Nigeria is experiencing her own dot com boom even though it’s been over a decade such happened in America. The dot com boom describes an era in America between 1997–2001 when several e-commerce businesses were being launched.
As it’s familiar with most boom periods in history, many are called but few are chosen. Meaning; so many startups, but only a few survive. Here are some of the few that survived; eBay, Amazon, GoDaddy, Coupons, eHarmony and others.
For starters, what’s e-commerce?
The term has been freely used and it basically means; business done over the internet. Could be buying, could be selling or a combination of both; could be a product, could be a service or a combination of both. It’s anything that involves using the internet or web as a business medium.
So as you already know, this is becoming a big trend in Nigeria; the concept is no longer foreign as it used to be in the past. Thanks to some major marketing campaigns from the big players out there; Jumia, Konga, Kaymu, DealDey, Jobberman, etc.
With this growing trend comes a huge business opportunity that only a handful of Nigerians are taking advantage of. Just think about it again; over 60 million Nigerians are online and counting. These are people with problems, needs, wants, aspirations and most importantly buying power!
3 Ways You Can Legitimately Make Money From Nigeria’s Dot-com Boom
The evidence is all out there for you to see, but yet not many can see it. Despite the existence of these growing online business opportunities, less than 10% of Nigerians are translating this opportunity into a profitable business venture.
So being a typical entrepreneur, I couldn’t help but spot these opportunities and in this post, I would like to share a few with you; especially the ones with the greatest potentials for success. Don’t know about you, but I see money to be made; I see a huge business opportunity; I see a new generation of entrepreneurs –the internet entrepreneurs who would take hold of this huge opportunity and translate it into a thriving business venture.
1. Own A Shop Online
In Nigeria, to a large extent trading is a major business; whether small scale or large scale. Buying and selling is one of the easiest businesses to startup in Nigeria. Thanks to the internet, this traditional Nigerian business is going to the next level; with no capital involved, no overhead, no staff and no experience needed, you can kick start your own online retail business today 100% FREE!
I recently learned about this and have immediately taken advantage of the opportunity to open up the online version of my offline boutique. You too can start selling online through an online shop, click here to register for FREE!
2. Start A Blog
The 60 million Nigerians online don’t all hang out in one place; they visit several sites of interest to them, one of such sites can be yours!
You are probably familiar with some big names out there already; Bella Naija, Ynaija, Linda Ikeji, TechLoy, 360nobs, Otekbits, UnilagOlodo and many others. The business opportunity that comes with starting a blog is the advertising revenue it can generate. On the internet, a blog is like a magazine and because of the readership it attracts, marketers naturally would love to reach those audiences.
At the other end of the spectrum, owning a blog can be more than just a magazine that generates advert revenues for you; it can be a marketing platform for your business. For example; I use my blog to attract entrepreneurs in Nigeria through the contents I publish and as a result, they get to know, like and trust my brand and eventually hire my business support services.
The obvious benefits of blogging is that it serves as a destination point for those 60 million Nigerians online and when you have traffic, there’s a lot of ways to monetize that!
3. Provide Relevant Services
With this e-Commerce rise, come a lot of support services that these businesses will need. The advent of the internet alone has produced several new skills that are now in high demand. Skills such as programming, web design, internet marketing, copywriting, social media marketing, search engine optimization, graphic design, etc.
As more and more e-commerce companies open up, the demand for individuals as well as businesses with relevant skills will increase. And guess what? Even though it seems the market is already overcrowded, there’s still much room for any individual or business with track records to capture a sizeable chunk of the market.
You can develop any of these skills and startup a freelance business providing either of these services. The market is ripe and the demand is growing!
Conclusion
These are definitely not all the legitimate money making opportunities out there, but these will certainly get you started in the right direction. You can include some more in the comments section below!
About the Author
Tito Philips, Jnr. is an unusual Nigerian who is passionate about rebuilding Nigeria through Entrepreneurship development and his currently spreading the gospel of starting up an e-Commerce business in Nigeria. He blogs about business and entrepreneurship at www.naijapreneur.com
