With the dynamics of modern economy, entrenched stereotypes about education, employment and living have taken a completely different meaning. That is why the term “white collar job” is no longer in vogue. Nowadays, young individuals make good living while following their passions.
Below are 10 ways to be gainfully engaged with minimal capital. However, before you start, the first thing you must do, is undertake some basic market research. Find out for yourself just how many people in your area are interested in your proposed venture and would be willing to actively patronize you.
This is known as defining your market and pinpointing your customers. The more precise and detailed your plan: covering all the bases relating to how you will do everything that needs to be done, the easier it’s going to be for you to attain success. It pays to lay it all out on paper before you get involved, and the clearer you can see everything before you start, the better your chances for success.
Party Equipment Rentals
Renting party equipment has become big business particularly in many big cities. Public address system, canopies, chairs, stage platform, ice block, drums, cooking utensils, table cloth and other party equipment are in hot demand by party organizers.
Your initial step is to find out fees charged for items and for how long. Then you should investigate the cost of acquiring the particular items. All you need to do is to get in touch with event managers in your area and make sure you inform your neighbor that you offer such services.
Laundry/ironing service/clothes cleaning
Everyone has dirty clothes for laundry and ironing, but many of us do not have the time or flair to do ourselves. This is where you would come in and make money by doing all the laundry and ironing for other people. More and more adults are in the work force, leaving less and less time for the necessities in life to be done right or even done at all. If your backyard is large enough to store all the clothes, sort the clothes and start making money, then this business could just be for you.
House Cleaning Service
Many of our compatriots who travel abroad are into home/office cleaning services despite their high level of education attained before they traveled out are engaged in helping to clean homes and offices. Interestingly, many of those at home rely on remittances from such friends and relatives for living. At a point, it was shameful to engaged in such vocations in Nigeria but not anymore!
Right now, there are thousands of Nigerians who leave the house at dawn only to return late in the evening. These ones definitely have little or no time to take care of house cleaning and engaged in other important house chores themselves. So, why don’t you identify such people in your area and approach them offering your services? If you are able to attract just five or six clients, then you have taken care of daily needs.
Horticulture/Gardening Business
This is simply growing flowers, fruits and vegetables. It also involves the use of iron rods in garden. The soft aspect has to do with the plants itself and it involves growing of lawns, plants, planting edges, orchard plantation, etc. The good thing about this business is that you can start with either minimal or maximal investment.
You can start with N200,000 or less. You can even start with zero capital. You can start by planting grasses or plants in a very small portion around your home. Nurture it well. Before you know it, people are admiring it and are asking you if you can do it for them.
You can also start by doing it for free. Tell them to give you three months. By the time they see the outcome, no matter how small they will be forced to give you something and even give you more jobs and contacts.
Chalk production
The chalk manufacturing business is very lucrative in Nigeria today because the market is large and supplies are few. Chalk is used by government and private schools, universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, colleges of agriculture, schools of nursing etc. Most of the very few existing chalk producers today hardly produce standard chalk because they lack the expertise. You can do this business right from your backyard. It can be a one-man business, a family business, or a large enterprise.
Set up a small poultry
Poultry is a business you can start from your backyard with 50 to 500 birds, with between N100,000 to N300,000 depending on the cash at hand. These amounts include cost of birds, the pen, feed and medication. Get somebody who is experienced to help you set up the pen. You can source woods directly from sawmill to lower the cost.
Waste management in poultry is very vital; if not properly handled, it will affect the growth, production and bird performance. Whatever aspect of poultry you intend to go into is profitable. A single bird can give you an average of 730 eggs within 2years before you sell it off for between N1,200 and N1,500.
Production of candle
With erratic power supply, production of candlestick remains a money-spinner in Nigeria and Africa. A sizeable group of Nigerians rely solely on candle to battle the erratic power supply. With N10,000 you can have a candle mold, which produces 16 candle sticks at a time and go about 50 times a day translating into 800 per day. This is a situation when you are starting with N20,000 to N25,000.
To produce the 16 pieces does not take you more than 10 minutes, just melt your wax, throw it in the mold, and it congeals in 5 minutes, throw in another wax, which you must have melted, while the previous one congeals and you go on and on. So instead of starting with N100, 000 – N200, 000, you can actually start with N45,000. The startup requirements are mold, which cost about N30,000, wax N1,000, thread N1,000, heat source N600, bowl, packaging nylons N1,500, sealing machine N2,000 and logistics.
Liquid air freshener production
Liquid air freshener is a product that plays a strategic role in homes, offices etc. Its demand cuts across sex, age, groups and social strata. This product can be prepared from your backyard as all the chemicals involved are user friendly. Machines are also not required when producing in small or medium scale. All the chemicals required are locally available all year round.
It is also heart-warming to know that the production technology is a very simple one. This product that has 80% water content has a high profit yield. There are high qualities and well-designed plastic containers that will give the product an irresistible finishing touch and they are all locally available.
Ice block production
Ice block sales business involves the use of deep freezer to make ice block in plastic containers or polythene bags. The business involves the production of solid ice block by putting clean water in any small container in order to make difference sizes of ice block available to consumers of different categories. This business thrives well in areas where there are incessant power outages, and also in densely populated places like motor parks, markets, schools, commercial and business areas; any place there are human beings and activities that demand a cooling off either by a bottle of cold soft drink or a sachet of pure water. Over time, a lot of manufacturers of these pure water machines are partnering with some financial institutions and are presently providing financial assistance to interested investors.
Plantain chips
After removing the skin, unripe fruit can be sliced (1 or 2 mm thick) and fried in oil to produce chips. If the chips are made from sweeter fruits, they are called ‘Banana chips.’ They can also be sliced vertically to create a variation known as Plantain strips. Just make sure you put your label. The more you produce, the more money you make, because majority of Nigerians love plantain chips.
Yam flour
Processed yam flour is a simple method for the preservation of yam and making them available on our meal table all year round. Besides, it enhances the storage process and the movement of the product. The preservation process may be supplemented with the usage of chemical preservatives, which are common in Nigeria markets. At the moment, only one multinational firm, Cadbury Nigeria Plc and few private investors have invested in this sector of the economy. Machinery required is available locally; they are the tuber drying machine, hammer mill, grinder sifter, and packaging materials.
