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Small Scale Business in Nigeria: the facts and myths

Nigeria is a country filled with hardworking people who never fail to find new ways to support themselves. Hence, small businesses come up daily with many seeing it as a means of survival. In this post, we shall see you through the major things you have to know about small businesses and how they operate in the country.

small scale business

One advantage of this form of business is that you can operate them from your home without looking for a shop, or an office.

Small-scale business with Low Capital

Our list of small scale businesses include,

  1. Tomato farming

Agriculture remains one of the largest employers of labor in Africa. Agriculture is a highly rewarding venture and cheap to commence as well. Among the host of agricultural businesses you can do, tomato farming remains one of the easiest means of making money. To find out more about tomato farming, click here

  1. Open a gym

In recent times, people have begun to take their fitness seriously. Nigerians have joined the train. The health problems that come as a result of obesity and weight gain have made fitness a course for concern.

Therefore, starting a gym is a highly rewarding business. However, you need to invest huge capital in the purchase of gym equipment.

  1. Production and sale of Ice block

Impoverished power supply continues to ravage the country. Hence, market women selling fishes and other frozen foods as well as those selling cold drinks are constantly looking for ice blocks to ensure their products remain cold. Furthermore, Nigeria is in the tropical region.

Therefore, it has a surplus amount of heat and sunlight. Accordingly, people are constantly looking for cold drinks. Hence, ice block production has become a huge source of income in Nigeria.

You can start this business with extremely low capital in your home. All you need is water and a deep freezer as well as a generator set to power the freezer.

  1. Car wash

Lots of people think that a car wash is not a good idea. But, they are wrong. Car wash requires little or no capital. Also, you can make multiple incomes by adding a space for drinks and suya for your customers.

All you need for a car wash business are space, a constant source of water, and a washing machine to make the washing process faster. However, if you don’t have money to purchase a washing machine, you can wash the cars manually till you have enough money to do so.

Business Loans in Nigeria for Small Scale Business

sauce with tomatoes

Many people in Nigeria find it difficult to start a business because they don’t have the capital to do so. In this post, we shall talk about various ways you can get quick capital for your small-scale business and make it a reliable source of income (Check out the Top 11 Daily Income Businesses in Nigeria). Although the process of receiving money is simple, many people are scared to follow through with it.

The following ways will help you get quick capital.

  • Microfinance banks

Microfinance banks/MFBs like there are fondly christened is a group of banks that offer a small number of loans to startups and small-scale businesses. Their loan ranges from N50,000 to N500,000 on average. However, if you are an old customer, they can give you up to a million naira.

In Nigeria, there are over 50 microfinance banks in all 36 states. Therefore, you can walk into any one of them and make your intention known to them. You will be asked to obtain a form, attach passports and return it with a percentage of the money you wish to borrow from them.

Usually, these banks offer loans that last between six months to one year. Examples of microfinance banks include Cedar microfinance bank, Harsal microfinance bank.

  • Commercial banks

Commercial banks offer loans that are higher than what the microfinance banks can offer. However, they don’t give loans to people who want to go into a business that is not agriculturally based. But, if you are not a startup, you can get loans effortlessly from them.

All you need is collateral. The only way you can get a loan for your small-scale business is to have a guarantor that owns expensive collateral. This will make it easy for the bank to take over in case you don’t pay.

Author Profile

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John Aina Ajibola has a Masters degree as an engineer and has over 3 years of teaching and research experience. He is happiest when on a bike and is also interested in electric energy and computer Science.

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Small Scale Business in Nigeria: the facts and myths

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