The global pandemic has led to many new online businesses in Nigeria emerging and making old ones going stronger than ever. With an outbreak that requires less physical contact with people, many brands have pivoted to new ways of doing business, either by offering a new service or product closely related to their brand to fully running their operations online.

We are now actually living in a time that’s ripe with opportunity and the potential for monumental business growth at a scale never experienced before. The commerce being conducted online has experienced explosive growth with the use of internet and smartphones. However, even though brick-and-mortar sales still comprise the majority of consumer’s spending, it’s only expected to grow at roughly 2.8%. Clearly, what’s driving much of the present eCommerce growth is the smartphone market.

Having a business online can be lucrative and requires less risk. Even the cost of starting an online business in Nigeria isn’t as expensive as setting up a physical shop or store. With the nature of online businesses, it is easier to reach millions of potential customers without a huge marketing budget. You don’t need extensive knowledge of digital marketing or social media to launch a business online.

Emerging Online Businesses in Nigeria

When starting a business online, have an idea of what you wish to offer whether in the form of product or service. There are many online business ideas you can explore, with little or no capital, which are very profitable. Here are a few selections of emerging online businesses in Nigeria, you can start.

E-commerce and DropShipping

Ecommerce is also known as electronic commerce or an internet business; it is the process of buying and selling of physical products using the internet. While dropshipping is where you are able to sell merchandise to your customer without holding any inventory, while you act as the third party.

There are online platforms like Shopify and WordPress, you can leverage on them to start an eCommerce store. It is so easy for anyone to set up eCommerce in minutes with these platforms. Only you need to is to sell high demand products. On the other hand, dropshipping is when you create an online store to sell other people’s products to get a commission for a sale. One of the advantages of dropshipping over traditional e-commerce business is that you don’t have to risk buying up stock in a product and losing money if it doesn’t sell.

Selling Ebooks

This requires very little capital; it mostly requires your expertise and knowledge of a subject. You can package that knowledge into a high-value course or e-book and sell it online to people that are seeking the knowledge that you’ve acquired. Even after years of publishing an ebook, you can still be making passive income from it. With just a bit of marketing budget, you’ll be able to continue to sell and make money from them. If you don’t already have an audience, it might be better to self-publish on websites such as Udemy and Amazon first, to validate your idea and grow your fan base.

Social Media Management Services

Many businesses are struggling to emerge online, and are looking to utilize social media to its fullest potential to propel their businesses to the next level. Social media marketing is still very new to many people and is constantly evolving in Nigeria – leaving several brands confused. So, to tap into the potential of social media management services for brands is a very lucrative business. Research and find businesses you are looking to expand their online presence. Or the brands who can’t actively handle their social media marketing responsibilities themselves and are ready to outsource, then make a business out of it.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is one of the various ways to make money online by promoting products or websites to earn a certain percentage as a commission from sales made. It is important to note that affiliate marketing is different from get-rich-quick-schemes.

As an affiliate marketer, the products and services that you promote are provided by others and not necessarily you. The only duty you are required to perform is to provide a marketing or sales outlet such as a blog, email list or social media.

Digital Marketing Agency

Traditional marketing is quite an expensive way that brands can use to gain visibility. Most times, small business owners can’t afford to use those marketing channels such as radio, TV, billboards or newspapers advertise their products and services, However, embarking on digital marketing can help businesses reach a large audience and get results that are measurable with little marketing cost. But before starting out in this business, you must have registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission and issued a certificate of incorporation and must have acquired the critical aspect and expertise on digital marketing.

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