naijacutee:
Start a fulfillment house.

Basically, you rent a warehouse and store and dispatch goods for small businesses (online stores, Instagram sellers etc) selling online. Whenever businesses receive an order, they forward it to you and you pick and dispatch.

You don’t have to invest in delivery at this early stage. You can outsource this part to existing delivery firms and employ on a part-time basis 2 okada drivers for deliveries within close proximity.

There is software out there that can help you can and record stock levels and also send reports to your customers (or the small businesses)

Your money is made by charging
1. A monthly storage fee (i.e N10,000 per square meter per month)
2. Shipping fees. N1,500 for 24 hour delivery is not too bad. If you can consistently get 100 deliveries to make each day, this will signal to you that it may be time to invest in 1 or 2 delivery vehicles.

Here’s an example of a US based fulfillment house: https://fulfillrite.com

nkpommpko:
looks interesting first time hear of this
, thanks will research more on this.

naijacutee:


I’m glad the idea appeals to you. Research to understand the concept before you commit any money. Maybe commit something like N50,000 to open an online store (Shopify is $29 a month) and see what problems existing online businesses face. Follow stores on instagram and look for their customer complaints. Most complaints surround shipping. If you can streamline this process, you will not only not only solve business problems but you will help many people get into business.

This will help you understand Ecommerce logistics from the perspective of the businesses you are serving (your customers) https://www.shopify.co.uk/blog/60645957-everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-third-party-warehousing-and-fulfillment

Rough guide to starting an Ecommerce fulfillment business: https://bizfluent.com/how-5914703-start-fulfillment-business.html