I will never forget this experience... In January 2009, before goin for NYSC, a friend of my older brother came to him and introduced him to one Multilevel marketing in Telecoms... One telecoms company from America to be precise, name withheld... He so painted the picture that it appeared so sweet to me.. Then my older brother(since he doesn't reside in naija) told him he wld want me to do it since I was doin nothing at that time and wld be goin for NYSC in june... I was so excited.. The total package for the enrollment in the biz was abt 500k... After alot of seminars and presentation of the biz opportunity to pple, the guy advised that I shld quickly enrol so that pple that will be enrolling after the presentation wld be under me.. Then I started calling my bro for the cash, d guy jst turned a deaf ear to me... Funny enuf, I had close to 600k in my acct, that my dad kept in my acct... So I quickly withdrew the cash and enrolled cos the enrollment cums wt phones and other gadgets... D guy promised to help me sell those phones so I can retrieve my cash... That's hw I enrolled, then unluckily for me, NYSC came knocking on the door, I was posted to Niger state and cldnt av time for d biz... I had to start shuttling abuja just to make sure I talk to pple abt it... Omo I suffered cos everyone seemed uninterested in the biz... Funny enuf, before I enrolled alot of pple were so interested... The I started bugging the guy to sell the phones and gadgets so I can pay in back my dad's cash.. After abt 4 to 6 months, d guy started telling me stories that he doesn't understand the biz and that he has lost close to 2m to d biz too... Omo story don change... Wat will I do.. I was so confused... My dad has started to ask for his cash... I even introduced some of my friends and cousins to the biz... And luckily, only a friend enrolled while others didn't... Finally, it became a serious yawa between myself and my dad... To cut the long story short, it was a good experience at all.. I had to tell my dad the whole truth and he was so disappointed in me... The level of trust reduced at ones...
Now am I own an entertainment outfit.. Into Artiste and event management... Av always been a music producer... Na open eye make me go involve for Multilevel marketing before... Now av learnt my lessons... Terrible experience tho

After my youth service (2011) I started producing an entertainment magazine but got discouraged after the first edition. Reasons were;
1. Low number of readers
2. Poverty: only few are willing to spend on magazines. They like the mag but complain of money. Again, they want quality work for a cheap price which cannot be attained.
3. The internet is not helping matters.

I really have passion for the business but I can't afford to be losing.

Right now I'm thinking of investing in beer parlour.

publisher: In 2009,while still working in a private financial institution,i launched my own magazine. Invested over N2m on the project,hired some old classmates to run it for me...well as expected,they ran it aground. I even lost my rented office space ,cos the landlady went psychotic on rents.
After i resigned from paid employment early 2010,i moved into my media bizness full time. I'm a trained brand innovator and copywriter. I sacked ALL my staff(5 of em) retaining only my PA. We are into advertising; creation/production of tv commercials,radio jingles and newspaper ads. It's a terrible industry cos most big Nigerian companies already have established ad agencies,others prefer to use foreign South African ad agencies. When they give independents like us an opportunity to pitch an ad,they complain that our idea is good but too expensive. But when a white South African team presents a silly ad pitch,to be shot in Cape town,ten times more expensive than ours,the big Nigerian companies jump at it. Thats why most so called quality tv ads aired in nigeria are shot in South Africa or Kenya,they use mainly zimbabwean cast cos their accent is similar to ours. They go a step further to teach them pidgin and clothe them with Nigerian attires just to create a Nigerian setting. Ref: Airtel 'IK' 10/10, Golden Penny, Etisalat, Indomine(mama too good),Blueband, Cowbell and so on.
Luckily,i've landed a decent ad deal with an upcoming food seasoning company,to be honest i only got the break cos the chairman of the coy is my 'towns man'. Positive tribalism i guess!
I love advertising, especially tv ads,i watch many foreign tv stations just to see their ads. But unfortunately 90 percent of tv ads aired on Nigerian tv can be very irritating,the 'descent' ones are SA productions.
I'ld like to change that and make Nigerian tv ads more Nigerian,more creative and more entertaining.
Advertising is a passion driven creative industry,it's also very frustrating for independent agencies like mine and u could go months,even years without a single client. But ONE serious client can change ur life forever,especially if ur Ads affects ur clients turnover positively.
Well,that's my story. Nice thread.

Bros it were as if you were telling my story mine was crazy coz I left banking for it thought I had sealed a deal with an agency to carry all their concept design and brand packaging mehn naa so I go borrow money from bank to also bank it up BAM they were scrapped along with the whole parafinalia of the agency bank on my neck no biz coming well I learnt a valuable lesson don't rely on any agency or company to generate your market, second was out of crisis I started a Microfinance institution taking my small experience from banking into it mehn that when I realised 80% of the income were used to finance overheads mehn see debt, back I can go forward naa war added to my level of indebtedness - learnt never to start a biz out of desperation.

@publisher
Nice post. can you please send me your email, might have something to offer your business. Thanks
coolzpixel@gmail.com

kinsomania: Uhmmm, i've not ventured into any real biz yet. Passed out of secondary school 2009, still a very young dude. Am actually the internet type. Ventured into the blogging world for some months, left it to learn web development. Got some skills in it and am yet to hit the internet wave. Finance not making things easy at all. Presently, am learning more and searching for a team to joim to gain experience. The class i joined concerning web design is just JUNK. The guy is teaching us how to be a STUPID AND LAZY WEB DESIGNER.

Ignatio: After my youth service (2011) I started producing an entertainment magazine but got discouraged after the first edition. Reasons were;
1. Low number of readers
2. Poverty: only few are willing to spend on magazines. They like the mag but complain of money. Again, they want quality work for a cheap price which cannot be attained.
3. The internet is not helping matters.

I really have passion for the business but I can't afford to be losing.

Right now I'm thinking of investing in beer parlour.

it will b like bingo! Investing in a beer parlour. The best area pipo dnt boda to look into, due to personal ideas, values and belief system

i still think the best business in nija remains CHURCH. Find a nice location open one you only need to be a good orator and GBOOOOM!!! na you go tire

this a true story.
i went to a client hse to give him a quote about one small refurb he intend doing in his flat in south london, tower bridge.
being a close friend of this guy cos i have done numerous jobs for him in the past, his nephew was LAZILY lying on the couch and to be frank he looked like a lay about,. anyway the nephew asked if i can link him up with any music producer in the u.k and IF also i have interest in managing his affair. i promised to look into the issue of management and how to introduce him to my friend who works in the film/music industry. to be frank i tot this guy is one not so serious individual.
who am i talking about?.DBANJ.
Guess he will not bother to give me a wink today.
opportunities present themselves in diff. forms but we need to have the conviction to unlock them.

item1: i still think the best business in nija remains CHURCH. Find a nice location open one you only need to be a good orator and GBOOOOM!!! na you go tire

Love this thread and I will share my experience just to help potential investors and those that wish to start their biz soon.. I'm in to truck management and transport( granite stones,sand and dust to be specific) and I do have people who brings in their truck to me to manage for them and in return, I pay them every week. Business has been good and rewarding(both for me and truck owners) until I managed 2 tokunbo IVECO trucks for someone. Unknown to me, those trucks have had engine problems right from abroad where the got them. So I went ahead to agree on payment terms of GAURANTEED 50,000 naira( which is what I pay to other 6 tires truck owners) on each truck, making 100,000 naira/week for the two trucks. I was quick to get the trucks to work and I only enjoyed the trucks for just only 2 months before it started to develop problems. I had to use my personal fund to pay this truck owner for like 2months( as we could only do skeletal job with his truck and I couldn't complain that much because I have agreed on FIXED returns for him). It was after 2 months I had to tell the man that I couldn't go on with our agreement because they have not been working fine. Since then I learnt my lesson to always ascertain trucks potential investors are bringing to him and also tell them we are going to test the truck for 2 weeks before I reach final agreement with them

OP, very nice post.
I brought onions worth over 100k from kaduna to lagos on order but †ђξ person who ordered disappointed me and out of 20bags bought only 2bags. At †ђξ end of †ђξ day I ended up with about half my investment because I ended in †ђξ hands of †ђξ unions who bought at a give away price. I didn't do feasibility assessment
@OP, pls let me have your contact cos we are in †ђξ same profession. You can let me have your contact or contact me on koolfreeworld@yahoo.com

Ignatio: After my youth service (2011) I started producing an entertainment magazine but got discouraged after the first edition. Reasons were;
1. Low number of readers
2. Poverty: only few are willing to spend on magazines. They like the mag but complain of money. Again, they want quality work for a cheap price which cannot be attained.
3. The internet is not helping matters.

I really have passion for the business but I can't afford to be losing.

Right now I'm thinking of investing in beer parlour.

what you need to do is take your magazine online! ASAP!

Ask Linda Ikeji or BellaNaija.

This thread defintely confirms my suspicions that Nigerians do not do their due diligence.Well, it's not only Nigerians, most humans do not do their due diligence. It is more constly in a country like Nigeria because there are so many dishonest people with sweet mouth..

Personally, I've not lost in any business I ventured into.. Run a consulting firm on the side right now and it's profitable...

am working 4 a company dat pays me a little salary but am saving some money so dat i can enter into selling(okirika clothes) though i don't have any experience in d biz but wen am ready a friend of mine who is doing d biz will educate me on d bizness i must comfess i really learnt alot here

Genius100: This thread definitely confirms my suspicions that Nigerians do not do their due diligence.Well, it's not only Nigerians, most humans do not do their due diligence. It is more costly in a country like Nigeria because there are so many dishonest people with sweet mouth..

Personally, I've not lost in any business I ventured into.. Run a consulting firm on the side right now and it's profitable...

true talk

Ignatio: After my youth service (2011) I started producing an entertainment magazine but got discouraged after the first edition. Reasons were;
1. Low number of readers
2. Poverty: only few are willing to spend on magazines. They like the mag but complain of money. Again, they want quality work for a cheap price which cannot be attained.
3. The internet is not helping matters.

I really have passion for the business but I can't afford to be losing.

Right now I'm thinking of investing in beer parlour.

this really got me laughing like..... beer parlour

When I was in my final year and writing my project an idea occurred to me, The dept demands atleast 4 copies of binded project from each student. The cost of printing each project will be atleast #400 which means that I will spend about #1600 in printing my project. I called 8 of my close friends and told them that it will be cheaper for us to contribute #1000 each to buy a small printer which is sold for about #6,500, use the remaining balance to buy paper and ink. the idea was that it will save us the stress that is associated with long queues at biz centers during the time students print and submit the projects. My friends aggreed but they said they don't have money with them then so I volunteered to finance d deal so that they will balance me later. Unfortunately, the day I bought the printer, it developed a minor faults and all of them left me and ran away, they said I bought a fake product . I felt very bad, knelt down and asked God not to allow me regret trying to help friends, after that I decided to find a solution to the problem. When I repaired it I decided to commercialise it because a further idea occured to me which was that if an individual student is to spend an average of #1500 to print his project then since we were about 180 in class, the entire class will spend (180*1500) #270,000 for their projects alone. To cut the long story short, The printer was repaired, the seller introduced me to cheap refillable ink that I used in printing. I launched into printing Term papers and projects at the comfort of my room and my innitial target was to print the projects of about 40% of my course mate. Two months later when I graduated, I had a NET PROFIT of about #30,000. My only regrets was that the idea did not occur to me early enough maybe while in second year who knows I would'v been able to pay my school fees.


I passed this exact info to an undergraduate who is still in school and he calls to share testimonies Undergraduates take note

Genius100: This thread defintely confirms my suspicions that Nigerians do not do their due diligence.Well, it's not only Nigerians, most humans do not do their due diligence. It is more constly in a country like Nigeria because there are so many dishonest people with sweet mouth..

Personally, I've not lost in any business I ventured into.. Run a consulting firm on the side right now and it's profitable...

A lot of people do due diligence the problem is alternative planning and getting lost in your contingency planning without loosing sight of the initial plan, and assess to long term financing which in actual fact is the main issue communication business takes time to grow and returns are attached to the personality of the individual, but with a limit to which the individual can spread him/herself delegation to other people become necessary but it still remains challenging because its your dream not theirs, so not derailing its not easy to go into business and stay in business in nigeria O! Their are so many mistakes you would make that only on the job experience can teach you not to take those kinda of actions again.

publisher: In 2009,while still working in a private financial institution,i launched my own magazine. Invested over N2m on the project,hired some old classmates to run it for me...well as expected,they ran it aground. I even lost my rented office space ,cos the landlady went psychotic on rents.
After i resigned from paid employment early 2010,i moved into my media bizness full time. I'm a trained brand innovator and copywriter. I sacked ALL my staff(5 of em) retaining only my PA. We are into advertising; creation/production of tv commercials,radio jingles and newspaper ads. It's a terrible industry cos most big Nigerian companies already have established ad agencies,others prefer to use foreign South African ad agencies. When they give independents like us an opportunity to pitch an ad,they complain that our idea is good but too expensive. But when a white South African team presents a silly ad pitch,to be shot in Cape town,ten times more expensive than ours,the big Nigerian companies jump at it. Thats why most so called quality tv ads aired in nigeria are shot in South Africa or Kenya,they use mainly zimbabwean cast cos their accent is similar to ours. They go a step further to teach them pidgin and clothe them with Nigerian attires just to create a Nigerian setting. Ref: Airtel 'IK' 10/10, Golden Penny, Etisalat, Indomine(mama too good),Blueband, Cowbell and so on.
Luckily,i've landed a decent ad deal with an upcoming food seasoning company,to be honest i only got the break cos the chairman of the coy is my 'towns man'. Positive tribalism i guess!
I love advertising, especially tv ads,i watch many foreign tv stations just to see their ads. But unfortunately 90 percent of tv ads aired on Nigerian tv can be very irritating,the 'descent' ones are SA productions.
I'ld like to change that and make Nigerian tv ads more Nigerian,more creative and more entertaining.
Advertising is a passion driven creative industry,it's also very frustrating for independent agencies like mine and u could go months,even years without a single client. But ONE serious client can change ur life forever,especially if ur Ads affects ur clients turnover positively.
Well,that's my story. Nice thread.

Hello Publisher,very honest and inciteful story,Please email me at gloreminvestment@gmail.com I should be in Nigeria next month, are you Lagos based or Abuja? I need to sit down with you and talk more on an advertisement campaign.....Cheers

w

Interesting Thread

item1: i still think the best business in nija remains CHURCH. Find a nice location open one you only need to be a good orator and GBOOOOM!!! na you go tire

It seems you're writing from experience and you must be reaping bountifully, but, I have a pity for the 'sheep' you're leading in your congregation.

I love this discussion. I have always loved to do business - not buying and selling, right from a tender age. I always see my self working for myself and others working for me and most especially my money working for me, God help me. I have done businesses that were right all way through and I've done some that were wrong right from the beginning but you know what, no regrets whatsoever because for me, its a learning curve. I bought some trucks in 2009 from the UK (2 MAN diesel) trucks which were never delivered. Its a long story. I've also learnt not to start a business in a hurry or out of emotional attachment. I started a cold room and closed it down after less than six months. Thank God it was rented. I closed down because the initial capital was so high and the turnover was low, thats my point of view. If i put that kind of money and effort into my nursery and primary school now, ill be a force to reckon with within a short period. In cold room business, you dont get paid until the fish sellers and hawkers finish selling for the day and sometimes, some just dissapper after a few months. I eventually decided, its a business for the not too educated, you have to deal with traders and know their ways. I am a web developer and could make the profit i make from the cold room in a month in just one web job without putting in too much money and paying the staff.
I really think school business is worth anyones while particularly if you're passionate about educating. My school was profitable right from the first term and the profit increases as the term goes by. With strategic locationing and very good publicity the sky is the limit. I think am just well cut out for this really and you know am so satisfied that i have to pinch myself that i need another business along side which am thinking about now.I have to go now, business calls.

I like this thread, its very educating... due to eagerness in having at least 2 sources of income, I have really got my hand burnt in so many investment in the past; starting from Clubfreedom which was introduced to me then by someone, which I was paid the sum of N26,000.00 and I was asked to look for 2 people as a downline in order for me to raise - after all my strategies of printing posters, handbill, using internet I could not see more than 1 person, the person which is a close friend of mine. I just have to quit when I have tried all my possible best.

I later venture into Forex Trading by giving a very close friend the sum of N100,000.00 which we normally monitor the account together until one day when I came back from work, only to learnt that all the money is gone. I didn't stop there, I proceed to pay another so-called forex-guru about N100,000.00 and later introduced one of my street brother to him, and that man gave the same man N200,000.00 which after three months, everything went astray.

In order just to look for another source of income apart from my salary job as I am currently running my degree programme on part-time; I started Bulk sms business - to be sincere, this business looks promising as I realized almost 200% profit within 2 months which I was really happy about, due to my marketing strategies. But I am almost losing all these customers now due to the poor service of the bulk sms company that I am using. I tried another company, they didnt tell me before I jump back to the old company . And is the bulk sms business that is still bringing very little money to me now sha...

I dont mind any good practicable business idea oooo, as I am still eager having at least 2 sources of income and most especially becoming my own boss.

I'm glad i went into blogging.

www.ivblogger.com

SHALOM

temmy2011: I like this thread, its very educating... due to eagerness in having at least 2 sources of income, I have really got my hand burnt in so many investment in the past; starting from Clubfreedom which was introduced to me then by someone, which I was paid the sum of N26,000.00 and I was asked to look for 2 people as a downline in order for me to raise - after all my strategies of printing posters, handbill, using internet I could not see more than 1 person, the person which is a close friend of mine. I just have to quit when I have tried all my possible best.

I later venture into Forex Trading by giving a very close friend the sum of N100,000.00 which we normally monitor the account together until one day when I came back from work, only to learnt that all the money is gone. I didn't stop there, I proceed to pay another so-called forex-guru about N100,000.00 and later introduced one of my street brother to him, and that man gave the same man N200,000.00 which after three months, everything went astray.

In order just to look for another source of income apart from my salary job as I am currently running my degree programme on part-time; I started Bulk sms business - to be sincere, this business looks promising as I realized almost 200% profit within 2 months which I was really happy about, due to my marketing strategies. But I am almost losing all these customers now due to the poor service of the bulk sms company that I am using. I tried another company, they didnt tell me before I jump back to the old company . And is the bulk sms business that is still bringing very little money to me now sha...

I dont mind any good practicable business idea oooo, as I am still eager having at least 2 sources of income and most especially becoming my own boss.

You just reminded me who has heard anything of wealth solution and sefteg those guy steal my money live over 600k in these two places wealth interlink my 26k dey their mehn multi level bullshit one of the biggest regrets I have till date

Op. Your thread is fantastic, eye opener and educative.
For me, I have tried my hands on, among others:
a. Insurance policy marketing
b. Building contract supervision
c. Govt. supply
d. AGO sales in surface tanks.
Now I am trying to raise a loan to kick start a viable and strong based business that has the assurance of paying back the principal and 150% interest in 4months. Though, in the course of sourcing for this loan. I have been approached by fraudsters, dream and idea poachers. Yet I am not relenting in the establishment of the tested vision.

After changing 6 jobs in 2 years after my NYSC; I decided I was destined to be my own boss and not soneone's staff. I used the funds I had gathered over the course of 2 years to travel to dubai and buy travelling boxes for sale in naija. First trip was torture didn't make much gain but didn't lose either. My second trip coincided with customs banning of imported travelling suitcases and boxes. Need I say I lost all my profit(had to pay 1.2m to get my goods out). As luck would have it a not so educated woman introduced me to exhibiting that is selling wares at international events. Made my first million in the first internatioanl event I attended. Within 3 years of exhibiting at events, I opened two shops,employed 3 staff, bought a beautiful ride,rented an apartment in one of the most expensive areas in abuja and continued with exhibiting at events until God brought my life partner to me. I have sinced stopped exhibiting due to relocating to europe to live with my spouse.

publisher: In 2009,while still working in a private financial institution,i launched my own magazine. Invested over N2m on the project,hired some old classmates to run it for me...well as expected,they ran it aground. I even lost my rented office space ,cos the landlady went psychotic on rents.
After i resigned from paid employment early 2010,i moved into my media bizness full time. I'm a trained brand innovator and copywriter. I sacked ALL my staff(5 of em) retaining only my PA. We are into advertising; creation/production of tv commercials,radio jingles and newspaper ads. It's a terrible industry cos most big Nigerian companies already have established ad agencies,others prefer to use foreign South African ad agencies. When they give independents like us an opportunity to pitch an ad,they complain that our idea is good but too expensive. But when a white South African team presents a silly ad pitch,to be shot in Cape town,ten times more expensive than ours,the big Nigerian companies jump at it. Thats why most so called quality tv ads aired in nigeria are shot in South Africa or Kenya,they use mainly zimbabwean cast cos their accent is similar to ours. They go a step further to teach them pidgin and clothe them with Nigerian attires just to create a Nigerian setting. Ref: Airtel 'IK' 10/10, Golden Penny, Etisalat, Indomine(mama too good),Blueband, Cowbell and so on.
Luckily,i've landed a decent ad deal with an upcoming food seasoning company,to be honest i only got the break cos the chairman of the coy is my 'towns man'. Positive tribalism i guess!
I love advertising, especially tv ads,i watch many foreign tv stations just to see their ads. But unfortunately 90 percent of tv ads aired on Nigerian tv can be very irritating,the 'descent' ones are SA productions.
I'ld like to change that and make Nigerian tv ads more Nigerian,more creative and more entertaining.
Advertising is a passion driven creative industry,it's also very frustrating for independent agencies like mine and u could go months,even years without a single client. But ONE serious client can change ur life forever,especially if ur Ads affects ur clients turnover positively.
Well,that's my story. Nice thread.

Hello Publisher,l read your post which l find very interesting. I am hoping we could link up somehow and see what we could do together. I am an ideas person and have been into advertising now for about 13 years and presenting doing my own thing like you. Am an Art director, which you are a copy person. Can l contact you outside on any email address? Do respond. Thanks.

blackcat1: After changing 6 jobs in 2 years after my NYSC; I decided I was destined to be my own boss and not soneone's staff. I used the funds I had gathered over the course of 2 years to travel to dubai and buy travelling boxes for sale in naija. First trip was torture didn't make much gain but didn't lose either. My second trip coincided with customs banning of imported travelling suitcases and boxes. Need I say I lost all my profit(had to pay 1.2m to get my goods out). As luck would have it a not so educated woman introduced me to exhibiting that is selling wares at international events. Made my first million in the first internatioanl event I attended. Within 3 years of exhibiting at events, I opened two shops,employed 3 staff, bought a beautiful ride,rented an apartment in one of the most expensive areas in abuja and continued with exhibiting at events until God brought my life partner to me. I have sinced stopped exhibiting due to relocating to europe to live with my spouse.

Mehn from the sales of boxes seriously can this be true the level of competition is deafening the whole of area 7/10 is filled with bag sellers, wuse market parts of wuse II, banex adetokunbo ademola are all selling these things gardens are being used as event selling points for different things so plz don't try and tell me u are trying to generate a pull from us or potential investors just be as frank as possible let's see the figures and the numbers confirmation

I just got an idea it seems this thread is for us
Publisher-technical competence
Bluepro- the experience
Real Mccoy-
Ignatio - I inboxed you awaiting your response
I have a platform we could all work with if the terms are right
We could we all do something together bluepro do u have a website up and running better still add me to your friend lists and send me a mail via nairaland