How to start a Business in Nigeria with any amount: 10 Steps

Starting a business with any amount sounds pretty much like a lie. I mean, if we are to be realistic here, even to sell kola nuts or pure water, you need money to buy them first before selling them. So it’s not possible. Now that’s how an average person thinks.

Well here is how you should think: if I don’t have the money, what I need is a good and feasible idea that can convince someone who has the money but lacks the idea, to partner with me for a period of time, or lend me the money for a period of time.

Here is another idea I believe will work; you are reading this now because you have an internet access, and you most likely have eaten or will eat soon. Now, person weh no get money no fit buy data or see food chop. You didn’t get that, did you? I will explain further in the following points below

By the way, to learn how to start a business in Nigeria, I strongly recommend you read about the things to consider before starting business in Nigeria. And if you have any question, my number is in the last paragraph of this article. And you can also drop it in the comment box. Alright let’s swing into action.

How to start a Business in Nigeria with any amount: 10 steps

1. Find the need

Never let anyone deceive you to think that the most important thing to consider when starting a business is what kind of business is thriving, or what skill you possess or how much you have Look, friend, these things are important and we will eventually discuss them, shey you get? But the most important thing to focus on is the need of society. Here are a few questions to help you discover those needs:

• What is lacking the most in the society?
• What do people need that they don’t easily get?
• What do people buy that they have to go as far as 15 minutes away from home to get it
• What do people need that they have to travel out of their town/state/country to get it?

Now, there are four kinds of community needs, which I will explain shortly:

• The first is perceived needs. These needs are based on what individuals feel their needs are. Oftentimes, these needs are not just opinions, hence the need to take cognisance of it.
• The second is expressed needs. These needs are defined by the number of individuals who seek help. 
• The third is absolute needs. These needs are also considered as universal, including those for survival such as food, water, safety, and clothing.
• Lastly we have relative needs. These needs are rendered necessary based on equity. 

2. Find the want

Yes, there is a difference between needs and wants. According to study.com, in economics, a need is something needed to survive while a want is something that people desire to have, that they may, or may not, be able to obtain.

For instance, we all need to wear clothes, but it doesn’t mean we need to have all our clothes, down to the socks ordered from ecommerce store, to have most sets of clothes fit the colour of our shoes and bags, with golden or silver jewelry to accompany it and a simple but classy golden wristwatch and ring to complement it.

But guess what? People often need needs but also want wants too. And to go into business, you must understand that to get to sell your product, you must persuade your target audience from the point view of want, so as to convince them to buy needs (and wants).

3. Do market research.

Now the first two points are part of your market research, but the real market research happens when you discover the problem you wish to solve. Like I said in my article on the things to consider before starting business in Nigeria, market research helps clarify a lot including how it runs, who runs it, the best in the market, and why, the pricing of the product/service, the rate of demand, the rate of supply, what problem they are solving, etc.

Still wondering how it connects to starting a business with no amount? Here is a gist. I know of someone who borrowed an outrageous amount of money to kickstart an idea in his head, and within 3 months, the money vanished. Business is more than just an idea. You must back up your ideas with reasonable and logical facts. And market research is the tool.

4. Plan

After your market research, it makes more sense at this point to plan your business. However planning your business has nothing to do with you. I wish I could repeat that about a hundred times over.

I watch a lot of people brim with excitement when they begin to imagine going to a photo studio to take an executive photograph to use on their social media platforms, spend cool cash to design a website, gather family and friends and ask them to be a part of their business executives, change their wardrobe so as to look like a see hee ho of a company, buy products the feel will sell.

That is what I call a disaster waiting to happen. To avoid such, simply shift your focus from yourself to your audience. Now one benefit of your market research is that it would give clarity to certain questions you need to ask. Here are a few questions to ask yourself when planning your business:

• What am I selling (product or service)?
• What is my niche?
• What does my business need to kick off?
• When do I want to start?
• How do I generate the fund to start?
• Do I need a business plan?
• How do I market my business?
• Who is my target audience?
• How do I reach them best (social media,physically, cold calling, email marketing?
• What is my budget for the next 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, etc

By the time you are done with the answers, you will realize you have successfully erased unnecessary things in the planning process. You will also realize that you have the answers you need to write a business plan that will guide your business pursuit in an organized way. I believe this article will teach you all you need to know about writing a business plan in Nigeria. Simply click here.

From my experience in business, people who have a clearly written business plan tend to have much more advantage in starting a business than those who don’t. This is because a business plan has the following:

• a structure, a market research,
• a SWOT analysis, 
• a marketing strategy, 
• a list of your expenditure, 
• a forecast of how your sales will look like within the first 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 5 years, etc, 

Now there are many other features a business plan possesses. Going for a business plan makes you have them all in one rather than spending so much money to meet different experts that will help you with each one. And that leads us to the next point.

5. Action

This is where many business dreams die. Some say the reason why business doesn’t launch beyond this stage is because of the fear of starting, fear of failure, fear of the unknown, etc

But hey, never let go of your motivation which is the need to add value to society and make money for doing the same. If you are the type that wishes to start with little or nothing, then here are the action steps I believe will work, based on experience:

• Kick off by doing what you don’t need money to do: For instance if you are starting an online business, you sure need to spend money on adverts, etc, but you don’t need money to inform your friends that you are into the business, and that you need them to refer to you anyone that needs your product or services
• Seek fund: Like I said in the introductory part of this article, if you have a business idea, or a business plan, but you don’t have a dime on you, keep in mind that there are people out there that have the fund but don’t have the business idea or the time.
  
  Smart people persuade rich people to partner, lend or give them money so they can start and sustain their business.
  
  Other times, you can seek funds by meeting family, friends, and a few people you know who are well to do, and then explaining to them that you want to start your business, and that you would appreciate anything that comes from them.
  
  You might not be able to gather up to the million naira budget you have, but you will be glad that you are able to gather enough to start without worrying about returning it. 

• Have faith: Yes believe that the business will eventually work. Your belief in it is what drives the fear of the unknown and part of what keeps you going.

6. Register the business

There is a legal process to every business, but one outstanding thing about registering your business is that it gives you more credibility before your audience. For instance, if your business requires that people pay some huge amount of money before they get their service or their product, one of the things that will encourage them to part with their money is the registration status of your business. So, my humble, Nigerian advice, lol, is, register your business with Corporate Affairs Commission.

7. Separate your business from you.

Here is a pitfall to avoid before ever starting the business at all. You are an entity. Your business is an entity too. Your business is not a sub-entity. Starting a business is like giving birth to a child. It needs its cloth, food, bed, etc.

In the same way, your business needs its social media platform different from your personal account. Some people especially fashionistas and makeup artistes make the mistake of using their personal instagram account for their business. While their handles remain their personal names, they change the name of the account to their business name, and then continue using the same account for their business.

No, your business needs its different email, phone number, Instagram, twitter, and facebook account. As a matter of fact, your business needs a different bank account from your personal account. Yes. These are the only ways you are able to run your business right.

An advantage is that it helps you to track your business progress such as knowing who is following you on social media as a prospect and not as a friend, or which money is yours and which money is the business’s.

This is difficult but always learn to pay yourself in business. Never assume that any sales you make, the money goes straight to your pocket as gain, or else, you are depriving your business a chance to grow on its own independent of you.

8. Brand your business

Penultimately, branding is a course on its own, but I will try to summarize it. When you step into GTBank, what do you feel? Do you feel like in another world? Why? You see pink almost everywhere huh? You see staff all dressed corporate, you step into the mantrap door and Asa’s The Place To Be is playing. Do they mean anything to you?

Branding is culture, signature, lifestyle, something that distinguishes you from the rest. When you brand your business, people who have contact with your business begin to associate with everything that your business represents. A brand is a message, an identity - it is what people use to recognize you, identify you and identify with you.

There are many reasons to brand your business but I will tell you one. If you are asked to buy between a Ferrari 2018 model worth $333.750 and a Nigerian made 2020 model car worth $150.500 which one would you go for? The answer is obvious.

Many will most likely go for the former, even though the price is higher and it is 2018. This is the work of branding.People will rather buy an old product they are familiar with than risk their money to buy a new product they have not tried before.

9. Build a team

You can’t do everything all by yourself. You might have some idea about some of these things, but you can’t be an expert in them all. So it is only wise for you to get people who are good at what they do, and pay them to do it. Now that means employing people. It also means becoming an employer and a leader, which you have to prepare for.

But hey, take a chill pill, don’t get dreaming too much. It will take you some time to get to that level. It’s not about having the title of employer, but about the necessity of being one. If it is not necessary, if it is not going to add value to your company, if it is not necessary, important or urgent, then don’t employ. For everything you do, you must consider the financial capacity of your company.

And like I said in my article on managing business with family and friends, never build a team of family and friends, instead, build a team of professionals.

10. Market your business

This is perhaps the most important of all the points, and here is why. I have seen many people who are good at what they do, who understand the technical aspect of their business, some who graduated with nice grades, and yet they are stack broke.

This is owing to just one factor. Lack of marketing. I don’t care how creative, innovative, thoughtful, committed, passionate, or professional you are, if you don’t have marketing skills, you are not ready to own a business that will thrive. No hard feelings, it's a fact.

This is why I encourage people to learn a bit of sales and marketing skills. Reason is because people buy you, not your product/service. If you are not able to persuade your customer to buy your product, they won’t, because guess what? There are tens and hundreds of other businesses out there that sell similar products or services to them. So what makes them buy from you is your ability to persuade them. Now the layman calls it persuasion, but in the business world, it is called sales or the art of selling.

To learn the art of selling, I recommend that you watch The wolf of wall street. It is a great movie that teaches a lot about business. You are surprised I mentioned movies for business? Well yes. And never let anyone fool you into thinking business is boring. It is only boring to those who are not wired for it or driven by it.

Good news

If you plan on starting your business but you are not sure about how to go about all these,especially the business plan, the business registration, the branding, and the marketing, I can do that for you. And you don’t have to worry about how much.I will work with you based on your budget. You can contact me via Call or Whatsapp on +2347080225737 or send us an email

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