25 Viable Small Business Ideas in Nigeria

Do you need hot viable small business ideas to start with small or huge capital in Nigeria?

If you are looking for profitable viable small business ideas to start in Nigeria, here are 25 best viable business ideas and investment opportunities you can start and make huge profits in Nigeria in both short and long period of its establishment.

Starting a small business in Nigeria with small capital and growing it into large firm requires determination and commitment with good planning. This is because doing business in Nigeria is a lot competitive.

A good entrepreneur identifies business opportunities from his environment or leverages on existing businesses and establishes a business enterprise.

So many Nigerians today are searching for small businesses to start up. Some have little money but no viable business idea to start with. So, if you are among those who have no idea of viable businesses to start in Nigeria; we have here below 25 profitable viable business ideas that most Nigerians often neglect it.

Wait! Before you jump into starting any of the below viable businesses in Nigeria, take note of these 6 important factors which can either make or mar your business success;

• The target market
• The business locations
• Your capital
• The Timing and time management
• Backup financial plan
• Competitors

For additionally information on the above factors; read the top 10 factors to consider when starting a small business

Let’s get started!

25 PROFITABLE VIABLE BUSINESS IDEAS IN NIGERIA

To make things easier for you, we’ve come up with 25 hot profitable viable businesses in Nigeria which you can consider starting;

• RAW FOOD STUFF STORE
• BAKERY BUSINESS
• RESTAURANT BUSINESS
• PRIVATE SCHOOL BUSINESS
• POULTRY REARING
• SNAIL REARING
• CAT FISH REARING
• PLANTATION FARMING
• CAR WASH CENTER BUSINESS
• TRAINING CENTER
• TUTORIAL/LESSON CENTER
• IMPORTATION WEARS
• SEWING OF SPECIALIZED UNIFORMS
• CALL CENTER AGENCY
• HAULAGE AND LOGISTICS
• OUTSOURCED BUS SERVICE
• CYBER CAFÉ
• E-SERVICES
• BABYCARE CENTER
• FOOD PROCESSING
• DISTRIBUTOR BUSINESS
• PRODUCTION BUSINESS
• SETTING UP SECURITY COMPANY
• BARS AND CLUBS
• COLD ROOM (FROZEN FOOD)

Let’s get into detail discuss of this list of profitable viable businesses in Nigeria.

1. RAW FOOD STUFF STORE

Raw food stuff store is a profitable fast moving viable business that can make good profit on your investment. Food stuff like Rice, Beans, Semolina, Wheat, Garri, including Vegetable oil and Red oil are to be sold at all time in the store.  Most Nigerians prefer to eat more of the locally made foods than farinaceous dishes such as Indomie, Spaghetti, Macaroni and so on. Profit on Raw food stuff store business is based on high turnover. The more you sell the more profit you will make. Aim to build customer base by selling at cheaper compare to other raw food store around your locality

How to start this business;

Look for shop in a location around populous residential area, you can start with the little amount and latter develop it in a very big way by buying in bags and cartons and selling at both wholesale and retail prices.

Your chance to succeed in this business is very high because people consume food every day.

MUST READ: 50 Successful Small Businesses in Nigeria with less capital startup

2. BAKERY BUSINESS

Bakery business is a fast selling viable business in Nigeria. People all over the world love eating baked food (Nigerians inclusive). Baking business involves pastry work. You bake all sorts of flours as baked food and these include things like; Mince pies, Puff pastry cases, Cheese straws, Sausage rolls, Palmiers, Cream buns, Victoria sandwich, Swiss roll, Small cakes, Rich Fruit cake, parmesan rolls. You can make arrangement with hotels, school canteen, eateries etc to be supplying them your product, this is best way to make it in this business.

          How to start this business,

• Make sure you meet the people who are into bakery industry to be guided on what you need to know.
• Attain a school where bakery services are being offered for you to learn.
• You can also start the business and employ someone to be taking care of it for you.

It is a safe business to invest on.

3. RESTAURANT BUSINESS

Restaurant business is a very lucrative viable business idea. It is a business that had existed for a long time but still at the top because it does not run out of fashion. Anyone can start this business in as you know how to cook delicious meal or you can employ the services of a cook.

How to start this business;

• Find a good Location. It should be in a place where people can easily come and patronize your business.
• Obtain license from NAFDAC by registration to allow you sell without being disturbed by the government agency.
• The business requires a great cook , if you can’t cook then you need to employ a cook
• Above all, with proper planning, a good management is needed

4. PRIVATE SCHOOL BUSINESS

School has become one of the most profitable business in Nigeria, private school which is usually own by one or more people is dominating in terms of secondary, primary and nursery.

A lot of institutional and private investors can invest to build quality schools and providing quality education.

You can also embark on opening this business opportunity from different entry levels depending on your capability.

How to start this business;

• You must obtain your National Certificate in Education (NCE)
• Register the school
• You can do this business as a partnership business
• Before investing in any level of this business opportunity, make sure you acquire all government license and educational permit.
• It is all easy to start from nursery school level

Farming/Agriculture Business

5. POULTRY REARING

In Nigeria, poultry is consumed all the time. It is mostly used in all the occasion because of its health benefits as it has unsaturated fat. It is a white meat and it is good for both young and old people. Therefore, if you have interest in embarking in this type of business idea; success will always be yours when you plan very well.

If you are a small-scale producer and interested in starting your own poultry business, it’s important to decide which sector of the industry you want to serve. This will determine how you will go about setting up the business.

First option is to hatch and sell day-old chicks to the big producers. Here, you are to sell day old chicks after hatching and not to grow them.

A second option is to buy day-old chicks and grow them yourself, in this place you can only sell them as fully grown chickens to the consumers both wholesales and retails depending on your capability.

Third option is to be involved in the entire process, including slaughtering. This means that you grow the chicken yourself and after growing it, you can sell it as fully-grown chicken or slaughter it and sell both cooked and uncooked.

Therefore, the above three options are business opportunity to grab and start doing.

How to start this business;

• First, do a rough estimate of the option to start with according to your capital.
• Get large space, or you can rent if you don’t have.

• Most entrepreneurs prefer to produce day-old chicks and sell them to growers this is because when growing it you’ll need to take into account factors such as feed, medicine and other facilities required.

• You can start with broilers buying day-old chicks and growing them to six weeks, and then sell them either as live or slaughtered birds.
• Then, when you develop your business, you can add layers.

Finally, the options above allow you to make choice on where to start. Poultry business has a relatively low start-up cost and rapid returns.

MUST READ:10 Ways to Raise Funds to Start Business in Nigeria

6. SNAIL REARING

Snails are a great delicacy, and for this reason snail farming are successful in Nigeria and enjoying the huge profit. However, snail rearing is one of the most neglected business ventures. In the olden days, snails are not always available all the years but in the modern time, many farmers have discovered its nutritional value and high income yielding thereby putting much of effort rearing it all the year round.

Successful farmers make huge profit by targeting high customers from (hotels, restaurants and households) who can afford to pay for a steady supply of the product all the year round. Snail farming is a low risk business. Unlike many other livestock businesses, snail farming requires very little startup and operating costs.

How to start this business

• Start your snail farm with the right species i.e. the Giant African Snail
• Apply proper breeding, stocking and feeding practices to achieve the giant sizes that will attract high customer.

• If you have access to forests where there are plenty of snails, you can also pick your giant snail there.

7. CAT FISH REARING

Catfish farming is an easy viable business idea which any one can start in Nigeria. You can start it in a pond at home, in closed water supply installations or in barrels. It is advisable to keep the fish in a place with a shade or subdue light in the room. This business idea is highly profitable.  Many Nigerians who are engage in it are doing very well because of its high return.

How to start this business

• Write a business plan on the catfish rearing in order to calculate the estimated costs and annual profit.
• Engage others who are already into the business

• Get good engine to construction of a small pond with the provision of the required ecosystem.
• Buy all the necessary equipment required and do their installation. Example filters, lighting systems, etc.
• Purchase of feed and young catfish

8. PLANTATION FARMING

The agricultural sector in Nigeria today focus more on livestock farming which is one of the easiest way of making money.  Crop cultivation or plantation is another viable means of making money in Nigeria. If you have a fertile free land, you can use it for this purpose. There are lots of cash crops which you can consider that will be providing you enough income annually. Some these crops include plantation of Banana, Plantain, Orange, Pear, Kola nut, Oil palm tree, Cassava, Yam, Cocoa, Coco yam, and so on. These crops I listed above are very richly crops which can provide you with steady income anytime of the year.

How to start this business;

• Get a free land that you will not develop in nearby future.
• Then, start cultivating it.

• Plant some crops.

• Mixed cropping is a good way to start.

9. CAR WASH

This type of business is a business you can easily startup with little capital. It is one of the fast profitable businesses in Nigeria. A lot of people make money fast in this business because many car owners don’t have time to wash their car themselves, instead they prefer going to the car wash believing that car wash do it better than them. Some will even use that time you wash their car relaxation as they are always busy and engagement in their offices.

How to start this business;

• Get a good location
• Car washing machine or equipment

• Car wash detergent, and

• Workers to make the work faster

10. TRAINING CENTERS

These types of business are only meant for those that are skilled. A specialized training center is also one of the fast growing business opportunities in Nigeria. Training centers such as leadership training schools, basic empowerment centers (i.e. entrepreneurial centers, training centre for computer, hobbies, fashion design, beauty contest, etc) are training centers you can start in Nigeria today.

How to start this business

• Like I said earlier, this business is for those who have skills. If you having special skill as an entrepreneur you can establish a small training center and organize people for training.
• You will design it in such a way that before people starts receiving training in your center, they have to buy form and at the same time pay each package.

11. TUTORIAL CENTERS

The tutorial center is similar to training centers but different is that tutorial center is meant for those who are going to seat and write their examinations. With the large number of academic and professional exams, tutorial center is among the list of fast growing business opportunities in Nigeria in 2018. Focus on the area of your specialization but you can still expand it by employing more hand according to their specialization to suit your design. The following tutorial centers can be your target: ICAN, GMAT, WAEC, JAMB, GCE, CIS, job interview training, etc.

How to start this business

• As I stated earlier, you must be knowledgeable and have area of specialization
• Get a good location possibly inside school premises

• Get your tutorial center registered. This will help you in future.

12. IMPORTATION OF WEARS

This is another fast growing viable business in Nigeria. Clothes and other wears are basic necessities of man. So, despite the recession in Nigeria, people must wear clothes, shoes, bags, underwear, etc. A growing trend of this category of business is importation of fairly Used clothes (aka Okirika). You can get wears both new and fairly used ones from USA, China, Italy, France, Dubai, Holland, etc. Therefore, you can invest on it, and start making your profit sharply.

MUST READ: 100+ Profitable Small Business Ideas you can start today in Nigeria

13. SEWING OF SPECIALIZED UNIFORMS

Are you a good at fashion and design in Nigeria? Here is an opportunity that you should grab. There are many schools in Nigeria that requires the services of a good tailor. All you need to do is to design and sow a sample of the uniform and take it to the school. You can from sowing cloths for nursery, primary or secondary school. You can also sow uniform for other corporate organizations and individuals.

Depending on your expertise, you can as well sow for military (Army, Air Force, Navy), paramilitary (Police Force, Defense Corps), and non-paramilitary (Traffic Warden, Road Safety, Vigilante groups, etc) organizations in Nigeria which make use of uniforms.

How to start this business;

• See yourself as a uniform supplier
• Advertise to some schools
• Get more hand if you are having more customers.

14. CALL CENTER AGENCY

You should know that most of those customer cares services of a telecom network who receive your complaints on phone are not employees of the corporate organization or companies you patronize. Again, they do not even operate in the premises of such company. Some just setup a call center agency and start working for big companies in contract basis. One of the advantages of this business is that you can even start it small as a call center agent from home, since it does not require much startup capital but you can letter develop by employing more helping hands as case may be.

MUST READ: How to start a small business and be successful

15. HAULAGE AND LOGISTICS

Haulage and logistics is another flourishing business in Nigeria because in spite all odds, people must haul their goods from one place to another. This business is one of the most profitable businesses in Nigeria without loss when it is manage very well. Therefore, you can focus on hauling containers, company’s products, village farm product, frozen foods, etc. from the particular location to their various destinations.

How to start this business

• You can start with a truck depending on your capability and watch how it goes.
• Have contract to a Haulage and logistics company (based on the agreement, you may receive your payment weekly or monthly).

16. OUTSOURCED BUS SERVICE

This is like haulage business but the different is that you provide transportation services to organizations that cannot afford to buy their company’s vehicle, such as school bus, missionary and other corporate bodies. This type of business is very good for those who want to invest their money in businesses in Nigeria. You can have many buses and employ drivers to run it in the organization as a transport service and at the end of every month you will be making huge profit from them.

Having known that some organization cannot afford to have their car or buses for its staff, and this is why you are needed in this place. Again, most schools need buses for their students but cannot afford it at the beginning time. You serve both secondary schools and higher institution as the case maybe. Some higher institution need big buses for their excursions but can’t afford to buy it themselves. In this business, you can be paid on a monthly bases or contract bases.

How to start this business

• Provide the buses and drivers to the organization.
• Made a contract with the schools or company
• Then provide them with a quality service

17. CYBER CAFÉ

In Nigeria, most people want to stay connected to the rest of the world in other to know what is going on around the world. Most students of higher institutions in Nigeria over the federation need internet to do their assignment, chat with friends and lots more. The cost of internet connection is on the high side thereby making cyber café an alternative for internet users; and an investment opportunity for entrepreneurs. This business can either be started on small, medium or large scale but it is good to make it a bit large or medium in other to satisfy customers on time and not keeping them waiting. Customers want speed and efficient internet service and at the same time available computer system which they can use to surf the web anytime they need without delay.

How to start this business

• Get a good location (preferable close to school or students surrounding)
• Be ready to provide speedy internet access
• Then provide complete service.

18. E-SERVICES

Nigeria is moving into a technological era. So if you are very good in technology aspect, you can grab the business idea and start making it immediately. You can just setup a shop in a good site and start offering e-services to the people. The e-services include Web designing and development, Web hosting, Digital marketing services, Application development, search Engine Optimization services, Bulk SMS services, Banner Design, Online registration of exams such as JAMB WAEC, and other professional courses, etc. as well as creating tutorial on things you can do well online.

19. DAYCARE CENTRE

Parents are working harder to earn a living for their family in Nigeria. For this reason, most of the parents are looking for quality childcare services while they are at work.

The fact that there are lots of daycare services in Nigeria should not draw you back because what matters most is the quality of service being rendered to these kids in the daycare centers. Parents need a daycare center that will take care of their children just as if they are the immediate parents to the children. Therefore, parents are looking on for a daycare centers with exceptional service irrespective of their fees.

How to start this business and make it;

• You can start in your home if your compound is large
• Have a clean environment, because parents wants the best for their children

• Be kind enough to tolerate children

• You can establish a full-scale childcare center depending on your capital
• You can also start in a small way or as Nanny Agency.
  

20. FOOD PROCESSING

Food processing is another profitable viable industry to consider in Nigeria. The main idea of this industry is to take raw food materials and turn them into finished products. There are many raw foods you can take into consideration and examples of such are Vegetable oil production, Oil palm processing, Tomato puree production, Garri Processing, Rice milling, Fruit juice production, etc. which can be benefiting to you.

How to start this business

• Get enough space for your machine.
• Purchase the equipment needed for the production.

• Have a training on how to use the machine.
• You can employ someone to manage the business for you.

21. BE A DISTRIBUTOR

 In Nigeria, most newly emerging companies situated in the cities like Lagos, Kano, Aba, Onitsha, etc and sub-urban areas are in need of consistent distributors. Companies in this group rest their requirements for you to be their distributor in other to make their product known in the market. Therefore, you should take advantage of these types of companies when they are still new. You can be a distributor to any company of your choice. While doing this business, always try to maintain good customer relationship and concentrate more on the turnover rather than on cost. Some products are sack water, soft drinks, cosmetics and body cream, perfumes, electronics, etc. You can make it within a short period of time if you are hard working and serious with the business.

How to start this business

• Draft a winning business proposal and submit it to the company
• Have a guarantor or surety depending on the company

• Have a warehouse or shop

• Have a registered business name
• Have a start up deposit depending on the company
• Means of transportation and sales agents.
• Have a knowledge of the market
• Certifications license and permits.

22. PRODUCTION BUSINESS

As an entrepreneur, you can venture into small scale production of a product that is needed daily by the people in your locality. It is not a must you have factory or industry before engaging in this business. Products that can be produce in this group includes Tissue paper, Serviette, Toothpicks, Polythene bags, Eswama bags, Paper bags, Empty cartons, Candle, Matches sticks, Chalks, etc.

23. SETTING UP A SECURITY COMPANY

Excellent security services are one of the massive demands in Nigeria today. While the government is trying to improve the security situation in the country, individuals and corporate entities have known that security is not meant for government alone but for everybody. Again, many executive bodies are in highly demand of security guards, bodyguards, and security gadgets. In most occasions such as wedding ceremony, crowning of kings, and some companies, there is demand for excellent security services which must not come from government but somewhere else.  Therefore, as an entrepreneur, you can setup a training company or bodyguard agency.

24. BARS AND CLUBS

Bars and clubs business is a hot viable business in Nigeria. The business is highly patronized by youths and even elderly people. This is because every Nigerian is looking for where to stay, refresh and feel happy. Bars and clubs provide a great entertainment for people. Therefore, If not a hotel, you can consider investing on a bar or a night club business. Again, bar and night club attracts tourists who are looking for an active night life. If you are interested in investing in the entertainment industry, then consider starting up a night club or bar.

25. COLD ROOM (FROZEN FOOD)

The last but not the least on Viable Business idea to start in Nigeria is Cold Room (Frozen Food) Business. Notwithstanding the high number of livestock farmers in Nigeria, frozen fish and chicken are still import into the country. Some people do not want to go through the stress of slaughtering, preparing and the rest of that before they can eat fish or chicken, so enjoy ready-made one which is available anytime in the market place or store. Therefore, as an investor you can go ahead with the business. Once well planned, you can make a huge profit in building and operating a cold room. It is a business that one can survive easily, when selling in both whole and parts because some buyers don’t have money to purchase full chicken, some prefer buying it in kilogram, while some buy in parts.

To sum it up, the above are profitable viable Business idea you can start in Nigeria and you will make huge profit. Start any of the businesses today and thank me later. I’m quite sure if you leverage on those business opportunities you have above that you will start making money big time.