Most Profitable Business in Nigeria With Low Capital

If you plan to start a business in Nigeria with low capital to raise your income or for long-term purposes, you have come to the right place.

In this article, we will explore the most profitable business in Nigeria that can be started with low capital and have high earnings potential.

Profitable Businesses With Low Capital in Nigeria – Is It Possible?

Yes, you can start a profitable business in Nigeria with low capital. You only need to choose a suitable business model and develop a strategic plan. You can begin with calculated resources, low budget, and strategic thinking to succeed in the business. 

At the beginning of this journey, you should focus mainly on delivering value and improving customer satisfaction. Everyone’s definition of low capital varies, so we’ve ensured we include a budget for each business.

Online Businesses With Low Startup Costs

If you are an online marketer or have digital skills, these entrepreneurial opportunities in Nigeria are tailor-made to leverage your specific capabilities and propel your success in the digital landscape.

Read more about them in details below.

Selling Physical Products Online

In 2022, Go Globe reported that the e-commerce revenue in Nigeria skyrocketed to US$3.1 billion, and the industry is expected to reach US$9.02 billion in 2024 (a 14.6% jump in 2023). This means that ecommerce is a lucrative business in Nigeria with immense growth potential. 

It is a small-scale business you can start with low capital, especially if you already have an offline store. See a breakdown of how much it takes to start an ecommerce business in Nigeria.

It would help to have capital for the products you want to sell. Depending on your industry, you could budget about N50,000 for the products and packaging, and lastly, you can budget N20,000 to run ads on social media for marketing.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is similar to ecommerce, but you won’t own the store primarily. You will get an affiliate link that directs people to other stores. With little capital, you can go into the affiliate marketing business in Nigeria.

It’s one of the most profitable businesses in Nigeria, where you don’t have to own a store or have capital before gaining traction. Although getting some of the products for yourself is wise, you can start with a good product you know. If you can’t get the products, you can gather reviews online and discuss them.

You don’t need any starting capital to build an audience, but if you want to speed up the process, you should be ready to spend money on paid advertising. The cost you budget is up to you, depending on how fast you want to grow.

Freelancing

Freelancing is one of Nigeria’s most lucrative and profitable businesses, allowing you to work remotely. It is a small-scale business with low capital that can earn you up to $10,000 per month, depending on how far you are willing to go.

With enough experience, you can get LinkedIn Premium to make your job search easier and faster. It costs $29.99/month to $99.95/month, depending on the plan you go for.

Trading Businesses That Require Minimal Investment

Producing or buying products in Nigeria and selling them is one of the most profitable businesses you can start with low capital. The commodities market is projected to reach US$402.90 billion in 2023, so trading is one of the fastest earning methods.

The following are trading business ideas in Nigeria with low initial capital investment.

Wearable Items

Millions of Nigerians want to look smart and classy on a budget, making the wear market a profitable business you can start with a few bucks. Additionally, there are several markets where you can get quality items cheaply.

You can also go through the importation route, where you import wear at cheap rates from China. It’s up to you.

You can start selling clothes for as low as N20,000 and even sell without buying clothes directly. More people are adopting the preorder system, purchasing a product with customers’ money. All you need to do is calculate your marketing budget.

Jewelry

Like clothes, jewelry is another profitable business you can start with low capital. You can buy it through mini importation or go to the Eko market to get the jewelry at cheaper rates.

You need to start with a budget of N100,000 so you can buy in bulk through mini importation or from a supplier in Nigeria. This is a way to adopt the preorder method, but customers may want to see the product before purchasing.

Starting a Service-Based Business With Low Overhead Costs

In this section, we will explore different service-based business models that you can start in Nigeria, that you can start immediately with low-cost initial investment.

Read more about this below.

Phone Repair

You don’t need to spend extra money learning this if you are an engineer. However, you must get trained first if your skills aren’t polished.

Since most people use a phone, there is likely to be a fault with their phones from time to time, making it a lucrative business.

Social Media Services

Social media marketing and management are skills every business needs. The best part is you can start with $0, but you need money for mobile data till you start landing clients.

You can contact local companies, especially technical companies like real estate, who wish to grow their online presence.

Creative Business With Low Initial Investment

Below we will show you some creative business ideas that don’t require much initial investment to start with.

With them, you can turn your creative ideas and passion into a sustainable business that generates profit every single month.

Content Creation

Most businesses need a content creator to grow their online presence. Additionally, there is a common saying now that ‘social media belongs to the creator economy.’ That’s because most people post as professional creators to earn, and you can too.

If you are creative, you can grow an audience, create content for brands, and become an influencer in your niche. You can be a writer, a graphic designer, or a video creator and create shareable, high-quality content.

The most expensive thing you will spend in this space is time. However, if you are a video creator, you will need video creation equipment like: 

• Camera: If you use an iPhone, you don’t need a professional camera. You can get an iPhone XR for N190,000.
• Microphone: You should see a microphone of about N5,000 to 10,000
• Tripod or Gimbal: You should go for a gimbal with a tripod. It should cost about N50,000 to get quality.
• Ring light or light set up: it should cost about N20,000 to get a ring light, depending on what you want.
• Laptop: You can edit with your phone, but do more professional edits on a laptop.

That would be a budget of 265,000 without a laptop. Remember that you can start from 1 or 2 items and infuse the others later.

Music Lessons

Since we are talking about low-capital business, a music career may be expensive, but music tutoring may be cheaper. Suppose you already have musical experience in singing or playing instruments. In that case, you can teach others to make a great source of extra income.

All you need is to have your musical instrument and ask students to bring theirs or add it to their training changes. Additionally, voice lessons can earn you a lot of money if your target audience is high schoolers and community theater groups.

Print on Demand

As a designer, Print on demand is another creative way to make money. It’s a small-scale business, but the potential is enormous. You can craft your designs for phone cases, mugs, and t-shirts, but you won’t be doing the printing.

Your suppliers will charge printing, packaging, and delivery; you only have to pay once a sale is made. How fantastic is that? You can design many items like phone cases, t-shirts, or mugs.

Transportation and Logistics Businesses

Logistics businesses can be niche-based or general, depending on your capital. If you wish to deliver items smaller than a carton, you only need to hire a few riders; however, if you want to transport large items, you may need a truck or a van.

The budget varies, but if you are getting a bike, it should be about N200,000. However, you can hire trustworthy bike men, pay for the fuel, and pay them for the delivery. That’s more cost-effective.

Education and Tutoring Services

Have you ever heard the famous phrase by Layi, Info leyan fin fo?

Education has been one of our cornerstones in Africa and Nigeria, so it’s a great industry to try out.

You should try the below businesses if you are an educator.

Tutoring

Tutoring is one business you can start with no capital. All you have to do is be great at school.

You should further understand math, chemistry, physics, geography or history and be able to teach it well.

Info Marketing

Since starting a school isn’t a low-capital business in Nigeria, you should consider an information marketing business. It allows you to provide information in exchange for value and earn passively at a small cost. With info marketing, you can make millions of naira monthly while you sleep by selling e-books and courses.

Most of the marketing budget is split into product creation and marketing. If you can create the book yourself, the cost is time, while the marketing can take a budget of N50,000 to sell well.

Photography and Videography Services

Photography and videography allow you to have fun while creating magic. You can start with your smartphone and later buy equipment. Smartphone photography will enable you to use your phone to create studio-like pictures. 

It may take months to years to perfect the skills, but you can learn it for free. However, paid learning makes the journey quicker and allows you to start eating early. You can take multiple professional shots with your phone and charge N10,000 per person.

Apart from the cost of your phone, you can learn smartphone photography for free with YouTube or pay a professional to teach you. The same applies to videography.

Art and Crafts Businesses

Next, we will dive into the world of art and crafts businesses with modest startup costs.

With them, you can unleash your artistic flair as we explore profitable ventures that allow you to transform your creativity into a thriving business without a hefty initial investment.

Tote Bags

Tote bags are versatile, and most university students have at least one tote bag, making it a lucrative business idea. You can express your creativity with tote bags or customize them according to customers’ tastes. The catch here is that you can start with cheap but high-quality materials but must be ready to source for these materials.

You can expand into making backpacks, purses, and knapsacks, but at the beginning, consider getting a mini-size sewing matching N50,000.

Knitting Business

Here is another low-cost art and craft business that allows you to explore your knitting skills. Knitting is even cheaper than the tote bag.

All you need is to get some material for a knit, which is not costly.

Food-related Businesses

Below, we will review some food-related businesses that you can start with little to no initial investment.

Read more in the next section of this article.

Ready-made Food

The cost for this may vary depending on your audience, but the good thing is you can make your money back quickly. Setting up a shop in a busy environment will cost some money, and you must also learn how to cook professional meals.

Below, you will find an estimated budget for starting a food business:

• Shop: Depending on where you are located, you can budget N20,000 per month
• Food: You can get the first batch of raw materials for roughly N50,000
• Packaging: Packaging materials in bulk would cost around N20,000. You can also budget N10,000 for miscellaneous.

That’s a total of N100,000, and by the next month, you have made enough to fund your rent. 

Snacks

Starting a snack business is cheaper than selling cooked food, and you can sell to as many people countlessly and make a million monthly.

You need to consider the product’s worth and how many people you have to sell to earn some decent money in this business.

You can try to manufacture snacks like kuli, pawn crackers, parfait, and plantain chips—these cost N10,000 to make and sell to countless people. You can also buy from a manufacturer and sell.

Food Delivery Business

Although several startups in the food space deliver food, smaller restaurants aren’t registered on these platforms. These restaurants could be in your locality and are looking for ways to reach more people.

You can offer to help them deliver food. At first, you may not need a bike; you can use regular transportation and your client’s money to pay for the fare. This way, you can spend almost N0 to start the business.

How To Leverage Existing Skills To Start a Profitable Business With Low Capital

The key to finding what business to start is to find out what skills you have, which you are interested in learning, and which to outsource. For example, if you are a content creator, you may start a trading business selling fashion items or create a full-time content creation career where you leverage social media. 

You need to outline your target audience to understand the scope of your business. For example, you can sell quality, non-tarnish jewelry to women in their 40s and above. Or, if you are into content creation, you can create content for fashion stylists and designers. Spelling this out will save you time and prevent you from getting frustrated.
Now that you have identified your skills and target audience, you need to determine the best marketing channel. What social media are your clients most active on? Do they enjoy long or short-form content? Do you need to run an ad, or are you going the organic route? These are important questions to ask yourself.