How to start a business in Nigeria

Here is a guide that will help the average Nigerian man to be informed about how they can start a small-scale or large-scale business for himself to help his finances to grow.

Small and medium scale entrepreneurs check through the legal and regulatory ideas available for them to start up a business that will blossom in Nigeria, and below are some legal ways that are available for you:

How to start a business in Nigeria

Firstly Choose the Business Structure

When you are making a decision on joining the Nigerian market, and starting off a new business there, your choice would have to be between starting a business by either creating a new company or going for an existing company.

If you decide that you want to establish a new business.

If your mind has been made up already that what you would want to participate in the Nigeria Market, you may need to choose if your choice is to have a new company established or you want q company this already in existence before.

When you have decided that you would want to establish a new business, there is, however, a variety of available business structures. Which are:

• The proprietorship
• Partnerships
• Incorporated trustees
• Companies

Above are the four main structures that are available. 

As you now know the available structure, you can decide that what you want is str you can choose the structure that suits the business you plan to start.

However, the business structure will determine the cost, tax, and all of the implications. However, they need advice from a Solicitor.

Register organization in Nigeria for your new businesses

1. The company started that is limited by shares (Ltd or Plc)
2. The company started that is limited by guarantee (Ltd/Gte)
3. The company started that is an unlimited liability company (Ultd)

It could either be a Private or a Public company, for the list above.

4. Business Name (registered as Sole Proprietorship or Partnership)
5. Incorporated Trustees (usually formed for not-for-profit or charitable purposes)

Here are some of the advantages of a company limited by shares(LTD)

Any company has its legal entity, which is the identity that separates it from the shareholders, directors, and employees. 

It has perpetual succession; this means that the business can proceed even though there is a resignation of any of its workers or staff if there is a bankruptcy or death of any directors or shareholders.

The shareholders and directors are the ones with the protection of limited liability of which are tied to the total guarantee and the value of shares that the company holds.

It’s relatively easy to expand or gauge up by dinging shares or offering a stake in the business to outside investors.

The company can sue or be sued in its name.

A company has further credibility. It’s easier to raise large plutocrats for the business or sell a part of the business. It can take advantage of the investment impulses, colonist status, and duty impunity offered by the government. 

RESERVE A NAME 

You can only use a name that isn’t identical to a registered association in Nigeria. A namespace hunt must be conducted at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) registry to see if the name is available for use.

Where it’s available, the same will be approved for enrollment. Name vacuity check and reservation can be effected within 24 hours. 

REGISTER THE APPROVED NAME 

Businesses in Nigeria must be registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission either as a Business Name or as a Company. Foreign investors interested in entering the Nigerian request may wish to establish a new Nigerian company or a new Nigerian attachment that operates as a distinct legal reality from the coastal parent company. 

PREPARE AND FILE Enrollment AND Objectification DEEDS 

Companies must have a Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association (MEMART), a Solicitor can help you draft a MEMART to suit your business objects and file a dupe of same at the Corporate Affairs Commission registry; make payment of stamp duties on the objectification deeds and conclude enrollment of the company as a legal reality. Company’s MEMART or Business Name’s Partnership Deed will deal with power and operation issues and contain the rules governing how the business is run.

The deed will jut down the crucial issues and set restrictions on what the business can do and how opinions will be made. 

COMPANY SHARE STRUCTURE 

All orders of company shares ( i.e., whether ordinary or preferential) issued by a company in Nigeria must carry one vote in respect of each share.

Shares with weighted voting rights are banned. A company must have at least two directors (non-employee shareholders).

Still, private companies mustn’t have more than 50 non-employee shareholders.

APPOINT THE DIRECTORS 

The directors are the shadow of a company, and at the heart of commercial governance, A company can have foreign or Nigerian directors. The directors may be residents or non-resident. 

REGISTER YOUR PATENT AND TRADEMARK 

Your business may have personal rights to specific intellectual means.

You’ll bear the services of a Solicitor to register and cover these rights as patents, trade secrets, imprints, or trademarks and shield off contraventions. 

REGISTER AND Gain LICENCE FROM RELEVANT REGULATORY AGENCY

Certain businesses are subject to monitoring, nonsupervisory control and licensing by applicable government agencies similar as the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Nigerian Investments Elevations Commission (NIPC), National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Nigerian Brand Commission (NCC), Nigerian Customs Service, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), etc.

You want to gain the necessary license and misbehave with health and safety, environmental, and other nonsupervisory scores to avoid corrective liability. 

REGISTER WITH THE DUTY AUTHORITIES

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and State Board Internal Profit are responsible for collecting commercial and help levies independently. Every company, business name, or incorporated trustee must be registered with the FIRS and gain Tax Identification Number ( Drum) and Value Added Tax ( Handbasket) Number, and make and deliver to CAC the Annual Return in prescribed forms within quested time.

Filling of fiscal returns must be done within 18 months of objectification/ enrollment and must be completed and filed within 42 days after the association’s Annual General Meeting. A fiscal time can, in principle, launch on any given date.

There’s a felonious liability for duty dereliction and elusion.

FIND A BUSINESS OR OFFICE Position

Still, a Solicitor can help you with available options, If you’re looking to acquire or lease a business or office position.

The accession and development of land in Nigeria are perfected at the state or original government office where the land is positioned.

Blessings, assessments ( including environmental and structural assessment), and other nonsupervisory conditions may differ between state authorities. 

ISSUE EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS

Request for the service of a Solicitor to prepare the employment contracts and work primer for your staff (or addendums for your workers outside Nigeria) and misbehave with the conditions under the Labour Act to avoid unborn legal arrears. 

Perform Executive Scores 

You must submit periodic accounts and duty returns to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). You must also file a statement of affairs or a periodic return with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

You risk a fine if you miss deadlines or submit incorrect information. There are several other statutory conditions.

For illustration, there are scores you must fulfill under the Companies and Kindred Matters Act, Labour Act, Insurance Act, Pension Reform Act, etc. An accredited Solicitor can advise you and help you perfect these executive scores.

OPERATIONS OF FOREIGN COMPANIES IN NIGERIA 

Foreign investors or coastal companies can hold 100 equity stakes in a Nigerian company. Still, a foreign company wishing to set up business operations in Nigeria should take all the necessary steps to gain objectification of the Nigerian attachment as a separate reality in Nigeria for that purpose.

Until incorporated, the foreign company may not carry on business in Nigeria or exercise any of the powers of a registered company.

Through a Power of Attorney, our Law Office (Lex Artifex, LLP.) can help a foreign company in the conformation and objectification of a Nigerian chapter or attachment. 

GAIN A BUSINESS PERMIT AND EXPATRIATE QUOTA

Lex Artifex, LLP. can help overseas investors and foreign companies to gain Business permits and Expatriate quotas from the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) and the Nigerian Immigration Service independently. Expatriate help doesn’t bear work permits, but they remain subject to the requirements of their employer’s company that is taking them to have permits that would allow income remittances abroad.

A business permit is an authorization to operate a business with foreign capital either as a parent company or an attachment of a foreign company.

Expatriate share is the authorization to a company to employ individual deportees to specifically approved job designations and also specifying the permissible duration of equal employment.

The aboriginal share forms the base of work permits for aboriginal individualities (those qualifications must fulfill the criteria established for the particular share position).

ACQUIRING A NIGERIAN COMPANY

An intention to establish a new or subsidiary company may be to acquire a Nigerian company. Merger and Acquisition processes in Nigeria are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Investors interested in acquiring a Nigerian company may have to make a formal shot.

A shot at acquiring a Nigerian Company is subject to blessing by SEC and sanctioning by the Federal High Court.

TABLE ON THE NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE (NSE)

Nigeria has a stock request, allowing access to long-term capital.

To gain and maintain an NSE table, your company must meet the prescribed conditions set out in the stock exchange table rules.

This includes company exposure and reporting conditions. 

Although, the Nigerian government welcomes original and foreign direct investment or foreign portfolio investment. Foreign investors are treated the same as original investors under Nigeria’s laws. 

However, this content is composed to give a general expression on the primary matter of starting a business of yours with loads of research made. I hope this becomes helpful as there is still more to read. 

Here is a list of simple Businesses that you can start in Nigeria.

• Errand Service 
•  Writing Service 
•  Painting Business 
•  Private Tutorial Business 
• Interior Decoration Business 
•  Affiliate Marketing Business 
•  In-Person Delivery Service 

Do you want to find out the cheapest business to start in Nigeria and make a fantastic profit? Are you looking to start a business that is not capital ferocious but can help you make a quotidian living in Nigeria? Also, you are the proper runner.

“Simple business in” in this case means any business that you can start with truly small capital. So, if you are looking for those types of business ideas, we have got you covered in this post. Let’s examine some of them. 

1. Start An Errand Service 

Still, one of the easiest options to go for is to start an errand service company, If you are looking for a cheap business to start in Nigeria. An errand service company is a service that you can give to people who do not have enough time to run their errands.

Errands might gauge from grocery shopping, and also includes everyday tasks analogous as cleaning, washing clothes, and washing motorcars. 

To run a successful errand service, you need to network with people who are likely to patronize your business.

Generally, people in high-net-worth neighborhoods are more likely to patronize your errand business in Nigeria than people in low-cost neighborhoods. 

Also, you may want to concentrate and niche down on your errand services. In Nigeria, grocery shopping has come extremely popular in recent times.

Just decide how you want to do your business, and execute. I have a friend who started an errand service that focuses on helping people cover original requests.

They make a list of what they want, and she helps them get it from the original request.

Her business grew swiftly to the extent where she had to employ other people to join her. So, I know it’s a truly doable business if done properly. Also, it’s genuinely cheap to start. 

2. Start A Writing Service 

A notation service is another cheap business to start in Nigeria. However, you are set to start your notation service, If you formerly enjoyed a computer or smartphone and formerly had access to the internet. 

When I finished the voluntary National Youth Service, I was introduced to Fiverr by an excellent friend of mine, and it was from the platform that I started my notation career that has been gauged a couple of times. 

I can tell you comfortable that you can make more than 50 thousand Naira every month by offering your skill as a pen on freelancing platforms. To start, register on platforms like Fiverr.com,Freelancer.com, and Upwork.com. 

3. Become a painter

One of the cheapest to start in Nigeria is the canvas business.

There’s a friend of mine who plodded to find a job after we graduated from the university.

He learned how to paint by serving as an apprentice for a painter, and in under six months, he started his own canvas business with just a paintbrush and a makeup roller.

Still, the canvas business is a genuinely doable one, If you are looking to start a business that will bring you little to no nascency capital.

Just make sure that you advertise your business on the internet to connect with farther people.

As you continue to deliver great jobs, you will get word-of-mouth referrals. 

4. Become A Private Educator 

Private training is another cheap business to start in Nigeria. However, also this idea might be a swish for you If you have an affinity for training.

All you need to do is to produce awareness around the area where you want to give the training service, and parents who need your service will get in contact with you.

To start, simply publish bills that advertise your service and bury them at strategic places.

Ensure that you include your contact details so that anyone interested in patronizing you can reach you effectively. 

When the calls start coming in, make sure that you produce a proper schedule and don’t take too many classes than you can handle.

As time goes on, you can connect further preceptors to training openings that you can’t take and maybe take a small chance for your service.

5. Consider Starting An Interior Decoration Company

If you have a skill of color combinations, and arrangement, If you have an eye for artistic details then think of starting a decoration company. 

The interior décor business is a thriving business. It’s a business that caters to the interior decoration and furnishing conditions of guests.

It involves creating beautiful and livable spaces for homeowners predicated on their budget; adorning a space with fashionable, beautiful goods, and giving final aesthetics to homes. 

Decorators can work with real estate companies, taverns, sedulity professionals, individualities, custom home builders, interior introducers to apply modern home designs and transfigure houses into inviting homes.

They can be hired to decide on an interior decorating style, choose a color scheme, layout, purchase furniture, and do a bespoke decoration. 

6. Start An Affiliate Marketing Business

Affiliate marketing business is one of the cheapest businesses to start in Nigeria. It involves registering to chapter networks, and earning a commission for every trade that you make.

Chapter marketing is a truly easy business to start, but you need to be dogged, determined, and truly smart to succeed with chapter marketing. 

To start, you need to find a product of interest and subscribe up under a chapter program. You will be handed a unique ID as a shadowing link. 

Once an implicit buyer clicks on the link and visits the dealer’s point, a cookie train relating the chapter is stored on the user’s computer.

And, as soon as the frequenter buys the product, the dealer automatically knows where the buyer came from.

Following that, the dealer pays the agreed commission. 

Some of the swish chapter networks for Nigerians include the following 

•  Amazon Affiliate Program 
•  ShareASale 
•  Jumia Affiliate Program 
• Konga Affiliate Program 
•  Linkshare 

[irp posts=”3049″ name=”How to start affiliate marketing business in Nigeria”]

7. Start An In-Person Delivery Service 

Have you ever bought a product and had someone deliver it to you in person? Those people that make door-to-door deliveries on behalf of merchandisers are in-person delivery service providers.

This business is especially realizable for people living in Lagos because the delivery conditions of the requests in Lagos are fairly huge. 

To start this business, simply go to any of the major requests in Lagos. In the request, approach merchandisers to inform them that you do door-to-door deliveries.

Drop your contact details, and when they have goods to deliver on a route you know, they will call you. It’s really that easy.

Nigerians are generally hardworking people and they love entrepreneurship.

But due to the unfortunate profitable situation of the country, multitudinous Nigerians are on the lookout for the cheapest business to start in Nigeria.

Hopefully, this content would help point you in the right direction for businesses you can start with little or no nascency. The ball is now in your court. 

How To Start A Profitable Business With Little Capital In Nigeria 

The major dream of most Entrepreneurs is to eventually have their own business.

Having your own business is sweet because you can go to do effects when you want it without your master looking over your shoulder.

But as cool as it sounds, starting a profitable business is a very demanding task that only many businesses can survive.

According to Collins Dictionary, Business is work relating to the product, buying, and selling of goods or services.

There are no limits to who can become a business proprietor or an entrepreneur. You don’t need a huge sum of plutocrats in your bank account or a degree to run your own business. 

Still, what you need is a good business idea, a concrete prosecution plan, and a passion to wake up every morning and keep grinding.

In this post, I’ll be participating in the crucial way and processes of what you need to start a profitable business in Nigeria. 

1. Estimate yourself. 

 Since you have made up your mind to start a business, you need to precisely estimate yourself by asking these questions to yourself. 

•  Do I have the chops demanded to run this business?

•   Do I have what it takes to lead or manage a platoon? 

•  Do I have what it takes to raise capital for the business? 

•   Do I have the passion and provocation to make this a success? 

So, be veritably sincere with your answers, and if the maturity of your answers to the below questions is “ YES”, then you’re ready to start your own business.

2. Find a business idea. 

 When it comes to starting a business, not all business ideas are worth starting at all. The stylish business ideas are unique, practical, demanded by the request, and easy to gauge.

In the hunt for a business idea, start by looking at what problems live in your terrain and try to give a result to such a problem and monetize it.

And if your business idea is fully new, suppose what your business can offer and concentrate on how to produce commodities better and cheaper.

You may need to ask questions from people, do your own exploration and as well seek advice from entrepreneurs.

3. Conduct request exploration. 

Before starting a business, be sure you have a good understanding of similar businesses.

Try conducting request exploration by asking your implicit guests many questions about the problem you would like to break for them. 

Also exploration on being direct and circular competitions that presently live in the request. Try to know about their products and services and how you suppose your business can stand out amongst them.

4. Feedback. 

 It’s one thing to conduct request exploration when you want to start a business, it’s another thing to duly use the feedback attained from your exploration.

The whole substance of this is to help you know more about the business you want to start and helps to form a strong foundation for the business.

You would not want to start a business moment and it starts worsening hereafter or rather of watching your business grow, it starts to fall.

That’s why you need to learn how to start a business.

5. Produce a business plan.

According to Wikipedia, A business plan is a formal statement of business pretensions, reasons they’re attainable, and plans for reaching them.

It may also contain background information about the association or platoon trying to reach those pretensions.

Every business, whether big or small, needs a plan for that business. In starting a business, a business plan helps you to stay focused and systematized.

Remember organizational skill is one of the chops of a successful entrepreneur. Thus, in writing your business plan, you check out some business plan samples online to serve as a companion.

6. Get a business backing.

Starting a business doesn’t only bear your chops and trouble but also your plutocrat. Every business requires an incipiency capital which will be used in funding the day-to-day operations of the business.

In case you don’t have the needed capital needed to start the business, there are different ways (bank loans, subventions, equity investments, etc.) to source backing for a new business.

Most businesses die due to lack of backing hence make sure you’ve enough capital that will feed for the fiscal downtimes.

7. Business Registration. 

 Registration of business is veritably consummate for everyone that wants to start a business. You should register your business with the government of your country or with the body responsible for business enrollment in your country. 

For illustration, if you’re a Nigerian business you can register your business with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) at the civil position and also with the Chamber of Commerce at the state position. Registering your business with the needed bodies gives validity and authenticity to your business.

8. Make Your Platoon. 

Still, also you may not need to start erecting a platoon If you’re planning to be the only one running your business. But if you’re surely going to employ people, you need to make a strong platoon.

You’re erecting a strong platoon for your business because these people are meant to contribute to the growth of your business but if the platoon isn’t well erected, they can as well help to bring down your business. So do they grow and succeed?

9. Grow Your Business. 

Growth is vital to the survival of a business. Any business that isn’t growing will surely die no matter how long it takes.

Make sure you do everything possible to ensure the constant growth of your business.

The number one metric to measure the growth of a business is steady positive cash- inflow.

The further cash- inflow a business generates the more capability it has to grow and expand the business.

Hence, ensure that you have the right tools to help you keep track of your cash- inflow from day one of the business.

60 most thriving small business ideas in Nigeria of all time:

1. Real Estate Business
2. Poultry Farming
3. Bottled/Pure water business
4. Transportation business
5. E-commerce
6. Oil&Gas
7. Agribusiness
8. Smartphone Sales
9. Haulage-Logistics
10. Restaurant business
11. Boutique Store
12. Food Processing
13. Laundry Business
14. Auto Dealership business
15. Construction company
16. Digital Marketing
17. Job Recruitment Agency
18. Private hospital
19. Blogging business
20. Cyber Cafe
21. Mini-supermarket
22. Renewable Energy (Solar energy sales and installation)
23. Mini-Importation business
24. Hotels/Guest House
25. Affiliate Marketing
26. Pharmacy Business
27. Catering Business
28. Fish Farming
29. Livestock feed production
30. Gym Business
31. Mobile Application Development
32. Block Moulding Industry
33. Cosmetics Business
34. Fast-Food Business
35. Palm Oil Business
36. Fashion Stylist
37. Home Appliances Business
38. Dropshipping Business
39. Furniture Business
40. Security Company
41. Car Tracking Device Sales
42. Building Materials business
43. Photo Studio
44. Consultancy Business
45. Fashion Design
46. Footwear’s Manufacturing
47. Sales and installation of 3D wallpapers
48. Betting Agency
49. Freelancing services(Fiverr and Upwork)
50. Car Wash Business
51. Vlogger(YouTuber)
52. Copywriting
53. Social Media Manager
54. Bakery Business
55. Mobile Phone Technician
56. Become an Uber or Bolt Driver
57. Barbing Saloon
58. Sale of phone accessories
59. Photograph Business
60. Graphics Designer