I have been looking and monioring most web-based business start-ups in Nigeria. I have seen a lot of them going off.

I have seen one auction business called: tokunbo.co.ng , gone belle-up. I have seen kalahari.com.ng (a south african venture and multichoice affiliate) running away.

Which nigerian online businessed are making profits? and which could be the best web based businessed to start

Wakanow, DealDey, Jobberman

@Kodewiter,

I donot think any of the businesses u mention are making a profit online!

Dealdey, jobberman for sure are not making a profit. Those bizness cannot sustain themselves for now. The demand is not much to eke a profit.

wakanow may not have must customers online. It is an established travel agency offline and make profit offline.

Rumors(will get links to confirm) Dealdey finished 2011 with N10m.
Jobberman recieved startup funding of $1m last year.
wakanow makes money through its portals though it has offline centres for walk-in customers. But they are primarily a web business.


Confirm your data before acting on them.

Jobberman may receive $1m start up funding(if its true), but what is its turnover and profit? Jobberman shd make money by charging advertisers who place adverts for job openings on thier site. They also charge applicants who register and recieve/respond to these openings. Good concept. But in nigeria it takes time. I can gurantee for now, they are not making much.

DealDay is just a clone of Groupon in USA. Most of the stuff they discount market are consumer items. Even if they sell some, the margin is not much, when u deduct web advertisments they make. I can gurantee u that they are not making much.

wakanow shd be making returns if they can send their offline buyers to thier site.

The biggest industry making online payments in nigeria now is aviation. Most airlines give discounts for payment/bookings online
A web base biz that can work out things within this sector is guranteed to make lots of money!

@Kanor - you might be right about Aviation being the best online business in Nigeria now, but don't forget that you don't have other well-known websites like Craigslist in Nigeria. Although, you might say that you have Nairalist, but it is not complete. Anyone that will embark on this will likely make more profit too especially if the site will cover the whole Africa. Charge some money to post things like jobs in cities and leave the rest to be free etc. Actually, i know a guy working on this now.

What do you think?

what of DealFish? They were once everywhere like nose and body hair!?

Mehn u guyz should keep this flowing. There are a lot of intelligent comments here. I am currently working on a number of projects.

Btw, the 1$million dollar funding to jobberman mite be an inflation of the numbers. How many investors in nigeria will drop that kind of money. Please u guys should enlighten me.

@ kambo
Yes, dealfish was once in Nigeria but not in whole Africa. Even though they do not have all the features craigslist has where you can do everything at one place like community, romance, items for sale, etc and i believe this is why they failed.

@ Sarutobi,

If though Jobberman received a million Dollar and don't know how to manage it, it does not necessarily mean they're progressing. Nairaland could be more profitable than Jobberman simply because of the traffic here. Seun makes decent money from Nairaland and Jobberman is only for jobs and people barely go there to apply for jobs. The charge to apply for jobs are even driving applicants away and not many are not ready to pay for that. But if you have a website that can allow people do all in one place like craigslist does for free, that will be better. People can do the same thing they do in Nairaland, Search for chics, items for sale, Events etc and apply to jobs.

Craigslist type of website will be a good business in Africa as a whole

it was not only nigerians that invested in jobberman, Facebook also invested in it. There are ways jobberman can make money, which they might have not know or probably are working towards/on it. There is something which can increase the profit of jobberman, which i will work on and later proposed to sell it to them, or make it look so buyable by any company like jobberman. But it will take me like 3 months to finish because of my coding ability.

I wanted to ask this question before, but i thank the Op for asking it. If anyone have an idea of what web/tech or web techie startups that will make it in nigeria should please state it and give their reasons.

This helps, nigerian should learn to do freemium before premium. 99% web startups did this, using the lean startup methodology and bootcamp. e.g google, facebook, pinterest, reddit, etc.

i got this idea when i was in the bathroom.. What if you create a web startup that gives website and blog owners or administrator analytics and metrics, KissMetrics does this, and it is not 9ja base. It is like combining google analytics with google keywords, seo together for administrators. This will sell, because of the amount of website designers and admini we have in nigeria who dont have much time for maintaining and monitoring their websites. This might even go into applications monitoring and analytics both for web or standolone apps.

for example fayimora said he have a website which he has not touched for long, if he is using this web app, he will be able to update his website easily based on the analytics and monitoring you have done for the site through which you would have collected based on users and trends of that niche he is in.

@ Dansmog,

I believe you have an idea, you need to put it into reality like facebook and others you mentioned below. Telling people what your idea might get stolen and you'll have yourself to blame. For example, when Seun started Nairaland, you have other fourms existing in Naija. It depends on how you run your business.On the side of Jobberman, i don't know where you have the source that Facebook invested on the website. Do you know that Jobberman is a website employers can post their jobs, not a recruiter for employers that might be doing background check, screening etc. I think jobberman has the ground now simply because of the way the business is run and remember what happened to Myspace before facebook came out. Anyone can beat jobberman with other features missing out on the site and even advance further to target employers more and others. I have alot of ideas that will sell in Niaja but we have a lot of problems facing that country. What about having something like viper, PayPal, etc

I will stop here for now

I can vouch for wakanow making cash.

I have been stranded without working ATM/Visa cards and made flight bookings by phone on Wakanow. I know of at least two other people who make use of Wakanow too regularly.Its not just a web biz any longer. Besides the paid vacation trips they market most definitely give them steady cash.


@sarutobi. That kind of funding comes from SV.

CCHub Lagos got funded by Pierre Omidyar.
Iroko TV got funded by a swedish VC recently ( to the tune of $2m).
Same thing, Encipher (Produced Nigeria's first android tablet).
PagaTech too got funding from Pierre Omidyar too.

People are doing good stuff and getting funded. Thats what we all aspire to. Lets not be blinded by the Nigerian situation.

If your product's tight and capable of repaying the funds, foreign investors will ignore the environment and fund you. let's all work hard and someday it might be your turn.

Uwadiegwu1: @ Dansmog,

I believe you have an idea, you need to put it into reality like facebook and others you mentioned below.

thanks for that, but i don't plan to work on the metrics or analytics stuff, i have something which am working on, and i cant say it here. But i am just giving a type of business startups that can work, anybody might be reading these to get ideas, i understand that too.. I believe any idea here is still just an idea that have not been put into ''codes''. I say it again, the website, web apps, native apps monitoring and analytics tool will sell here in nigeria...


Thank you for that advice anyways..

kodewrita: Rumors(will get links to confirm) Dealdey finished 2011 with N10m.
Jobberman recieved startup funding of $1m last year.
wakanow makes money through its portals though it has offline centres for walk-in customers. But they are primarily a web business.


Confirm your data before acting on them.

"funding" isn't always a good word
It means you now have investors
Who want their money back and want to see constant profits
and Who interfere with your decisions

In my opinion, if all you are doing is hosting a website service, you don't really need funding.

Unless it's a government type funding and they intend to fully butt out afterwards.

2buff:

"funding" isn't always a good word
It means you now have investors
Who want their money back and want to see constant profits
and Who interfere with your decisions

In my opinion, if all you are doing is hosting a website service, you don't really need funding.

Unless it's a government type funding and they intend to fully butt out afterwards.

I definitely agree that using the word "funding" throws people out like it is a free money. That is a pay back money with profit. Sometimes, you will loose all and that will be it. That is why JOBBERMAN is charging people to apply for jobs. In US for an example, that feature is free for everyone and instead get the little money from employers. Has anyone thought about Staffing/consulting company in Nigeria? Google MYBIZOFFICE, OFFICEMAX, KELLY SERVICES AND ROBERT HALF....Just to mention a few and see how they're doing in USA and around other countries except Nigeria.

There is a lot of ways to make money in Niaja if you're wise and smart.

This is why Craigslist is advancing to Africa countries and cities.
Stay tuned for more info
Thanks

Well seeing as Start ups in Nigeria are actually making headway, i think the next step should be fostering and engendering more of an online culture like Jumia is doing, then definitely most of the ideas we have here will have a better chance at succeeding.

@ Mamigocentral

Well, talking about Jumia the company might not be making enough profit as a result of trust. Instead Nigerians will prefer going to the store to make the purchase. Also the trust in the shipment unless they'll go to the place and directly deliver to the buyer. All these are the problems in Nigeria. Come to think of Pagatech, most people still don't use instead they'll prefer to wire the money to the person and much more. I believe anything online service business will pay off like Wakanow, Jobberman and even Craigslist advancing to Africa countries.

Thank you.

Uwadiegwu1: @ Mamigocentral

Well, talking about Jumia the company might not be making enough profit as a result of trust. Instead Nigerians will prefer going to the store to make the purchase. Also the trust in the shipment unless they'll go to the place and directly deliver to the buyer. All these are the problems in Nigeria. Come to think of Pagatech, most people still don't use instead they'll prefer to wire the money to the person and much more. I believe anything online service business will pay off like Wakanow, Jobberman and even Craigslist advancing to Africa countries.

Thank you.

they just have to wait. The trust will come. Its just a matter of time and then they count profit in hundreds of millions..

the jobberman business model is dicey. We all know that nigerian employers are basically idealistic slave drivers who so into "lookism" : physique/face based hiring criteria inter alia. So the affected parties have no gaurantee of receiving any value for their money! Paying N2500 /m to jobbrman is a gamble if i dont have a pretty cv. So theres no direct one on one value transfer like i'll enjoy if i pay the same amount to mtn for their 3g data plan for web browsing, or for a flight ticket online etc. because a potential customer fears losing his money, patronage may drop. More over connecting a candidate to an employer is no gaurantee of securing a job, candidate cud still fail the interview etc . If they make the fee less say N1000 then it wud considered throw-away money by the gambler (job seeker) and more seekers will come on board. Two, they could make it employer centric (charge employer) not seeker, eliminate advertising (to project a decent corporate image) . Then moree seekers will patronise which will attract more employers and before u know it you've got the google effect.

@Uwadiegwu, u are right but as I said they are building that online culture and their buisness model is still one of the best for translating profit for a web based startup in Nigeria.

mamigocentral: @Uwadiegwu, u are right but as I said they are building that online culture and their buisness model is still one of the best for translating profit for a web based startup in Nigeria.

Well, we're yet to see Jobberman to stay long. Charging people to apply for jobs is very fishy and i can't do it no matter what. But charging emploters to post jobs on the site is a fair play and most websites do it here in the western World.

Fallguy - you might want to check Craigslist Africa @ http://www.Craigslist.com.ng
Like i told you that businesses like craigslist in Africa countries would be a good business. I guess nairalist will be crying now? As you know people have different things they need to sell like cars and they need a one community they can do all in one place. This is why i see a potential in businesses like online services. Lets watch http://www.Craigslist.com.ng and see what they are capable of in Africa business market. I wish them best of luck

man, the days of local niche locale based website is over.
Any web based business has to be fully executed cuz corporate honed commandoes are invading
the turf that teens and youths with a pc/lappy tinkering html and css and so on once hoped
to colonise.
Craiglist in africa!! well lets see how it plays out.
for the jobberman thing, i had expressed my sentiments earlier. there's no direct
value correspondence for candidates paying for jobs except for those who are already
favored (no thanks to the various age , so on biases in the industry).
. secondly, there's no actual real value creation or increase from the entry of a match making firm,
the availabe jobs in the country wont triple or double because
a matchmaker website debuted. besides the only way they could prbly aim to try to stay
afloat is not going to go down well with job seekers,
that is by trying to make themselves the main job seeking door way!!
a firm tried it once and got lambasted ,when they tried to make themselves the default
, interview test administrators on behalf of corporations,
people really reacted.
the firm is now history. it died in a hurry.

fallguy: man, the days of local niche locale based website is over.
Any web based business has to be fully executed cuz corporate honed commandoes are invading
the turf that teens and youths with a pc/lappy tinkering html and css and so on once hoped
to colonise.
Craiglist in africa!! well lets see how it plays out.
for the jobberman thing, i had expressed my sentiments earlier. there's no direct
value correspondence for candidates paying for jobs except for those who are already
favored (no thanks to the various age , so on biases in the industry).
. secondly, there's no actual real value creation or increase from the entry of a match making firm,
the availabe jobs in the country wont triple or double because
a matchmaker website debuted. besides the only way they could prbly aim to try to stay
afloat is not going to go down well with job seekers,
that is by trying to make themselves the main job seeking door way!!
a firm tried it once and got lambasted ,when they tried to make themselves the default
, interview test administrators on behalf of corporations,
people really reacted.
the firm is now history. it died in a hurry.

Fallguy, you never know how things will change or play around for Craigslist.com.ng. Craigslist Africa might pick up like Craigslist in US and before you know it people will deal locally. I believe that people need to list/sell stuffs locally. I came to think of when i needed to buy a car listed on nairaland, it happens that the car was in Abuja ( Abuja is huge and i don't know much places) and i was not there and even a phone they have to ship to me and got lost. I will not judge fast on how long they'll stay around until we give them 2yrs to see. Jobberman is the king of job seekers now simply because of the economy that people are desperate to have a job in order to sustain living. I believe that if Craigslist Africa should kick out to be like craigslist in US, employers will not post jobs anymore on jobberman. Just like Craigslist in US took all over the job posting for employers, simply because other websites like Monster are charging like $450+ just to post one job category while Craigslist charges $25.00. We'll see how they play around for Craigslist.com.ng
I just checked it out and saw that they have areas for job posting, even romance/personals. I bet this might become area for the ladies to make money?

Good site for Craigslist Africa and almost like Craigslist US

yeah feel u. But its a shame and a big big one if craiglist colonises this turf. This is a problem that shud hav been solved by local enterprise. Anoda reason i think craigslist may score is its brand image. Naijans love associatng wt brand names. But lets see how it plays out.

fallguy: man, the days of local niche locale based website is over.
Any web based business has to be fully executed cuz corporate honed commandoes are invading
the turf that teens and youths with a pc/lappy tinkering html and css and so on once hoped
to colonise.
Craiglist in africa!! well lets see how it plays out.
for the jobberman thing, i had expressed my sentiments earlier. there's no direct
value correspondence for candidates paying for jobs except for those who are already
favored (no thanks to the various age , so on biases in the industry).
. secondly, there's no actual real value creation or increase from the entry of a match making firm,
the availabe jobs in the country wont triple or double because
a matchmaker website debuted. besides the only way they could prbly aim to try to stay
afloat is not going to go down well with job seekers,
that is by trying to make themselves the main job seeking door way!!
a firm tried it once and got lambasted ,when they tried to make themselves the default
, interview test administrators on behalf of corporations,
people really reacted.
the firm is now history. it died in a hurry.

what's the name exactly(of this firm)

howardriddle:


what's the name exactly(of this firm)

Howardriddle,

Which firm do you have questions about?
http://www.craigslist.com.ng?

Please advise

you said a firm tried it last and it has died in a hurry? wat is the firm's name exactly

This is probably the best post I have ever seen on nairaland. I will be brief with my comments.

The problem most developers have in this country is that they are too profit driven, hardly would you see an programmer or web developer create something because they want to invent or create, they do it for profit. I totally agree with what someone said earlier abt going freemium before premium. We also have to learn that there is more to business than just creating a website, putting it online and hoping it would blow up. A website in the current world is thesame as any offline business, it takes planning, time, patience and the right mindset.

Jobberman is a total disappointment if you ask me. There is nothing special or different bout the site, they don't offer any feature that I can't get anywhere else. The only thing that keeps them afloat or distinct is the name. If I were to own jobberman or be given the opportunity at management, I would have copied the ebay model. I would not charge job seekers right off from the start, their charge would be left till when they either get the job or have been contacted by a company. I would also charge the company for posting the job and an extra charge once a candidate has been found and the job given to him. I would also provide a premium service to send the profile or cv of a job seeker directly to an employer which will be paid for by job seekers. Before all these charges are implemented, you need to know how much you wish to make on each deal / transaction that goes through your site, then split this into little affordable bits.

What really makes the difference btw successful .com companies and the not so succesful ones is the business model behind it. Ebay was not the first auction site but the business model behind it is a killer. The fees they also charge are so moderate that you wouldn't feel the pinch in ur pocket. We need to study the successful ones first and take after them. I see a lot of potential in companies like vconnect in the nearest future. The have a wonderful brand. And hopefully I see a lot of potential in my own think-house concepts. You guys should start hearing the name by the end of this year.

.. I believe I have said enough. I am not a professional consultant by the way but I do it freelance for several companies on IT matters. God bless us all and lead us aright.

howardriddle: you said a firm tried it last and it has died in a hurry? wat is the firm's name exactly

Well, I know Fatguy do mention something like Dealfish who tried something like http://www.craigslist.com.ng and failed. I was telling/saying that the reasons they failed was because they did not have all features Craigslist US has and just like the clone called Craigslist Africa found in http://www.craigslist.com.ng.

I have been following site since it was founded last month January 2013. Below is a nice video i found online in case you need to know about it.