EMERGING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN NIGERIA WHICH ENTREPRENEURS CAN KEY INTO
Budding entrepreneurs are in a dilemma as to the type of enterprise to venture into. Most times, they contemplate whether to follow their passion or to learn a new skill. Usually, they ask, ‘Should the start-up focus on introducing a new product or service based on an unmet need? Should the venture select an existing product or service from one market and offer it in another where it may not be available?’

Business consultants suggest innovation as business opportunity for start-ups. According to them, people can improve a product, a service or a business process. They add that purchasing processes in some product categories are still a major source of irritation for customers.

For business owners or managers to get to the point where people will pursue them with business opportunities, experts note that they have to build strong brands. According to them, this starts with having an area of specialisation and acquiring prerequisite knowledge.

They add that as the business environment is changing, strategies used in production and delivery of products and services have to be improved on as a result of demand by consumers for improved services.

Agricultural enterprises
To diversify the economy and reduce the country’s dependence on oil and gas, the Federal Government is providing support for commercial farmers through new technologies, improved infrastructure, finances, and output markets. It is also strengthening agricultural production systems and facilitating access to market for some targeted value chains among small and medium scale commercial farmers in five participating states.

According to experts, the food processing aspect of the value chain can be explored by women as the Bank of Industry has credit support for enterprises owned by women. They say that the minister of agriculture is excited about the possibility that the country will one day export agricultural products on a large scale.

Businesses in airport communities
The Founder and Managing Director, Landover Company Limited, Mr. Edward Boyo, says the government has plans to build five airports in the country, dedicated to agricultural produce.

As a result, he says there will be logistic services gaps to be filled and hospitality facilities will be required by passengers coming in and leaving the country. He added that trade opportunities exist within emerging airport metropolis as specialised storage, cold rooms and hanger investments were needed.

According to Boyo who spoke at the Women in Management, Business and Public Service conference, which was held recently, funding will be required for such projects and based on the kind of industry, there is a guarantee of return on investment.

He says, “If you look at many airport communities now you will see that business opportunities are present there. Lagos and Abuja will be involved. Don’t wait till it happens. You have to come out and take advantage of these opportunities. Airlines do everything themselves and they need a secondary level of investors to come in.”

Consultancy
In the country, there are many people in consultancy, mainly to partner with other companies to solve their problems on one hand and meet their business needs on the other. Experts note that there are different types of services to choose from such as internet marketing, search engine optimisation, improving business operations, email marketing, human resources recruitment and so on. Professional consultants say getting into the consulting business can lead to huge growth opportunities.

They explain that consultancy firms are responsible for servicing the needs and wants of their clients in order to achieve their business goals. In this business line, they say people can start their own firm and go into partnership with other consultants.

The Landover boss says management and consulting services in aviation are still open to anyone who is interested in taking up opportunities there. He says, “If you don’t, foreigners would because the government needs to have these things fixed. Training, management, finance, operations, marketing and sales and a whole lot of opportunity are open to Nigerians.”

Partnership with organisations in CSR
Business consultants note that every challenge provides opportunities. For instance, the Director, Public Affairs, Coca-Cola Nigeria, Mr. Clem Ugorji, says the environmental challenges that people encounter are business prospects.

He says, “Everything we seem to complain about whether in our workplace, street or school represent a business opportunity that someone can develop and package in a way that people can see the value in it. Every corporate organisation that exists in this country, especially the multinationals announce business programmes in form of corporate social responsibility with inherent business prospects. Particularly, these days that everyone is trying to contribute to gender inequality. There are huge opportunities in almost every multinational for women-owned ventures.”

Prospects in government policies
Mr. Clem Ugorji notes that every government policy, whether by the state government agencies and ministries, represents a business prospect for everybody. Therefore, he advises entrepreneurs to always study them and analyse where the business really lies.

National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency recently introduced a programme that would lead to improvement in the design of eco-friendly products and reduction in unsustainable consumption and production.

The programme extends the responsibilities of the manufacturers of the product to various parts of the product’s life cycle and final disposal of the product.

According to Ugorji, Extended Producer Responsibility programme by NESREA necessitates companies to collect and recycle every waste that comes from their products. He adds that entrepreneurs can key into the development by assisting companies to pick up their waste for a fee.

From: http://tectono..com/

kul

Thanks for sharing on the emerging business opportunities in Nigeria

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