Last updated on August 9th, 2022 at 07:08 am
Starting an online business in Nigeria is a great idea. It gives you the opportunity to work from anywhere. You can start your own business, or work for someone else remotely. There are many opportunities for entrepreneurs in Nigeria, and it’s easier than ever before to get started.
Nigeria has a large population of young people who are eager to start their own businesses, and the country is growing rapidly economically. The internet penetration rate has also increased steadily over the past decade, so there are more people with access to the internet than ever before.
As you can guess, an online business is different from an offline business. The former ‘live’ online while the latter has nothing to do with online stuff.
But you should note that an offline business can still have a hand online.
For example;
You can use online means to drive foot traffic to your car wash business in Nigeria.
How to Choose the Best Offline Business Ideas For Entrepreneurs
There are many offline business ideas in Nigeria that you can start with. You can start by looking for a business idea that is within your budget and interests.
Some of the best offline business ideas in Nigeria are:
- Petty trading
- Laundry service
- Catering service
- Car washing service
- Bicycle repair service
- Tailoring services
What are the Best Types of Online Business Ideas for Nigerian Entrepreneurs?
Nigerian entrepreneurs are looking for the best types of business ideas to start with. A lot of people are now looking into online businesses because they provide a more flexible work environment and they can be operated from anywhere.
The top 7 types of online businesses in Nigeria include:
1). Online stores
This is the simplest type of e-commerce site where you can sell products through your website. You can set the pricing, and the customers can make payment through a secure online payment system, such as Paypal.
You can set up a website using a web host service such as Truehost, and then just copy and paste your online store to your site.
This is a very popular business model to start because you don’t have to have a big inventory or expensive machinery or supplies. You only need an internet connection and a computer or laptop with a webcam.
You don’t need a storefront; your customers can browse your site and buy directly from there. You can offer a wide range of items including electronics, clothing, shoes, and just about anything else.
How to start an online store in Nigeria
To start an online store in Nigeria, you first need to identify a product people are looking for and willing to buy.
Then you need to find the right platform or web host to sell your product. You would need to have the product ready to go online, and your website and website pages would need to be up to date and be able to show your product. You need to have a PayPal account to allow people to make payments to you.
Your store will need a domain name. So make sure it is something short and easy to remember.
2). Dropshipping
This is an online business model where you don’t keep any inventory, but instead, you order products from a supplier and then ship them to the customer when they make an order.
This means you don’t have to worry about your inventory sitting around. Your supplier ships your products and you can track your shipments.
How to start dropshipping in Nigeria
The first thing you need is a product that moves fast. You can find in-demand products by looking at online shopping trends.
Once you have identified the right product, the next step is to find a supplier who is willing to sell the product at a wholesale price.
They should also be willing to ship the product to your clients.
The next move is to build a website. Your website would need to show your products and also show your location and contact information.
Finally, start promoting your products online. Consider social media, such as Facebook and Instagram, and email marketing as ways to promote your dropshipping business.
3). Affiliate marketing
This is another one of the best online businesses to start in Nigeria.
With affiliate marketing, you promote other people’s products and services to earn commissions on sales or leads generated by your efforts.
You don’t need any inventory, and you don’t need to pay for any advertising unless you have to.
How to start an affiliate marketing business in Nigeria
The first step to starting an affiliate marketing business in Nigeria is to identify a niche. Niche is a specific segment of a market that you can exploit to make money.
You don’t have to be limited in your niche; you can go as broad or narrow as possible but keep in mind it’s a niche. You will need to identify your target market by doing market research and then decide on the best product to promote to them.
A niche will help you tailor your message to attract only people interested in what you are promoting.
With a niche at hand, the next step is to find an affiliate program within that market. Remember, different affiliate programs come with different payout details.
Make sure you are going for one that pays well for your efforts. Once you have identified the right program, sign up.
Now, real work begins.
You need to get as many people as possible to buy through your affiliate link. You can do this by sharing your affiliate link in your Facebook group, or writing a blog and sharing your affiliate link in the post.
The most effective and scalable way to promote your affiliate link in Nigeria is by building a blog. Write articles and insert the link.
4). Start a blog
Another one of the best online businesses to start in Nigeria is blogging. Blogging is one among those businesses that is easy to start and relatively easy to work. You can start your own blog, or if you want to work for someone else, you can find a company that provides blogging services.
Blogging involves building a community online through publishing actionable, entertaining, and informative content.
How to start a blogging business in Nigeria
The first step in starting a blogging business is identifying a focus. A focus is a topic you will write about, how you will write, and the readers you will target.
Make sure your focus is something that your market is interested in, there are multiple ways to identify your target market. You can conduct market research to get a better understanding.
The second step is to register a domain name. A domain name is an address that your audience will know you by.
Finally, your blog will need a home. That is where web hosting comes in. It is the place where all of your blog’s files will live.
Once you have everything in place, do the following;
a). Keyword research
In order to find the best keywords to promote your product, you need to do keyword research, which is the process of finding keywords and determining how many people are searching for them.
b). Create valuable articles
Once you have determined how many people are searching for that keyword, you need to write valuable articles that will attract those people to your site.
TRUTH is, to attract visitors to your blog, you must write unique, valuable content that is useful and entertaining. Write content that will help your audience find the answer to their questions and meet their needs.
c). Perform on-page SEO
In addition to writing content, you must ensure that you have implemented the correct on-page SEO so that your website ranks high on search engines.
On-page SEO is everything on your website that helps with SEO (search engine optimization). It encompasses things like navigation, meta descriptions, and page titles.
d). Build backlinks
Backlinks are links from other websites to yours, or in other words, it is links from one website to your website. The more backlinks you have, the higher you rank on Google.
Once you have optimized your website, you need to build backlinks, which are links to your site that point to your website. The idea is to get other websites talking about you so that when people search for your keywords, your website will appear at the top of the search results.
5). Doing online surveys
One of the easiest online businesses to start in Nigeria is online surveys. Online surveys are the best because they are completely free and they never require credit cards.
You can use the surveys you receive to find out what your market wants and need.
See, brands rely on surveys to better understand their consumers and to gain additional insights into their market. By conducting surveys and polling your market, you will be able to determine what is working for your brand and what is not.
Also, you will learn about your market’s needs, habits, opinions, spending patterns, and preferences. It can be used to build your product, brand, and marketing strategy.
For this reason, brands are willing to pour in millions of dollars to get these insights.
How to get started
To start earning online through online surveys, you first need to identify a reliable survey platform in Nigeria.
One of such sites is Swagbucks, which is a completely free way to earn money online in Nigeria. You can use your free time to earn points by doing all the things you already do online like searching the web, watching videos, playing games, shopping, and reading emails.
Swagbucks has thousands of different surveys that you can take and hundreds of thousands of users who are looking to fill them out every day. They pay you to participate in the surveys, the more you do, the more money you make.
The next move is to sign up. If accepted, you start earning right away even using your smartphone.
You need to remember that surveys don’t pay a lot of cash at once. You will need to keep coming back to earn enough.
6). Start a virtual assistant business in Nigeria
One of the best online businesses to start in Nigeria is a virtual assistant business.
A virtual assistant helps businesses with a wide range of tasks such as customer service, data entry, data research, content creation, social media management, and more.
If you love technology and enjoy helping others, then starting a virtual assistant business in Nigeria is a great way to make money in Nigeria.
Virtual assistants are the best because they allow you to work from anywhere in the world. You can start your own business from anywhere in the world. The services these businesses offer range from data entry to editing to social media management to technical support and more. You can choose to be your own boss or work for someone else.
How to get started
To get started, first identify a niche you’d like to work in. We’ve already talked about what a niche is, so this step should be easy.
Some of the most popular VA niches include; translation, customer service, research, blogging, social media management, website creation, website optimization, data entry, writing, transcription.
With a niche at hand, go ahead and start pitching your services to clients. You can find them online through LinkedIn, Upwork, or Zirtual.
7). Reseller Hosting
This is another one of the best online businesses to start in Nigeria
In this business, you sell the plans of a hosting company. Usually, you resell hosting plans to individuals in Nigeria.
So, if you’ve had a dream of starting a web hosting company in Nigeria, this is your chance.
First, identify a company offering reseller hosting packages. A good example is Truehost Nigeria.
The company offers reseller packages from as low as NGN. 5400 per month. With this package, you get access to;
- Bronze SSD Reseller Hosting
- 20 GB Disk Space
- 20 cPanel Accounts
- Shared IP Address
- Cpanel/ WHM Free
- 500GB Bandwidth
This is enough to repackage and resell to bloggers in Nigeria at a profit.
The next step is to brand your web hosting business. This involves registering a domain name and building a website.
From here, just keep promoting your new web hosting business in Nigeria and wait for clients to come in.
Conclusion & Takeaways
In conclusion, it is now possible to start a successful online business in Nigeria. The internet provides an excellent opportunity for Nigerians to make money and create wealth. With the right knowledge, skills, and tools, anyone can become an entrepreneur.
Tips on how to start a successful online business in Nigeria:
- Research what type of online business you want to start
- Determine your niche market
- Invest in the necessary skills and tools needed for your chosen niche
- Find ways to promote your business
There you have it, the best online businesses to start in Nigeria.
