The major dream of most Entrepreneurs is to someday have their own business. Having your own business is amazing because you can afford to do things when you want it without your boss looking over your shoulder. But as cool as it sounds, starting a profitable business is a very demanding task that only a few businesses survive.
The uncertainty wrought on the Nigerian economy has led to an increase in the price of everything. Every businessman knows the chant of ‘everything is now expensive’ like a lullaby a mother sings to her sickly child; but the truth remains that there are endless possibilities to the businesses you can start in Nigeria, especially as a developing country where all you require is determination, hard work and a little bit of money.
According to Collins Dictionary, Business is work relating to the production, buying, and selling of goods or services. There are no limits to who can become a business owner or an entrepreneur. You do not need a huge sum of money in your bank account or a degree to become run your own business.
Below are ways you can start a business in Nigeria with little capital;
- Evaluate yourself: as long as you have made up your mind to start a business, you need to carefully evaluate yourself by asking and answering the following questions;
- Do I have the skills needed to run this business?
- Do I have what it takes to lead or manage a team?
- Do I have what it takes to raise capital for the business?
- Do I have the passion and motivation to make this a success?
You have to be sure and sincere with your answers. If the majority of your answer is YES, then you’re ready to start your own business.
- Find a business idea: When it comes to starting a business, not all business ideas are worth starting at all. The best business ideas are unique, practical, needed by the market, and easy to scale. In the search for a business idea, start by looking at what problems exist in your environment and try to provide a solution to such a problem and monetize it. To start a business, you must find or create a business idea relative to your “available capital.” When searching for a business idea, there are a few things that will serve as a guide;
- Think about the problems in your locality
- Can you provide a solution to such a problem and monetize it?
- Think about the execution processes: What will it cost you and how will you do it
You may need to ask questions from people, do your own research and as well seek advice from entrepreneurs.
- Conduct market research: Before starting a business, be sure you have a good understanding of such business. Try conducting market research by asking your potential customers a few questions about the problem you will like to solve for them. Also research on existing direct and indirect competitions that currently exist in the market. Try to know about their products and services and how you think your business can stand out amongst them.
- Utilize your feedbacks: It is one thing to conduct market research when you want to start a business, it’s another thing to properly utilize the feedback gotten from your research. The whole essence of this is to help you know more about the business you want to start and helps to form a strong foundation for the business. You wouldn’t want to start a business today and it starts crumbling tomorrow or instead of watching your business grow, it starts to fall. That’s why you need to learn how to start a business.
- Get business funding: Starting a business does not only require your skills and effort but also your money. Every business requires a start-up capital which will be used in funding the day-to-day operations of the business. In case you don’t have the capital required to start the business, you can use bank loans, grants, equity investments etc to source for funding.
- Business Registration: Registration of business is very paramount for everyone that wants to start a business. You should register your business with the government of your country or with the body responsible for business registration in your country. For example, if you are in Nigerian business, you can register your business with Cooperate Affairs Commission (CAC) at the federal level and then with the Chamber of Commerce at the state level. Registering your business with the required bodies gives validity and authenticity to your business.
- Build Your Team: If you are planning to be the only one running your business, then you may not need to start building a team. But if you are definitely going to employ people, you need to build a strong team. You are building a strong team for your business because these people are meant to contribute to the growth of your business but if the team is not well built, they can as well help to bring down your business.
- Grow Your Business: Growth is vital to the survival of a business. Any business that is not growing will surely die no matter how long it takes. Make sure you do everything possible to ensure the constant growth of your business. The number one metric to measure the growth of a business is a steady positive cash flow. The more cash flow a business generates the more ability it has to grow and expand the business. Hence, ensure that you have the right tools to help you keep track of your cash flow from day one of the business.
