Businesses you can start with 100k in Nigeria (2024)

Ogaga Benson

Due to the economy and inflation, most Nigerians just like you are considering starting a business or have already begun one; even people who are currently employed still want to start a business to generate extra income, but even after deciding to start a business, potential entrepreneurs face a lot of challenges, one major challenge is capital, not having enough capital to start or lack of information on businesses to start with the available capital.

This post will highlight the top 10 businesses you can start with 100k in Nigeria.

Recycling Business

Imagine a busy roas in Nigeria; there’s most likely trash on the floor, or imagine the amount of waste generated from a busy gathering like a church, school, or office. – from plastic cans to paper cartons, etc., so starting a recycling business in Nigeria would be very profitable. Recycling businesses make an average of 200k monthly. Starting a recycling business used to be very expensive, complicated, and difficult, but with the creation of Scrapays – starting a recycling business is now easy – you can start with less than 100k; all you need is to download and register on the scrapays app, get trained, get your assets and start.

Hairstylist

People make their hair almost every month, sometimes more than once a month. Starting is quite easy – all you need is the skill and space – you can get the equipment (dryers, etc.) as the business grows. With social media and your network, you can get clients within weeks. Another perk of the hair styling business is that you can easily add more products, such as selling wigs, revamping wigs, attachments, oils, shampoo, and other hair products. You can charge anywhere from 5k – 10k per client.

Fitness Instructor

You can start a fitness instruction business if you’re already a gym enthusiast with the required experience, skill, and certification. With the rise of sedentary lifestyles, sedentary-related sicknesses, and doctors advising people to move actively, the demand for fitness instructors is also increasing. With social media& your network, you can get your clients in weeks. The perk of this business is the subscription model – your clients subscribe to you monthly, so you can predict your monthly income and plan accordingly, and you dont always have to look for new clients.

Event Planning and Management

If you love planning and seeing things go smoothly, consider starting an event planning & management business. The demand for this business is readily available – every week, someone is getting married, having a dedication ceremony, birthday, baby shower, anniversary, retirement, etc. The list is endless, and everyone wants their event to go smoothly without hiccups – so there’s a market for this business, and you can plug in addon services like supplying drinks, chairs, canopy, or other items; you can even partner with other service providers like security and catering to provide security and catering. You can start small by using your network at the office, school, meetings, etc., and gradually build your reputation and clientele. You should get clients from word-of-mouth referrals if you provide good service.

Phone and gadget sales/resale

You’re probably reading this from a phone right now; almost everyone uses a phone now, including those in extremely rural areas; some people even have 2 phones – so there’s a market for selling and reselling phones, and due to the high cost of the phones, people want to buy them from people that they know. Starting to sell phones is easy; you find a trusted major importer and partner with him. You often dropship, meaning you don’t buy stock down, tying up capital. You place an order with the supplier and get your commission when you get an order. Also, you need to build your network, exchange contacts with people you meet, build rapport, and tell them what you do. For reselling, you can partner with a phone repair business to repair faulty phones and resell them at a higher price.

Liquid soap making & sales

Most people wash plates daily and clothes weekly, and there’s a steady demand for soap and detergents, especially if they are very effective. Even now, most people prefer to use liquid soaps for plates, so there is a steady demand for liquid and detergents. You need training, readily available raw materials, and packaging to start a liquid soap business. You should use branded packaging as it adds value and distinguishes the brand.’

Baked Food and Pastries

We all have that one classmate, colleague, or friend who sold pastries (chin-chin, small chops, etc.), which usually sell out within hours. Eventually, people started placing orders in advance. This shows that this business is viable, especially when you’re part of a very active community. To start, you need to acquire the required skills; your pastries must be delicious, and you must have good customer care skills to get loyal and returning customers.

Identifying/Choosing Your Business

Now that you know the businesses you can start with less than 100k, before deciding to start and investing capital, it’s important to self-evaluate. Evaluate your skills and interests; while profits are a great motivator, they shouldn’t be the only one; it’s important to do business that aligns with your;

Skills: Do you have the skills required for the business (especially if it’s a service-based business)? For example, do you know how to make hair, or do you know how to bake? Do you know how to make soap, etc.? If yes, that would be great, but if not, Where can you get the skill, how long will it take to get it, what is the time requirement, and what will it cost? These are very important questions you must ask. Yes, starting and running a business you dont have the skill for is possible, but it’s easier when you do have the skill, especially when you have limited capital to start.
Interests: Evaluate your interests. Starting a business is usually demanding, requires sacrifice, and has challenges. It’s easier to sacrifice and endure the challenges when doing a business you’re interested in.
Resources: Beyond money, a business also requires other resources such as your time, space, etc. Do your due diligence to find out all the resources the business needs and ensure you have the needed resources or can get them before starting.

How to build your business with a limited budget

Planning & Research: Every business needs planning and research before starting; it is especially more important since you have limited capital; you need to do the following:

Market Research: According to the Harvard School of Business, “Market research is the process of gathering information about customers and the market as a whole to determine a product or service’s viability. Market research includes interviews, surveys, focus groups, and industry data analyses.” ¹ It’ll help you define your target audience and competition. Learn how to do market research for a recycling business specifically, but the steps can be adapted to do market research for any business.

Business Plan: You should write a business plan after completing your market research. Santa Clara University says, “A business plan is the blueprint for your business, the who, what, where, when, how, and why. It provides a single place to keep all your ideas, the roadmap that will help you pursue these ideas, and the overview so that you can share your vision with others.“² It gives you a road map for your business and helps you see it more clearly. Your business plan should contain your financial plan, budgets, projections, ideal customer profile, and marketing strategy.

How to Market Your Business After Starting

To make sales and ultimately profit, people need to know about your product or service; your target audience needs top-of-mind awareness of your business. Hence, marketing is very important; although marketing can be expensive and you have a limited budget, there are low-cost or even free methods to market your business; these include;

Social Media: Create accounts for your business and grow and expand your business audience, starting with your network. You need to ensure brand consistency in designs, communication, and posting. This will ensure your audience thinks of you first when they need your product or service.

Google Business Profile: GMB is free and can offer you free visibility on the SERP. You only need to create a Google account, create a listing, and optimize it properly. Learn how to create and optimize your Google My Business profile.³

Your Network: Beyond building your online presence as a growing business with limited capital, your network—friends and family—will likely be your first customers and give you your first set of sales. It’s important you build your network. We recommend reading “How to Win Friends and Influence People”⁴ to help you build your network.

Additional Tips for Success

Starting a business with less than 100k is possible, and your business can grow to become a major player; these tips will help you start, run, and grow your business successfully;

Focus on customer satisfaction: Word-of-mouth referrals are the lifeline of the business, and people only refer others when you offer them good service and treat them right. Ensure all your customers are satisfied. Also, consider sending them an NPS to fill out after using your service.
Actively ask for Referrals: Don’t just passively expect your customers to refer their friends to you or ask them to do so in Passing; actively ask them to do so after you’re sure they’re satisfied with your service. You can ask for the numbers of their friends they think will be interested in your service and follow up with them. Whichever method you adopt is up to you, but always ensure you’re actively seeking referrals.

Conclusion

In this post, we highlighted Businesses you can start with 100k in Nigeria, details about each business and what you need to start, how to choose the right business for you, how to start the business, how to market the business, and additional tips to help your business become successful. Now that you have the necessary information, taking action and starting is important.

We recommend you start a recycling business with scrapays because;

You need less than 100k to start.
We’ll give you the tech, training, and assets you need to start.
Anyone can do this business, irrespective of skill or experience level.
Very low barrier to entry.
We offer continuous support, so you’re not alone.
The recycling business has very low risk, and our business development team will help reduce the risk further.
You can start in less than 7 days.
Our agents make an average of 200k/Month,

Start your recycling business today by becoming a Scrapays agent.