10 Best Business Ideas for New Graduates in Nigeria (2024)
With the unfavorable business environment and considerable lack of access to funding, it takes guts to want to start a business in Nigeria.
But as a graduate, you are likely equipped with the right tools to thrive in specific business niches.
You could start a business doing what you were taught in school and would have likely done it repeatedly in practicals.
So, in this post, I want to make a simple list of business ideas that are befitting for a graduate in Nigeria.
These businesses are by no means easy, but as a graduate, you have more chances of thriving and building out a successful business.
Let's get right into it.
Academic Research
This one should be very easy to transition to as a graduate. Most graduate already have academic research skills, so it'll be easy to build a business or career around that.
An academic research business is quite interesting, as there are many options to pivot into.
You could start a research journal, research agency, or even become a freelance researcher.
To be honest, I never knew that being a researcher was a veritable career in Nigeria until I met one at a Toastmaster event.
This acquaintance told me how she gets gigs to work with many international organizations and also assists other foreign researchers that visit Nigeria.
It sounded like a really interesting and rewarding venture that I believe most graduate would enjoy.
Blogging
Blogging should feel like a natural transition for many graduates.
In school, students write most of the time, and not just that. Most academic writing involves a lot of critical thinking, which could also be applied to blogging.
Since I was in the university, writing has always been a second nature, and something I knew I would likely take as a career.
I just loved reading, creating, and writing, and I knew I wanted to keep sharing my ideas to the world.
The same applies to many graduates in Nigeria, so nothing stops you from taking it up a notch and starting a blogging business or career.
Despite the misconceptions, blogging can be financially rewarding if you put in the time to learn the craft as well as the business side of it.
Yes, there are many struggling writers, but in the same vein, there are many successful writers.
As a graduate, the onus is on you to find the right channel or system to build a profitable blogging business, if you ever decide to start one.
Marketing & Sales
As a graduate, public speaking and communication should be second nature to you. After all, you did presentations at school and publicly defended your final year project.
Even better, if you are a graduate of marketing. You should have been equipped with the skills and knowledge to design marketing plans and strategies that work in today's industry.
So, nothing is stopping you from starting a business or career in marketing or sales.
Interestingly, marketing and sales is not all about going out and trying to close a sale. There are other branches such as digital marketing, branding, writing sales copies, designing sales funnels, surveys, etc.
So, your marketing business could be in one of these branches and you'll be able to get customers and make money.
Virtual Assistance
Virtually all my females and others I know do virtual assistance as a side hustle.
It's so easy to start a virtual assistant business these days that I'm left to wonder why everyone is not doing it.
The scope of the business is so wide that you could be a virtual assistant on virtually anything.
From office assistance and marketing assistance to communication assistance. Business people get so busy that they need someone to help them do some basic tasks.
You could either build a business in that niche to serve local clients or start a freelance career where you find VA jobs with clients all over the world.
Web Development
I know that you don't need to be a graduate to become a web developer, but if you studied computer science or other related courses, then going this route career-wise should be a no-brainer.
Web development requires years of honing your programming skills to attain a reasonable level of proficiency, and most computer science grads would have already achieved that, so it makes no sense to do something else.
The good thing is that web development offers a rewarding career, whether you work for yourself or through a job.
You could even use your web dev skills to build digital businesses that provide you with passive income for years to come.
The possibilities are endless and what you end up achieving would depend on your work ethics and the connections you build.
In other words, you can build a great business or career out of web development, but it all depends on you.
Animal Husbandry
Animal husbandry is a very lucrative business anywhere in the world. With meat being a staple food in many parts of the world including Nigeria, there is high demand for quality meat.
Many universities in Nigeria offer animal husbandry related courses, and many graduates are equipped with the necessary skills to start their own animal farm.
There are a lot of options in this business, as you can rear animals such as:
- Cows
- Goats
- Chicken
- Turkey
- Ducks
- Catfish
- Snails
- Rabbits
- Etc
The good thing is, you can make your choice of what animal to rare based on how much time and resources you can commit.
Busy people who don't have time to tender to animals could go with local chickens and snails, as they require little or no nurturing.
Food Processing
I really love this business, and I know that I'll eventually venture into it someday.
It's somewhat of a hidden business, as there are only a few small scale food processing businesses in Nigeria.
The majority of food processing companies in Nigeria are large scales, while the rest are done on a subsistence level.
And that is the reason why I think it could be successful even as a small scale business operating closer to customers.
This business would be perfect for food science graduates who are backed with adequate research and already have the right information on food processing and formulation.
WhatsApp Consulting
WhatsApp consulting can be a great business avenue for graduates to sell their skills and services at a premium.
This is perfect for professionals who want to offer their expertise as a side hustle, such as lawyers, architects, doctors, pharmacists, and even researchers.
Personally, I believe that WhatsApp is underused as a tool for consulting, and many graduates in Nigeria have relevant skills that could be monetized for good income.
You could start by creating a WhatsApp group where you offer free information about your expertise, and then solicit for personal consulting for people who need specific information or guidance.
I've done WhatsApp consulting in the past, and I can say that it is financially rewarding.
If I, who is not a certified professional, can make money by consulting on WhatsApp for simple information that could be found online, then any professional can do the same.
Graphic Artist
This could be one of the easiest businesses a graduate can start. Even back in school, there were students who were already making money with their graphics design skills.
How much more after graduating when they could have honed their design skills to a respectable level and built some level of network in the industry.
The good thing is, a graphic design business doesn't require much capital to start. You could start from home, and sought for your first customers online via digital platforms.
So, you could launch your graphic design business with almost zero capital, as long as you have very strong design skills.
This is actually a no-brainer, and if you're a graphic designer, you probably don't need to be told, as you might already be in the business.
Tutorial Vlogging
Just like blogging, graduates can teach online via vlogs on YouTube or Tiktok.
Personally, I believe that if you've truly learned something of value, then you'll want to teach it or at least demonstrate it.
It's important to note that some people are better talkers than writers, and they could opt for YouTube or Tiktok instead of starting a blog which is more technical.
I've seen people who failed at blogging excel at YouTube or Tiktok in the same niche, so if you've tried blogging without success, you could give vlogging a trial.
The goal is to teach your skills or give out helpful information, and try to make money in return.
If you put in the right effort in learning about vlogging and have the right guidance from the start, you could build a successful business or career out of it.
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