Nigeria is an African country that shares a border with Benin. The GDP of Nigeria is estimated at $430 billion as of 2017. Its population was 173 million in 2016, and it has growing industries like oil, banking, manufacturing, and telecommunications.
Many African countries tend to be overlooked by Western investors, but Nigeria has proven itself over time as a country worth investing in due to its stable economy with high growth potential, which has seen many businesses flourish there over the years.
Nigeria has a developing economy with a very diverse, market-oriented economy. Nigeria’s major industries are agriculture, oil and gas, and manufacturing. Nigeria has no exploitable natural resources except coal and iron ore. It imports most of its raw materials and exports finished products principally to the United States and Europe. Other African markets have grown in economic importance as well in recent years. Nigeria is a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which provides for free trade and the movement of capital among member states.
How to Grow Your Business in Nigeria
Here are steps to grow any business in Nigeria.
If you are living and working in Nigeria or looking to start a business in Nigeria, here are the steps to growing your business.
1) Find an idea for a startup that isn’t already out there.
2) Create a marketing plan for your startup.
3) Make sure you’ve got funds to invest in your project before starting it up.
4) Launch your product or service successfully, then advertise it as well as possible and get reviews from customers.
5) Continue to improve your product or service and market it.
6) Once you have at least one major customer, go for the recruitment of additional staff or another product or service.
7) Continue to develop your business as time goes on.
8) Increase sales volume as much as possible and create new products and services that you think are needed by the Nigerian consumer.
9) Become profitable and establish a solid reputation in the market in order to increase sales volume.
10) Continue to grow your business by applying the steps listed above. At some point, businesses will expand into other parts of Nigeria (the west, south, and middle).
How to Grow a Start-up Business
Here are steps to growing a start-up business:
- Do research on what the business needs and how much it will cost.
- Divide your idea into coherent parts to make it easier to accomplish.
- Develop a business plan with clear milestones and monetary targets for each milestone.
- Make sure your skills fit the market you’re going after.
- If you have a connection, use them as your startup advisor(s) (if the person consents).
- Plan to raise capital from friends, family members, or other sources you trust.
- Keep costs low and don’t overspend.
- Use social media properly.
- Don’t ignore online reputation management because it’s a necessity.
- Learn more by reading books, attending workshops, and having a mentor or advisor.
- Get in touch with startup community leaders in your city.
- Utilize the resources available on the internet (such as websites and social media).
- Build momentum through PR and advertising to get your business name known.
- When seeking funding (a VC or bank loan), be prepared with your pitch deck and financials to present an organized business plan that shows how you will use the funds to scale your business without overspending or taking unnecessary risks.
How To Grow A Clothing Business
Here are steps to grow your fashion or clothing business:
- Find the perfect niche.
- Find the right location.
- Get the right production and marketing system.
- Share your design philosophy with other business owners.
- Create a beautiful website.
- Start selling merchandise and products like t-shirts, mugs, etc.
- Set up your online store and learn about ecommerce.
- Learn about paid advertising.
- Increase social media engagement to reach more than half of the target market in two years – all without using pay-per-click advertising or any other type of PPC campaign!
- Design your own t-shirt line.
- Create a visibility campaign with the help of local media.
- Find a graphic designer to design your own t-shirts.
- Design t-shirt ads that get attention and sell your product.
- Use social media to promote your products, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and company-branded networking sites.
- Introduce new products as often as you can to keep customers interested.
- Nurture customer relationships and trust for future purchases in your store or online store(s).
How To Grow Your Hospitality Business
Here are steps for growing your hospitality business:
- Start with a yearlong business plan.
- Study the market and set your prices accordingly.
- Be creative and think outside the box.
- Employ staff that are reliable, trustworthy, and have experience in hospitality.
- -Invest in high-quality ingredients and make use of your local community by sourcing from farmers’ markets or buying seasonal produce. Furthermore, during slow times, provide value for money by offering specials or deals on meals.Some restaurants operate as BYOBs to offer a more customized experience.
- -Market your business well using social media such as Facebook and Instagram.
- “Follow” customers through their social media accounts to provide a discount when they’re nearby to get them back into your establishment.
Tools Needed to Grow Your Business
Some of the tools needed to grow your business are:
- Online tools like LinkedIn, Twitter, Quora, and Facebook
- Offline tools like business cards
- Marketing tools such as influencer marketing software, Google Adwords, and Instagram
- Customer service software allows your customers to contact you.
- Inventory control and ordering software for the products you sell For example, Shopify is a business that can help you start your online store easily and efficiently at an affordable price point. You will need to decide if it’s right for your business and how much it costs with their free trial offer.
- Business analytics software to evaluate your business performance
- The tools should be effective. You should have the correct tools for the level of your business. For example, if you’re a small business, perhaps you don’t need to use LinkedIn, Twitter, and Quora as much as a large company. Scale down to what you can afford and outsource the rest to keep your focus on the things that really matter in running your business.
Quora is a good platform to ask questions and learn from others who are in charge of managing their companies without spending too much money on consultants or learning from college textbooks at the university library.
Use tools that get results! Tools will save time and improve productivity.
Conclusion
In conclusion, growing your business is not as simple as it seems. It doesn’t matter what type of business you have; there are always obstacles and challenges to overcome. What’s important is that you stay committed to your goals, identify and limit the risks of each step taken, be flexible enough to adapt when necessary, and most importantly, never stop learning.
There’s a mistaken belief that winning at business means becoming larger than your competition. However, the focus should always be on maximizing potential for growth without sacrificing long-term stability or profitability for short-term gains.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can a beginner grow a business?
- Hire the right people. …
- Focus on established revenue sources. …
- Reduce your risks. …
- Be adaptable. …
- Focus on your customer experience. …
- Invest in yourself. …
- Always think ahead. …
- Boost your customer service.
References
- https://www.naijatechguide.com/2018/08/secrets-quickly-grow-business.html
- https://www.axamansard.com/lifeandliving/life-hacks/4-strategies-for-successful-business-growth-in-nigeria
- https://printivo.com/blog/seven-top-secrets-to-grow-your-small-business/
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