices on what to start and this can be really overwhelming if you don’t already have a blueprint of what problem you’re trying to solve with your ecommerce business.
So, start with picking the right product market or niche for your ecommerce business, next validate your product ideas to make sure they have potential for profit making, then you can proceed to do competitive research and then set up your ecommerce business.
3. Launch a digital marketing agency
Next on our list of the top businesses to start in Nigeria is digital marketing, it is one of the fastest growing industries in the world simply because, one, it offers a better targeting method for businesses to optimize their campaigns for better memorable results.
Secondly, there is an increasing demand for digital marketing solutions as more businesses are seeking to tap into the vast online audience and business opportunities emanating from the growing internet penetration.
Starting a digital marketing agency is of course not something to be approached without experience. You need some knowledge up your sleeves to create an agency that offers real digital marketing solutions of value to prospects.
The first step to getting your foot in the door to servicing clients, is to a few of the top digital marketing skills relating to the focus of your digital agency. Some DM skills you can learn include online advertising (PPC), email marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), social media marketing, content marketing, reputation management etc.
Once you have some practical experience, you can proceed to create your digital agency website, here is a guide on how to create a great business website, but we recommend you put in some investment into developing your website by hiring a professional web design agency, this initial investment will help you to stay through to the business till you start getting some results.
4. Social Media Management
If you have the bread-and-butter skills in copywriting and can craft great captions for social media posts, write compelling Instagram ads copies needed to drive successful social media campaign then this online business idea is just perfect for you.
Social media managers are not only great at making good copies, they’re also skilled with creating short video contents like Facebook and Instagram reels, YouTube shorts and TikTok videos, if you’re adept with handling different video editing software to create engaging short form video content it will give you a better charge to stand out and stay relevant as a social media content creator or manager that you are.
Another skill that is required to have as a social media manager is Graphic designing skill, well I’m not really talking of advanced design skills using sophisticated design tools like Photoshop and Adobe illustrator, if you can create visually appealing and engaging designs using a tool like Canva, you can essentially capture the attention of people enough to consume more of the contents you produce.
A social media manager must also be flexible enough to adapt to the boatload of changes emanating from the world of social media, such as new trending hashtags, platform updates, changes in algorithm and many other trends often requires to keep up with novelty to help your clients get the best result from your campaigns.
We recommend you read this post on how to do social media marketing in Nigeria.
5. Domain Flipping
You’ve probably seen several case studies how a domain bought for $10 was sold for 5 to 6 figures after a while. This is something you too can do. You can start by targeting recently expired domains, there are websites where you can find such domains, one of the most popular expired domain websites is the expireddomains.net website.
You can start by simply creating a free account, then you can set a series of filters such as short English words, keywords, Trust flow, citation flow, number of linking domains, number of backlinks, number of links from Wikipedia, niche ideas, to explore available potential great domain names, here is an explainer video by Sir Bright to help you approach this.
Once you find a name you think is cool, you can then purchase the domain on Namecheap. Next, proceed to domain flipping websites like SEDO or Afternic to list your domain for sale.
If you have an eye for good domains, you can quickly build up a valuable portfolio of domains that increase your net worth on a monthly basis.
6. Website Flipping
Website flipping like domain flipping is about buying. Growing, nurturing, and selling websites for a profit. Flipping websites can be a very lucrative venture at both international and local level, there are two ways to dabble into website flipping business.
First, you can start by growing niche websites and then flipping them when they have monetizable value or you can buy undervalued websites and then enhance their value for future resale.
A few of the many benefits of website flipping includes;
- You’d be able to put to good use your web development, content creation and technical SEO skills.
- The above skills will also help you to unearth some untapped potential for the website, such as possible plans and content strategies to increase the website’s value.
- Sell website for a higher price in the future.
To start a web flipping business, you must first have a good grounding in web development, SEO, and content creation, a keen understanding of market trends, and website valuation will go a long way.
You will basically be doing more of identifying niche websites with some growth potential, doing some niche competitive analysis, site audit, keyword research and then producing valuable content that can increase the traffic and revenue of the website.
Website flipping platforms such as Flippa and Empire Flippers are some good places to find a significant number of potential niche business websites up for sale.
Good negotiation skills, and the ability to check the website for any possible flaws or coverups, and making sure that site redesign and content creation is within reach.
The lifeline of most online businesses that thrive on Search is SEO, implementing effective SEO strategies is a surefire way to increase traffic and revenue for your new found investment. If you can significantly supercharge the value of the website in a short period, you can soon re-list for sale and cash in on your investment.
Don’t miss our guide on how to make money flipping websites.
7. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of the best forms of online business, you earn commissions promoting products or services of businesses who are also looking for more exposure and patronage. To chart the right course to success as an affiliate marketer, it is important that you focus on building a strong online presence at the early stage, thus will allow you to build quality targeted audience.
There plethora of affiliate marking niches, products and platforms that you can join, with Amazon and Clickbank being two of the most popular for first tier country promotions, and then Expertnaire, Selar.,co, Konga and Jumia being the local option if you’re targeting Nigerians.
A few tips to build your affiliate marketing career would be to create a resource platform after you have decided your niche, it may be a blog site, social media pages, YouTube channel, these platforms will serve as your marketing hub where you serve audiences with quality content to drive traffic to your where prospective buyers can get to use your affiliate products to make their purchase.
You also should not ignore effective marketing strategies, such as email marketing and social media campaigns, to convert your audience into buyers. Affiliate marketing requires consistent effort, content creation, and relationship-building with partner companies.
8. Selling Photos online
People who have a knack for photography and nice poses and bank some good earnings from doing just that online, there are several online platforms where you can sell photos online. This internet venture can be very lucrative provided you can capture photos that are unique and of high-quality, also the images need to resonate with your buyers to be worth a buy.
To get started, you can create you’re a photography website as your online portfolio where prospects can see your image collections, you can also submit photos that meet the technical and aesthetic requirements to top stock photo buying sites like Stocky, Foap, iStock and more.
You can take things farther by marketing your work on social media and making sure that you use SEO-optimized descriptions for your images. Toe be successful with selling stock photos online, you must be very creative, and have a good understanding of market trends.
9. Online coaching/Tutoring
Online coaching and tutoring cater to a growing demand for personalized learning experiences. You can package your experience and expertise in various subjects or skills into course wares, set up an online platform, such as a website or virtual classroom, to host your sessions for your target audience who are also looking to acquire your type of skill.
The best method to approach online coaching would be to first build your loyal audience on social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and the rest.
You can further build your profile with free webinars, informative content campaign strategy, using referrals, and running PPC ads.
Online coaching/tutoring requires you to demonstrate strong knowledge in your field, have effective communication skills, and adapt to different styles of learning.
10. Social Media Influencing
In a world where people’s attention span is increasingly getting lower, if you can birth a system or present that significantly gets the attention of a large targeted group of people on social media, you just unlocked for yourself access to one of the most valuable intangible commodities in the world today, which is ATTENTION!
Social media influencers are people who have cut through thick and thin to figure out what algorithmically works for getting people’s attention across different social media platforms, afterwards they monetize their audience and create themselves a conduit of passive income that consistently flows, that explains how most social media influencers are becoming super wealthy individuals today.
You can achieve this by partnering with brands to promote their products or services to your engaged audience. Building a substantial following and strong engagement on social media platforms is the way to go. Some action plans include choosing a niche or area of interest, repeatedly creating high-quality content, and interacting with your audience consistently to keep them around long enough.
Overall, social media influencing demands authenticity, creativity, and the ability to connect with your followers in the most unique way.
11. Launch a Service business
One of our most recommended methods to make money online is to start your own business. Service-based business ideas are generally easier to start compared to other types of capital-intensive businesses.
This idea is especially great for people who have specialized skills or solutions to offer to clients. You need to be confident of your skill and that you can deliver up to your prospective client’s expectations, you’d also do well to identify a market demand and focus on providing a valuable service to solve that problem.
You’re not the only provider offering such a service, there are ones who’ve been in business before you and many more who will come to start their business after yours as well. In the light of this, you need to have a strong marketing plan to market your service.
One of the practicable ways to market a service business is to leverage social media to create an online presence about your professionalism. Some action points include;
- Set up a professional website
- Market your services through networking, referrals, and online advertising.
- Provide exceptional customer service that delivers results
- Build a strong digital reputation through social proofing.
Starting a service business in your field requires that you know your onion, and also have other soft skills needed in business, effective communication, and a commitment to customer satisfaction will help drive home the well-hearted results.
Check out our post on 27 top paying service-based business ideas of 2023.
12. Forex Trading
Trading is an experience-based online business that involves the buying and selling of currencies in the foreign exchange market. The starter would be to get enough education, that will open you up to the best strategies to leverage market fluctuations to generate profits.
There are quite a lot of courses online on platforms like YouTube to get started, one of the best in this category that we recommend is the series of forex trading videos by Anthonysworld on YouTube, they are great resource to help you get started as a beginner forex trader.
Most importantly, you’d need to learn about forex trading strategies, find out about the technical analysis, and best risk management practices.
Once you’re confident to start, you can proceed to open a forex trading account with a broker of repute, start practicing with demo accounts before stepping up to live trading. You can start with a small investment of about $500 and gradually increase your capital as you garner more experience.
Have it settled in that, forex trading requires education, discipline, and good risk management skills.
