Statistical Consultancy

Would it be a bad idea to set up a statistical consultancy? Services will include research and data analysis, design & analysis of experiments for individuals, government and private companies; assist university/polytechnic research students with their research work and analysis; teaching and training on statistical methods, quantitative analysis, statistical computing and use of statistical packages for data anlysis.

Do you think this will be a good biz to do in nigeria considering the state of the nigerian economy? How can one go about setting up and making contacts to get clients?

Adesanya, thanx 4 your sweet response. Infact i really appreciate your support for stats and research consultancy.

Secondly I feel 3 professionals can make this biz work well. A Statistician, an Economist and a Computer Scientist can make it work well; how do you see it?

If you have any idea of how to get started and who and who to be the target clients pls let me know.

Why not frame the question like the: Would it be a good idea to set up a statistical consultancy?

While it is nothing new in Nigeria, I think it is a good idea. There is a multitude of companies focused on statistical research in Nigeria. From one man businesses armed with SPSS and questionnaires to multinationals like Research International (http://www.research-int.com). The fact that there are companies already into this does not mean the market is Saturated. In fact the converse is the truth.

You sounded like you have idea about the industry. Basic due diligence requires that you know the following:

1.   The current players (what do they do, who are their clients, what kind of jobs do those clients commission). I’m afraid you won’t find loads of that information on the internet as far as Nigeria is concerned. I’m afraid I can’t help you there.
2.   Market needs/trends (I can state that the trend in Nigeria is market research (the largest market) and health informatics based (commissioned by NGOs).
3.   Market size (I don’t know but I think it is huge).

To leave the theories alone,

Check out some competition (might actually be partners depending on your business model) here:

http://www.euromonitor.com/Nigeria (mostly done by small Nigeria based researchers)
http://www.mmonitornigeria.com/index.html
/www.companiesandmarkets.com

And to some extent the brand consulting firms.

What have I tried to achieve here?
I have tried to point you in the right direction. Hope it helps.