Starting a small business is generally a tedious task for many new and existing entrepreneurs. With several business challenges to surmount like ensuring your target market will buy your proposed products or services, preparing a business plan for your small business idea, registering your small business, and trying to sell your products or services at the lowest cost possible, many entrepreneurs get frustrated and eventually shut down their businesses within the first three (3) years. To avoid this and to ensure you and your business has a successful future you could consider looking at this list of business ideas which maybe better suited to your leadership style.
While many reasons can lead to the closure of a small business, the most common trend is the lack of real market demand for the products or services been offered. Selling something nobody wants would definitely put you out of business. The size of the startup capital you’ve invested doesn’t matter. If no one wants what you’re selling, your doors would get shut for good.
What small business ideas then generate high profits if handled right? What small business ideas did many of the world’s millionaires venture into? And how can one successfully start a small business that creates millionaires?
Here Are 10 Lucrative Small Business Ideas That Can Make You The Next Millionaire:
1). Education:
The education sector runs in an endless cycle that leaves a revenue channel permanently open. When kids are born, they’re first put into daycare, then nursery school, primary school, secondary school, the university, and other institutions if they choose to advance their knowledge. The wide spectrum of the education sector only shows premium potential for every investor that takes a dive in the right direction.
While not every investor in the education sector focuses on the common educational institutions, some others invest in special education, adult education, educational websites, educational technology, and even educational resources.
With a very wide scope to cover in this industry; whether it’s simply school education, higher education, or the unconventional education sectors, picking the right niche to focus on from a small scale will eventually make you a millionaire.
Small business ideas like the education sector can never be overlooked.
2). Agribusiness:
The agribusiness sector is one of the largest industries in Africa, India, and the world at large. Since everyone must feed everyday of their lives, the sector would never run short of demand. An increasing world population even makes agriculture a lot more lucrative. Nigeria for instance has a population of over 170 million people, and is expected to exceed that of the United States by the year 2050. This population explosion only makes the agribusiness industry more profitable for new and existing players.
Already, many sub-sectors of the agribusiness are already churning in millions for successful farmers in their fields. Great examples are poultry farming (chickens, turkeys, eggs, etc grown for sale), fish farming (a sub sector of aquaculture with the fastest selling breeds such as catfish and Tilapia fish), cassava farming, palm oil farming, and several others.
With thousands of small business ideas in agriculture to venture into, any new entrepreneur can easily do a robust market research and pick a high yield in the agribusiness sector to focus on.
See Also: 5 Profitable Agricultural Businesses You Can Start In Nigeria Today
3). Retail Stores:
When an average individual thinks of purchasing clothing, groceries, medication, and a lot more, their initial inclination is to get up, dress up, and head out to a trusted store in their neighbourhood to purchase these items.
The retail store industry in Nigeria and many other places in the world is only getting larger. Every year, thousands of stores start up to cater to the needs of their local community. While some are larger than the others, every retail store entrepreneur still generates varying revenues.
As a new entrepreneur, you could choose to setup a brick and mortar store that focuses on selling groceries, fashion items, or one of the other diverse categories. Starting a grocery store, fashion boutique, or supermarket carries it’s own cost implications. But it’s important to start small, so you can understand the market, know what sells better, and how to reposition yourself to claim a bulk of the customers.
With retail store success stories in Nigeria like PEP, Shoprite, SPAR, or Health Plus, you can be darn sure you’re headed for success.
4). Web Design Agencies:
Every small business needs a website. The problem with African businesses is that millions of them are yet to jump on the online scene to reach more potential customers. This gap in the web design space poses an opportunity for several web design agencies or aspiring entrepreneurs looking to go into web development.
As a web designer, you can promote your web design company through SME events, blogging, social networks like LinkedIn, and several other channels. Taking advantage of the millions of small businesses yet to come online by offering them a great website design for their businesses makes this one of the most lucrative small business ideas new tech-oriented entrepreneurs can start up.
You can also help new businesses and individuals that want to make money from blogging set up a blog on WordPress or Blogger. Starting for as low as only $3.95 per month, anyone can follow this link to create a WordPress blog in minutes for a really cheap rate (this low price is only through my link). In addition to the low pricing, you will receive a free website domain (a $15 value), a free site builder, and a 30-days money-back guarantee through my Bluehost link if you purchase, at least, 12 months of blog hosting.
With a computer, good web design skills, a portfolio, and various channels to reach potential clients, you can start earning an average of $500 to $10,000 for every project built.
See Also: Starting A Consultancy Services Business? Here Are 10 Ways To Land Your First Client
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5). Mobile App Development Agencies:
Many organisations use custom-built mobile applications to engage with their customers. From restaurants to media companies, mobile applications are built to cater for different needs.
While not just organisations use mobile apps, thousands of individuals are constantly looking for skilled mobile app developers to bring their ideas to life. This need has slowly made mobile application development in Nigeria get more and more lucrative. In countries like the United States, the demand for mobile applications have more than skyrocketed, and the revenue from each built mobile app is extremely high, depending on the project.
An average mobile app in America could cost anywhere from $10,000 to $200,000. In Nigeria for instance, it could cost between $1000 to $10,000. While the cost of building mobile apps in the two countries may differ, handling multiple projects at the same time is the ultimate key to success in the field.
As one of the most lucrative small business ideas to venture into in the tech industry, mobile application development is a skill many new tech savvy entrepreneurs must acquire.
6). Mobile Phones:
Retail stores selling mobile phones online or offline have over time proven the extreme viability and profitability of the sector. In Nigeria for instance, many entrepreneurs have made millions from just selling mobile phones to the ever growing market.
A great mobile phone retailer with a remarkable success story is SLOT. The mobile retailer has over the years grown to be the largest player in the Nigerian market. They’ve not just built an unshakeable reputation, but have the largest customer base of mobile phone buyers.
One way to get into the mobile phone market is to start by selling cheap mobile phones. Majority of the population prefer low budget phones. While many other people prefer to buy only the latest mobile phones, it’s important you try various marketing strategies like offering mobile phone deals to entice many more individuals to patronise your smart phone business.
Mobile phone sales is one of the most popular and lucrative small business ideas not just in Nigeria, but in Africa as a whole.
7). Digital Advertising Agencies:
With hundreds of competing businesses cropping up in every sector, staying afloat as number one or in the top league can be a huge task. This is where advertising agencies come in.
Advertising agencies practically help businesses grow by creating compelling campaigns, whether online or offline to not just increase the business’s customer base, but to make their brand name have a meaning to millions of people.
Companies search for the most creative digital agency they can find, and when they do, they pay them a lot of money so they can help their brands grow right, and faster.
If you’re an experienced copywriter, partnering with a few other copywriters and a really good artist could get your creative agency running in a short time. What determines how you acquire clients and at what speed, are the quality and success of the campaigns you execute.
If you can build a little app, game, or any creative campaign that goes viral, your client base would rise faster than you expect. An example of such companies that have successfully done this in Nigeria are Wild Fusion, and Anakle. Today, they’re growing faster than many expected they would.
8). Real Estate:
The real estate industry is currently one of the largest world wide. With several real estate companies focusing on either residential real estate or commercial real estate, the wide span opportunities the industry poses only simply grows.
While many real estate companies focus more on the offline sales channels, there are several others focusing on the online channels by setting up real estate websites offering thousands of properties for sale. The property search on these websites are in thousands, and the comfort they give a prospective customer buying a house makes it a lot easier. Examples of some successful online real estate companies in Nigeria are Private Property, ToLet, and Lamudi.
No matter the channel real estate companies offer houses for sale or rent through, there’s always a buyer lurking around to buy at a good price.
As an individual, you could act as a real estate agent and collect a commission on every sale you bring to the real estate company. Successfully acquiring a lot of customers to purchase properties through you would make you gain some considerable income. It’s important you stay up to date with daily real estate news, so you would always be aware of any policy changes or market vices attempting to shift the market.
See Also: The Comprehensive Guide To Real Estate Investment
9). Small Business Loans:
If you have a little extra cash to spare, you could start up a small business that focuses on just providing loan services to other small businesses that need them.
Many small business owners hit gridlocks while trying to secure loans from banks and other financial institutions. These institutions set heavy loan requirements which are mostly difficult for small business owners to meet. As a professional money lender, you could provide short term loans with far lesser restrictions to multiple small businesses.
Money lending is usually overlooked by many mostly because of the risk of a non-repayment, but is still one of the few modest small business ideas to venture into.
See Also: How To Get Seed Funding For Your Small Business In Africa
10). The Stock Market:
The stock market has both created and destroyed the fortunes of millions of people. But irrespective of the inherent risk, a well seasoned stock trader mostly makes good bets, and also knows the stock market is one of the most profitable small business ideas to venture into.
Trading stocks can result in heavy losses for your investments if you don’t have a clue of what’s going on. Before you decide on what stocks to buy, it’s important you study the company’s short and long term progression, talk to your stockbroker, a financial expert, or even a friend that’s been trading successfully in the stock market for a long time.
Investing in stocks doesn’t just make you a millionaire overnight. The equity market is not that nice. But stock trading pays experienced entrepreneurs that understand the market trends, and know how to accurately (or almost accurately) predict how a certain stock’s price direction may go.
The stock market today in Nigeria may not be as favourable as 7 years ago, but a universal law still applies that states that “the higher the risk in business, the greater the potential financial reward is for the business owner”.
Stay up to date with stock market news, constantly monitor various stock market quotes, and sooner or later you’d make the right trade.
See Also: 10 Important Things You Must Absolutely Know Before Investing In Stocks
What are your thoughts on these 10 lucrative small business ideas? Let me know by leaving a comment below.
Image Source: gentleninja.com
All is well.What about the transportation business? Are there any guideline for it?
Hi Kareem,
The transportation business could be lucrative if executed right in the right environment, and at the right scale. In a much later post, I’ll write a piece on it.
Thank you for asking.
Education and Agribusiness is really a sure bet
… Nice writeup
Thank you Martino for the contribution and commendation.
Have a great time!
If you are to have the sum of 500k can you invest it on barbing salon in a school area ? Or a view centre which is the best ? But there few barbing saloons but they are not standard at all nor the view centre
Hi Damilare,
The success of barbing salons in Nigeria doesn’t necessarily lie in how standard it looks, but in how skilled the barbers are. Male students generally want to look really good when they leave the salon, and if a salon that looks less standard, but always delivers that look exists, they’d keep patronizing it. What you should focus on should be the quality of the barbers, than the look of the salon.
But with that sum, a standard viewing centre charging the same cost as other less standard viewing centres, and in a student concentrated environment with side attractions would be your best bet because, many students are football fanatics, and would pay to watch any match, especially if it’s an important one.
Thank you for asking.
Alright thanks ..what am looking at about the view centre is about when student are on break and the security..what will you suggest about that ?
You should do your research on how viewing centres in your university of choice operate through the year. That’d give you better insights into how to move forward.
Hi Stan
How about we add accountancy sector. Many small business owners cannot prepare financial statements or file the right tax. As a consultant you could help SMEs in term tax, accounting and financial advisory. This is one sector where big 4 are making money but they focus on corporate customers
Hi Ebrima,
The accountancy sector is a huge one indeed with many large companies like KPMG only focusing on auditing accounts. I’d add this in a future post.
Thanks for the contribution.
Hello I am much interested in learning a web design please if I can’t what to use to learn I will be ok how about Engineering serving company can u write about it and please can we have more discursion on mail?
Hi Yaks,
I’ll do well to write about it in a future post. But if you want to study web design, you’ll need to learn HTML, CSS, Javascript, and at least one server-side scripting language (PHP is the most popular worldwide, especially in Nigeria).
I’d advise you spend 6 months on web design alone, till you hone it to perfection. The reason is no matter how good your server-side scripting skills are, if what you’re building doesn’t have a great user experience, no one will care to use your services.
Learn HTML and CSS first, then Javascript. Also have an understanding of JQuery (It’s a javascript library). There are also other Javascript libraries like AngularJS and nodeJS. But JQuery is what you’d need for 99% of your projects. When you’re certain your user experience skills are great, then you can learn a server-side programming language (Preferably PHP).
If you find it all too difficult to learn these on your own, then registering in a computer institute like New Horizons or NIIT would be a great place to start.
Hope you find this information valuable.
The tip on the education is spot on. It’s a profitable sector the world over. And, now, with the onset of online education, the sector has gotten bigger and any entrepreneur who’s got something to offer can leverage on it. The trick is to provide value. And, the money would follow.
Thanks Iyabo for the contribution.
I think starting a retail store is a great way to go and you can focus on your neighborhood and even move faster by using some of the online marketplace websites in Nigeria like https://www.bargainmasterng.com to help your customers order online and make the delivery to their home.
In fact you can start a lot of businesses without having a physical shop while using the online marketplace to sell your products.
Hello Stan,
Thanks for your insightful and educative write-up. Am interested in your piece on online advertising agency for copywriters. How can I contact you privately to discuss further ? I run an ad agency and want to upgrade it to run online too. Thanks
Regards
Obinna
Thanks for the commendation Obinna.
You can reach me via email at [email protected]
Have a great time!
pls Stan how can I build a profitable apps are there a free sites where one can do that there. Also how can I build a blog. is there also a site I can build for free online. Thank u
Hi Edwards,
There are WordPress tools to convert your WordPress blog or site into an app.
You can make money from blogging by setting up a blog on WordPress or Blogger. Starting for as low as only $3.95 per month, anyone can follow this link to create a WordPress blog in minutes for a really cheap rate (this low price is only through my link). In addition to the low pricing, you will receive a free website domain (originally worth $15), a free site builder, and a 30-days money-back guarantee through my Bluehost link if you purchase at least, 12 months of blog hosting.
Thank you for asking.
Hello, am New here, I like this particular write-up was wondering if network marketing can also be seen as a million dollar idea.
Hi Nelson,
Network marketing in itself, has liberated some people from poor financial situations. But most of their finances can only be seen as comfortable.
Extremely few people make millions of dollars from network marketing. While the majority only make something you could deem as okay.
That said, network marketing isn’t a million dollar idea, but a way to moderately increase your finances.
What do you have for a novice, who wants to learn blogging ?
Hi Osas,
Later this week, I’ll have an article up on the blog about how to make money blogging.
You should look out for it.
Thank you for asking.
Thanks stan…
One can also look into the photography work as well.
Thank you for the contribution Harrison.
Hy Stan
Pls aw can I sell my product using jumia
You can sign up as a seller on their website, call a customer service agent, or visit any of their offices.
Thank you for asking Mbzee.
hi stan
pls how do I advertise my services online
Hi Ogochukwu,
You could either do it through facebook ads, google adwords, direct ads on websites & blogs, and a couple of other channels.
Thank you for asking.
i just come across this write up,and its really a nice article. well-done stan.
Stan Edom i am a student and i want to do business so can you help me
First try to solve a problem in your environment or sell a product that people want and makes them feel good about themselves.
Thank you for asking.
Thanks Stanley for sharing this post, I think the real estate industry tops my list of sector i would like to venture into
Thanks for sharing this post, am happy to find the digital sector there.
this is very informative and intersting, thanks 🙂
Thank for sharing this, I really enjoyed reading it 🙂