Every Nigerian knows how hard it is to get a job that you can rely on to support yourself and your family.
To get a job with enough salary and benefits to start building your life, you need to know someone in a position of power. This issue is true in private organizations, and even worse in government organizations.
And let’s not talk about the crazy level of inflation, which makes even a good salary disappear within the first two weeks of the month.
Even if you manage to know a politician who can give you a job, they might use excuses like “Oh, you don’t have this degree” or “I can’t get you a job with this level of education” which are all nothing but excuses.
In the end, you might end up being among other millions of Nigerians who apply to join the Army for no reason other than you can’t find anything else.
But what if there is a way to create a job for yourself, that has the potential of paying you more than any full-time job can afford to pay you?
What if there is a job that can make you rich regardless of your education level? Regardless of inflation? Without having to know any politician or someone in a position of power? How much effort and energy will you put into getting that kind of job?
Well, that kind of job is Online Entrepreneurship. And the best part, you don’t need to invest money to start Online Entrepreneurship.
What is Online Entrepreneurship?
Online entrepreneurship is when you start and run your own businesses using the internet as your main platform.
You use websites, social media, and online tools to sell products or services, connect with customers, and make money.
It’s like having a store or offering a service, but everything happens online instead of in a physical location.
Online entrepreneurs often have the freedom to work from anywhere and reach customers and audiences from all around the world.
Now that we know what online entrepreneurship is, let’s talk about what can you do as an online entrepreneur in Nigeria.
Online Entrepreneurship Opportunities in Nigeria
To start online entrepreneurship the first thing you need to do is choose a niche, or business model. There are a lot of online entrepreneurship opportunities that you can start right now. But as a Nigerian, and probably someone with little to no money to invest, some ideas will not be right for you.
Here, I am going to share with you 3 online entrepreneurship opportunities that I am sure you will find at least one that will be perfect for you.
I am going to focus on ideas that don’t require upfront money investment or very little investment.
Starting with…
Idea #1: Freelancing
Freelancing is one of the fastest ways to start making money online. And what makes freelancing perfect for many beginners is it doesn’t require any monetary investment to get started.
What is Freelancing?
Freelancing is a work arrangement where you as an individual offer your services to clients on a project basis.
Instead of working for a single company or single person, you will be working with multiple clients at the same time.
As a freelancer, you are self-employed, you choose what services you offer to clients, how many hours you work every day, and how much clients pay you per project.
Now that we know what freelancing is, the next question is what services can you offer as a freelancer?
Best Freelancing Services for Beginners
There are literally hundreds of services that you can choose from and start offering as a freelancer. But as a Nigerian, and someone who is a complete beginner to freelancing, some services are not going to be good for you.
Here are some of the services that are in constant high demand:
- Video editing
- Vertical video editing
- Podcast Editing
- Social media management
- Logo design
- YouTube thumbnail design
- Data entry
- Transcription
- Social media graphic design
- Editing & Proofreading
- Content writing
- Online community manager
- Web design
All of the above services are in constant high demand, and being a Nigerian will generally not be a barrier for you in any of the above services.
The right service for you is going to depend on your current skills and learning capability.
If you already have the skills to start offering that is perfect, if you don’t have the skills, you can learn anything you need within a period of time depending on your learning capability.
Here is a video, where I showed how you can master any skill you want in order to start and be a successful freelancer.
Also, if you are interested in starting freelancing, I have a library of tutorials on how to get started, tips for getting clients, and everything you need to start and be a successful freelancer. Click here to access my freelancing library.
Idea #2: Blogging
Blogging is perfect for you if you have a passion for a specific topic, and you enjoy writing. For example, I have a passion for online entrepreneurship and I enjoy writing, so I am blogging about online entrepreneurship.
What is Blogging?
Blogging is the practice of regularly creating and publishing written or multimedia content on a website, often in the form of articles or posts.
These posts are typically organized in reverse chronological order, with the most recent content appearing at the top of the blog.
In order to start blogging you need a little upfront money investment; you need to have a website where you will be publishing your blog articles.
In order to have a website you need the following:
- Domain name – $14/year
- Web hosting – $65/year
- Web design – Free (Just learn how to use a template)
There are ways to have a website entirely for free, such as using WordPress.com or other hosted platforms, but I don’t recommend that if you intend to start blogging as a business.
Now that we know what blogging is and what you need to get started, the next question is how can you earn money from blogging?
How to Monetize a Blog?
There are several ways to monetize a blog, The easiest and more general blogging monetization options are:
- Display Ads: This is through signing up with Google Adsense, Ezoic, or similar platforms to allow them to show Ads on your website, and you get paid by the number of people who view and click on the ads on your website.
- Affiliate marketing: This is a method where you sign up to be an affiliate and promote other people’s products or services on your website, and you get paid every time someone buys a product or subscribes to a service as a result of your promotion.
- Selling digital products: You can sell something like a PDF, Audio, Video, Mobile App, or anything that your blog readers will be interested in having.
- Membership: You can offer membership to your blog readers, by providing regular private content that is accessible only to paying members.
There are more monetization options than I can mention, considering you can always be creative with your monetization strategies depending on your blogging niche and the type of audience you have.
While you have the opportunity to reach readers all around the world, you should know that blogging is highly competitive. If you choose to start blogging you need to learn a lot about SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and it will take you any time from 6 months to above before you can start making money on your blog.
Idea #3: Print on Demand
Print-on-demand is an E-Commerce business model that is easier to start and costs less upfront investment than something like Dropshipping.
What is Print on Demand?
Print on Demand (PoD) is a business model and printing technology that allows individuals and companies to create custom-designed products, primarily physical items like books, apparel, home decor, and promotional merchandise, without the need for large upfront investments in inventory or printing equipment.
Imagine you want to make money by designing cool things like T-shirts, mugs, or hats. With this business model, you don’t need to make these items yourself. Instead, you create the design and put it on a website that prints and ships them when people order.
When someone buys your design, the website makes the item and sends it to the customer. They cover the costs of making it, and then they give you the money that’s left over.
So, you get paid for your design without having to do all the production work.
Here is how Print on Demand works:
Step #1: You go to a graphic design software or website like Canva, find a T-Shirt template, and make changes to the template to make it better.
Step #2: You sign up on a Print on Demand website like Redbubble.com.
Step #3: Upload your design to Redbubble, attach the design to products, and make it available for sale.
Step #4: Customers find your products on Redbubble and place an order.
Step #5: Redbubble created the product and delivered it to the customer.
Step #6 Redbubble takes out their production cost and pays you the rest of the money.
Because of how easy this business model is, it is highly competitive, so in order to succeed you need to have multiple attention-grabbing product designs.
If you have money to invest, you can create your own self-hosted website and promote your products directly to potential customers through social media and paid ads
You can find more details on Print on Demand in this video here.
Final thought
The best business model for you is going to depend on your current position in life. If you need to start earning money fast, then you should consider starting freelancing.
If you have a little money to invest, you can learn more about Print on Demand and invest in a good design and marketing, Just know that it is going to some time and money on ads to reach your desired goal.
If you are not in a hurry to start making money and you don’t want to invest money in ads, then blogging might be the best choice for you. Just know that you need to learn a great deal about SEO in order to become a successful blogger.
But above all, don’t let yourself get stuck in a planning phase, where you keep planning without taking any real action.
Pick something today, and start taking steps to get started, Your future self will thank you!
Here is to your success 🍻
