Starting a business in Nigeria is as easy as it can be. However, many entrepreneurs still grapple with different challenges related to this simple act. It is, however, by any means similar to how you would start a business in the United States of America, or anywhere else on earth: it all begins with an idea, an idea most times borne out of a need or lack.

You, however, must learn above any other thing, the act of selling in a crowded market like Nigeria.

The chances of success or failure on the justification to start a business in Nigeria depends on the need that necessitated the generation of the idea the business is developed around. Think about it in terms of pain removal and keeping fit. They are equally important, but a business developed around pain removal or painkilling would most likely do better than that built around the need to keep fit.

So for an entrepreneur to be to start a business in Nigeria, he or she must be able to identify opportunities where others feel discomfort.</p>

Below is a list of steps any aspiring entrepreneur must take to start a business in Nigeria, These steps were arrived at from careful research, interviewing more than 50 successful Nigerian entrepreneurs.

Below is a list of steps any aspiring entrepreneur must take to start a business in Nigeria, These steps were arrived at from careful research, interviewing more than 50 successful Nigerian entrepreneurs.

1. Understand yourself
2. Scout for opportunities
3. Develop the big idea
4. Conduct market research
5. Write a business plan
6. Get expert feedback on your business plan
7. Get legal covering – Register your company
8. Open a bank account
9. Setup a simple bookkeeping and accounting system
10. Seek funding for your business
11. Build a strong team behind your business
12. Grow the business
13. Factors that affect how to start a business in Nigeria
14. Conclusion

How to guide – A step by step guide towards how to effectively start a business in Nigeria.

Understand yourself
The ability to understand yourself as an entrepreneur is one of the very essential attributes entrepreneurs must have to be successful. Understanding yourself has a lot to do with why you would want to become an entrepreneur and not sit behind a desk working a nine to five job. In Nigeria
You need to also understand why you intend to start a business: Are you seeking freedom from the stress of having to work for someone and have more control of your time, or are you trying to make more money and believe that you would be more successful as an entrepreneur?

Scout for opportunities
Opportunity discovery or otherwise known as entrepreneurial discovery – has been defined by many thought leaders as the process of systematically scanning for changes in technology, social, demography, the political and regulatory landscape of a people or place to come up with new products, goods, services or service delivery methods.

As an entrepreneur, you must develop the capability to sniff out opportunities where other none trained eyes may see despair and frustrations. Remember, without pain, there are no entrepreneurial opportunities

Develop the big idea
I cannot stress this enough – At the very heart of a business, is the idea it is anchored on. Once you identify opportunities, the next thing is to develop an idea to seize the opportunities discovered.

Fortunately, like opportunity discovery, idea generation also has a process to it. There are lots of documented articles on developing ideas, please take your time to read up on the one I feel suites Nigeria the most here.

Conduct market research
Most entrepreneurs take the leap from having an idea to set up a business without seeing the need to go through the steps highlighted here. A majority even go-ahead to hire experts to write their business plans without first taking the time to conduct market research.

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