In a time when there is an ever increasing rate of unemployment, one of the best things any young Nigerian can do for himself is to start his or her own business. Having your own business removes you from the unemployment queue and prevents you from things like sack, retrenchment, rightsizing or whatever name they call it in the corporate world.

It is true that the world of business has its own challenges, but it's also true that the rewards that come with entrepreneurship could be mind blowing. Ask some successful entrepreneurs like Jason Njoku of iROKO TV, Seun Osewa of NairaLand, Sim Shagaya of Konga.com and DealDey.com, Elo Umeh of TwinPine, etc. The secret is to focus on the end result and rewards, removing your focus from the challenges.

One major strategy to starting a business is by leveraging on available opportunities or trends. Based on this strategy i have listed some businesses that one can start now because they are suitable for this season - the season of elections and Christmas. It is wisdom to venture into a business that will take advantage of these seasons to make some good returns. Here are some of the businesses:

1. Mobile Adverting and campaign (Bulk SMS)
2. Website Design
3. Printing and Graphics Design
4. Mini Online Importation.

Now lets take a look at each of these business opportunities individually.

MOBILE CAMPAIGN (BULK SMS)
Mobile is the new trend. The world is going mobile; and this mobile trend is influencing every aspect of life including politics. As at 2013 Nigeria had a mobile subscriber base of 120 million. Businesses are already taking advantage of this opportunity by conducting their marketing campaigns via mobile.

One area where mobile will have significant impact, is politics. The build up to the 2015 elections will go digital. What i mean is political campaigns will embrace digital platforms, and mobile will be one of the most effective campaign tools. Politicians will want to send campaign adverts and messages via mobile to potential voters .This is where u come in as an entrepreneur who is out to utilize opportunities.

HOW TO LEVERAGE ON THIS
Set up a bulk SMS business and prepare your proposals which you would submit to potential clients. You could start by either being a reseller with a reliable Bulk SMS service provider or you secure your own SMS gateway. Another thing to add is the Robocall service which allows for delivery of customised voice message to selected phone numbers.

Note that this business will also thrive during the Christmas season which is fast approaching. This is one of the best businesses to start now.

2. WEB DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

While studying political trends in my state and across the country, i discovered that politicians are beginning to embrace the internet for their campaigns. A lot of these politicians seeking elective positions are beginning to own campaign websites. Lets take the case of Benue state as an example.

Benue state has about 30 candidates vying for governorship on the platform of the PDP. By the time you add those on the platform of APC and LP, then you have a good number of potential clients.These guys need campaign websites so as an entrepreneur who is always out to explore opportunities, i am working on submitting my proposals to them. This is one of the areas my company is exploring. You can join me if you want to eat some "political cash".

Recently i was at a Cybercafe with a web designer whom i usually outsource my company's web design deals to, and he asked me if i had a corporate bank account and possibly write a proposal for him. He said he was contacted by an insider in the campaign organization of one of the governorship hopefuls to bring a proposal and ensure he has a company account.

That project was priced at N100, 000. Now imagine that guy getting 5 of such deals in 2 months (which is a possibility I'm working on). That would be 500k. Seriously, if you don't know website design, now is the time to learn it.

If you are already a website designer, try and innovate, especial in your marketing and branding. It is true that some so called web designers are spoiling the business with very "insulting" rates they charge for their service. Imagine a website designer charging 5,000 for both design and hosting. I don't understand! I saw an advert like that in Abuja and i almost called the guy to query him.

You can still make money from website design if you know how to target the right clients and market your service professionally.

TOP SECRET: To get the big clients, don't do web design as a person. Bring your service under a company. Register a company name and operate professionally with your logo, letter headed paper, branded envelope, etc.
Good luck

Nice one there but still waiting for others....

Speaking of the web ddesign. I have an ebook for people who dont have knowledge of html, css, php and want to be able to design stuff for people or organisations within 30mins. We have left the stage where you have to start writing codes. what people use now is CMS (CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM). send me an email(hansel.praise16@gmail.com), i will forward it to you and thank me later

dramaticspeak:
Speaking of the web ddesign. I have an ebook for people who dont have knowledge of html, css, php and want to be able to design stuff for people or organisations within 30mins. We have left the stage where you have to start writing codes. what people use now is CMS (CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM). send me an email(hansel.praise16@gmail.com), i will forward it to you and thank me later

You've got a message from me. My email: dorispray@gmail.com
Kindly send it to me. Thanks.

dramaticspeak:
Speaking of the web ddesign. I have an ebook for people who dont have knowledge of html, css, php and want to be able to design stuff for people or organisations within 30mins. We have left the stage where you have to start writing codes. what people use now is CMS (CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM). send me an email(hansel.praise16@gmail.com), i will forward it to you and thank me later

kindly send me the ebook@ ; nakibnakib450@gmail.com. Thanks