Introduction: No matter what happens, people will always eat, as it is one of the 3 basic human needs according to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs (Food, Clothing and Shelter). Every afternoon across Nigeria, there is an opportunity to make some money through getting lunch from a food vendor to the customers (especially in Corporate organisations). Some food packages that have good market value include, Bole & Fish, Swallows + Soups, Rice (Jollof, Fried), and other side orders,

If you can organise the entire supply chain (Food vendor – Delivery Logistics – Customer) as well as the even more important customer service delivery, you can easily create a good business for yourself. This you can do by visiting the prospective customers, getting their contacts, then call them in the morning to find out if they will be needing lunch for the day, present them with the options and note their choices and preferences. By getting more customers you can get in one location (one office), can help bring down cost and improve profit margin.

It is important to note that the viability of this will vary from one city to another. Cities with a good number of corporate offices and establishments are best suitable, some worthy of note include, Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, etc.



Steps to take

– Identify your market (the customers) – Banks, Schools, Factories, Other private firms

– Find good food vendor (Caterer).

– Get your delivery agent (Yourself if you drive, a despatch rider, etc)

– Organised product catalogue and customer records.

– You can use social media to market.

– Online stores can also be used as a platform.



Competition

Seeing that food business is serious and one that almost always sell especially when the food is very well prepared (tasty), you will need to differentiate your service delivery by giving your customers a better customer service experience.

You will be competing against other food vendors, restaurants with delivery services, and in some cases you will be competing against homemade food, as some will prepare their own lunch.

Ensure you listen very well as you note customers’ orders to avoid mixing up orders, apologise where errors are made and give refunds where necessary.



Risk

– Allergies – Be sure you note if you customers have any allergies

– Ensure the food is prepared in a very hygienic way and environment

– One mishap can have huge impact on your business.

Summary

There is an opportunity to provide lunch for Nigeria’s corporate workforce and students by becoming the link between those who prepare/package the food and the end consumers.



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Introduction: I have always been fascinated with the cool designs I have come across on the internet for housing made out of shipping containers. Yes, you can get a House designed which could be put out for rent, from using one or two shipping containers depending on the number of rooms your design accommodates. These containers can be bought directly from their manufacturers outside Nigeria and could be shipped in and delivered to you. A quicker and cheaper alternative will be to go to the ports in Nigeria (Apapa, Onne, etc) even all the non-functional ones. You will be able to find shipping containers that are no longer fit to be used in shipping goods, however they are still solid and could find application in our Container homes.

If you have no idea or have never come across the idea of shipping container homes, just pause reading this, open google.com and search ‘Shipping container homes’ then click on image to view image results.

If you have a piece of land in a reasonably good location or if you can enter into an agreement with the land owner to setup a shipping container home on their land then agree on splitting the revenue that comes from the rents, you will have provided a home, contributed in helping the Housing deficit in Nigeria, as well as provide a channel for revenue generation.

Some advantages of Shipping container homes
Cost saving – They are cheaper.
Speed - they can be built with incredible speed.
Environmentally friendly; for every shipping container upcycled we are saving around 3500KG of steel.

NB: Be sure to know what the law in your city says as regards to permits and building development so you can make the right applications and necessary documentations. Due to the nature of these shipping containers, one will need to properly insulate it and make sufficient consideration for ventilation.

Steps to take
Find the piece of land
Purchase the shipping container
Design to plan (Cut windows, fix installations and other fittings)
Deliver to site (Land)
Finish the Container home
Advertise for Rent.
Competition
This is still very new in Nigeria; as the few places you may see something of this sort are in construction yards where they have been used to do temporary offices/lounges for workers on the yard. Going into this business of setting up container homes for rent, can be very lucrative if one properly differentiates the product/service being delivered through offering good quality interior designs and finishing

Risk
Designing protectors on the windows and attaching same to the doors for additional security will help assure customers of safety.

Summary
You can carry out further research on this and be sure you have sufficient understanding of what this entails, the safety requirement, government legislations and overall cost to setup before you jump in on this to invest.

Links for Additional reading
https://www.containerhomeplans.org/2015/10/pros-and-cons-of-building-a-shipping-container-home/

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Hello op, any new ideas for this week!?

God bless you sir. I just came about this thread and all these ideas are very attractive. I particularly like the ones on the mobile ice cream and the pineapple chips.

HooxJnr:
Hello op, any new ideas for this week!?

Yes there was, got busy with work. will post now for last week, and will post the one for next week later this week

Introduction: There are a number of fish markets in Lagos and some other parts of Nigeria. One can buy these smoked dried fishes from these traders in the rural areas at a very affordable rate and can go repackage and resell in bigger cities, stores and malls.
In the riverine areas in Lagos, and the Niger Delta, these smoked dried fishes can be purchased for about 1200 – 1500 naira and could be sold for about 3000-4000 naira in the Cities and other mega stores.
You could also get your own oven or dehydrating apparatus so that you could increase your profit margin by only having to buy the fresh fish from the fish farmers, then you do the rest of the process, the drying, and packaging.

Competition
As of today, there are loads of smoke fish dealers/middle men retailers that will serve as direct competition to you. To remain competitively in this Business, you will need to differentiate your offering (product delivery), which could be in the Packaging, quality and hygienic preparation, delivery plans, etc.
Summary
As much emphasis is being placed on the need to cut down on meat intake, many are and still will be embracing the option of having fish instead, thus leading to an increased demand which when supply is made, can create an opportunity for wealth creation.



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Idea 49 of 52: Incident/Police report Website/App

Introduction:

Following recent events and happenings in Nigerian social media spaces, there was and still is a campaign against Police Brutality, injustice and oppression of young and hardworking Nigerians who have recounted tales of their unpleasant experiences with a unit of the Police force (F-SARS). This week’s idea calls on all Software Developers in Nigeria to contribute the society at large by building a website, webApp or a mobile app that will allow for Nigerians to be able to report crimes, and incidences as they happen, specifying the location, time of incident, and nature of the incident.

These locations could be represented on a Map so it can over time present a database of incidents and a pictorial representation of the trouble hotspots with each city in Nigeria.


As many Nigerians know, when there is an incident, and the Police is involved, the witnesses or those who report the incidents are expected to write STATEMENTS. These statements are normally written and filed, and may not be revisited or be of any benefit to anyone.
This website would make it easier for people to make digital police statements or report incidences without fear of being harassed or intimidated. These reports can generate very vital information that can be useful to both the security agencies and the general public on trouble spots in the city as well as observable trends. One can quickly check on the map to have a picture of the sorts of security hazards that is prevalent in an area of the various Cities.

This obviously has social impact on the society at large, but it can also provide a means of revenue generation, as the traffic on the site can provide substantial revenue through paid ads on certain sections of the website. But if this is funded by Government or an investor, the app can be made to be free of any ads.

What should the App do?

Users should be able to report any incident, as it happens e.g, Accident, Theft, Armed robbery etc.
Users should also be able to map in the location and time of incident.
One can check this site for some ideas

https: //1stincidentreporting.com/en/

Steps to take
Learn the processes around writing statements
Design and Develop the website
Promote and Enlighten the general public.
Sell advert slots

Competition
As of today, if anyone builds such solution, it would be the only one of such websites or WebApp that will be dedicated collating and documenting incident reports and having it saved in a database that can be queried for useful information.

Summary
This idea, if implemented will help in making everyone contribute/participate in data generation and provision of information that can help in enhancing the collective security awareness of the general populace.

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Welldone wow this is the best thing that has ever happened to me. God bless you! for your time and ideas may you be rewarded greatly. I really appreciate this piece. keep it up I'm following cos i have done so many business and I end up not being consistent.Also,conquering fears hmm i will be sending you mails thanks.

AirstarKane:
Welldone wow this is the best thing that has ever happened to me. God bless you! for your time and ideas may you be rewarded greatly. I really appreciate this piece. keep it up I'm following cos i have done so many business and I end up not being consistent.Also,conquering fears hmm i will be sending you mails thanks.

Thanks for the kind words.

About Businesses, Consistency is very important. Like raising a Baby, it will require consistent time, commitment and passion.

I look forward to hearing from you

Idea 50 of 52: Poultry Feather-based Pillows

Introduction: Can you imagine the amount of Poultry (Chicken, turkey etc) that would be killed this Festive period in Nigeria as well as the ones killed regularly for food at fast food outlets, hotels, schools, etc. It will definitely be a lot.

Most times when most people imagine Poultry farming, the usual product expected to be harvested are Chicken (meat) and next are the eggs. There are other by-products of Poultry farming with one of these by-products being the subject of this week’s Business start-up idea.
The feathers from Poultry farming can be treated/processed and be used as stuffings for Pillows and some furniture coverings. Rather than them being wasted/thrashed, one can explore this for Business by contacting those who prepare and package frozen chicken for sale to collect the feathers, have them treated and dried, then use them for pillows, throw pillows, even Teddy Bears.

Feathers are made of keratin, the same tough, tightly wound protein fiber that makes up hair, wool, fingernails, and hooves. Feathers can't be taken from the chicken and made directly into new materials, however. The stiff central core of the feather (the quill) must be stripped of the flexible, interconnected strands of material that emerge from it (the barbs).

Steps to take
Some among other steps to be taken include:
• Find your Supplier (Poultry farmers, frozen poultry processing houses, etc.)
• Identify your market
• Get fabrics
• Find you a tailor to sew the pillows, throw pillows
• Sell

Risk concerns
Special care should be taken to ensure that the feathers are adequately treated to best hygiene standards. There some instances of people cutting off the feathers from birds while they are alive (they are kept warm so as to avoid them being exposed to cold), but this will always be faced with protest by animal right groups. This Idea however focuses solely on getting the feathers from those that will be killed for meat.
Summary
Whilst many Chicken and other poultry birds will be consumed this December, there is an opportunity for Business in using the by-product (feathers), which can be explored for revenue generation and employment creation.

Additional links
http://thepoultryguide.com/uses-of-chicken-feathers/
https://www.greenbiz.com/news/2002/03/31/recycling-poultry-feathers-more-bang-cluck

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Sibe007:
Risk concerns
Special care should be taken to ensure that the feathers are adequately treated to best hygiene standards. There some instances of people cutting off the feathers from birds while they are alive (they are kept warm so as to avoid them being exposed to cold), but this will always be faced with protest by animal right groups. This Idea however focuses solely on getting the feathers from those that will be killed for meat.
Summary
Whilst many Chicken and other poultry birds will be consumed this December, there is an opportunity for Business in using the by-product (feathers), which can be explored for revenue generation and employment creation.

Additional links
http://thepoultryguide.com/uses-of-chicken-feathers/
https://www.greenbiz.com/news/2002/03/31/recycling-poultry-feathers-more-bang-cluck

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Good day and thanks for the job you are doing. Please can you explain more on the treatment of the feathers?

Waste Recycling is Fun and at the same time you get to make Extra cash...and even loose weight

Introduction:
There are loads of events that happen every week in Nigeria, during weekdays and weekends. Some of which include, Conferences (Religious and non-Religious), Music concerts, Trade fairs, Parties (Weddings, birthdays, launch events, etc.). Some of these events may to be streamed Live and if you can provide such service, that can be something you can use as leverage in brokering new partnerships or simply as a business offering.
Events

Some Religious centres already stream their services and their events, while some are currently in need of who can help them implement such service effectively.
Some people who maybe reside outside Nigeria and plan to do their wedding here, may want their wedding professionally live streamed so that their friends, families and colleagues outside Nigeria can watch Live.
Music and Comedy Concert organisers can employ Live streaming services and could also earn some revenue if the stream is monetised. There are a number of websites that offer monetisable-streaming services. Further research on Google can direct you to the help you need on that.

Internet Strength
One of the most important components of this very setup is the internet. With poor quality internet, the stream signal will be of very poor quality and unstable. It is advisable to use broadband modems such as Swift 4g, Smile, Spectranet, etc as opposed to other Telcos such as Airtel, Glo, MTN, because of wider bandwidths. The cost of data will need to be considered in estimating what should be charged for this service.

Facebook Live
This makes it easy to Stream an event Live to audiences online, although most people who currently uses this do so straight from a Smartphone and so cannot include subtitles or different camera views.
If you figure out how to Live stream to include multiple cameras, subtitles and in good quality, you can contact event organisers and offer this service to them for a fee. I have attached a link to a Youtube video tutorial on how to stream to youtube (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJHXaDa35GE). There are loads of other tutorials on the internet that can help.

Gadgets
Hardware/Software Encoders

For starters, some of the devices needed might be expensive, such as the Video encoders, video mixers, connectors etc. I figured that there are some software (applications) that can make the encoding and streaming easier and less expensive, one of which is the ADOBE MEDIA LIVE ENCODER. You can check on Google for more help on how to use the Adobe Media Live Encoder. Live encoder can stream directly to Youtube which can also be embedded into other websites.