Everyone dreams of starting their own business and becoming a millionaire or a billionaire.
In a very competitive market like Nigeria, most people remain confused about what business idea to start for maximum profit with less competition.
What are some untapped business areas and opportunities in Nigeria that an entrepreneur can venture into to make some money? This article takes a deep dive into some of those profitable business opportunities that remain untapped in Nigeria.
1. Waste & Sanitation Management
All over the world, around 11 billion tons of waste is being collected, which is currently making a whopping revenue of $410 billion. If you are from a less developed country like Nigeria, the opportunity to become one of the richest entrepreneurs in Nigeria just by collecting and recycling waste that you collect peoples houses is limitless.
Due to awareness of hygiene, everyone wants a clean environment, but nobody wants to clean the dirt.
There are tons of products that can be generated from recycled waste materials few of which includes Plastic & Broken Bottles, Wine Cork Panels, Roofing Sheets, Slippers and many more.
As a small scale business owner, you don’t have to be the one in charge of the recycling all you need to do is look for means to get the waste products to the organizations that have a recycling plant and you will be paid for it. So if you are ready to make your hands dirty, then this untapped business idea is only waiting for you.
2. Food Truck/Container Business
Another greatly untapped business idea in Nigeria is a food container business that caters solely for the working class. People are now too busy and very few take the time out to cook their own food or patronize a restaurant. Your food container business solves the problem for most people, as it brings the food to them. You would need to stock up on food that most people are likely to eat, and stay in locations that have a high amount of traffic.
For this business idea to be unique and different from the regular restaurant vendors, I suggest you focus mainly on providing light breakfast such as tea, coffee, and snacks that workers can grab on their way to the office. And when the time for lunch is approaching, you can prepare normal meals such as white and jollof rice, yam, indomie, etc.
Remember that you need to set up a container which is more like your office. You can place your container in parking areas or roadside of any crowded location. The best part about this business idea is that you can reduce your rent by 70% because you will require less space as sitting arrangements are less required.
3. Organic Farming Business
Unlike other African countries, Nigeria is yet to fully develop its potential in terms of agriculture and farming, even though it is an agrarian country with a track record of being a world-leading producer of some crops at one time or the other. Organic farming in an organized manner is still young in the country, with less than ten years of application.
There is a high demand for organic food all over the world so just put on your pajamas and get into the field and produce vegetable, crops, milk or any daily requirement product and soon people will see you on the front cover of business magazines alongside several millionaires and billionaires. The best part about organic farming is that the government is supporting it and providing agricultural grants and subsidies for entrepreneurs that are willing to start it.
4. Alternative Energy for Homes
According to the reports provided by the Electricity Generating Companies, the average power supply in Nigeria is 3, 851 MW which is nothing near the required power supply required by Nigerians. Since 2005, the whole sector was privatized, and now it’s the sole responsibility of those private organizations to make sure that power is supplied to over 180million Nigerians which they have obviously failed to achieve.
Alternative sources of energy that can be used in homes come in various forms like Solar Power, Biofuels, Wind Energy, Biomass Energy and many more. For great entrepreneurs that have got what it takes to execute this, this is the best time for you to make some money off the bad governance and leadership in this country because the Nigerian energy supply crisis does not seem to be ending anytime soon. Even though this idea is far capital intensive compared to others, the potential and readily available market is more than what you can imagine.
Conclusion
The current generation of business owners and entrepreneurs in Nigeria are largely focusing on segments which have already been discovered and now overcrowded.
We need to think completely differently to find these untapped business ideas and be able to address the market needs and timely execute on it, without getting influenced by the existing noise.