10 Female Businesses for Women to Work from Home in Nigeria

Most women in Nigeria are yet to understand that it is possible to work from home and be financially dependent.

Yes, you could be a stay at home wife or mum, and still be making money for yourself by doing some of the things you already do at home.

The only difference is, you'll be offering your service to the public in return for payment.

Some women even offer some of these services for free to their friends and associates.

I remember my mum going to cook for her friend's family during a big occasion, and she wasn't paid a dime for that service.

Another time, my sister went to do laundry and house cleaning for her friend, who was looking after her sick husband at the hospital.

You can see that these are services that women can easily do from home, and most times, they offer these services for free.

If only they can realize that these services can be monetized for good money, it could be a win-win.

So, without further ado, let's see some profitable businesses for stay-at-home women in Nigeria.

Chef & Cooking Services

Almost every woman that I've met can cook. So, this should be the first idea that comes to mind if you're a woman looking to start a business from home.

As a chef offering cooking services, you could cook from home and deliver to clients, or make packaged foods and supply to distributors.

The good thing about food business is that there are lot of niches you can concentrate in, such as:

Snacks Production
Corporate Lunch Services
Event Cooking
Soup & Stew Delivery
Personal Chef Services
Etc.

There’s actually no limit in options, so you could just be seeking out opportunities to deliver your cooking services in several ways, and you'll be making money.

Home Creche

Creches are very underrated as a money spinner in Nigeria.

Maybe because people are now getting too busy that they neglect the fact that money can be made even from the smallest ideas.

If you love the idea of tutoring children, tending to them, and helping them grow, then you could start your own creche.

With a home Creche, you only need a small space in your home, maybe if you have a large veranda, that might suffice.

The good thing about a home Creche is that the space is the most difficult aspect of the business.

The other needs such as learning materials and care products can be bought or even provided by parents.

So, it requires just a few resources to start and your skill as a child caregiver.

Event Planning

I remember a friend back at school who made quite a fortune from event planning.

Before then, I knew next to nothing about event planning, and I didn't even know that someone could be paid to plan an event.

Well, I learned a lot from this friend of mine who used to travel to many other states just to plan events.

I came to realize that planning events can be quite stressful, so most celebrants are happy to delegate the planning of their event to a professional.

A professional event planner in Nigeria can make as much as 500k Naira or a healthy percentage of all expenses made from the event.

Here are some duties of an event planner in Nigeria:

Book & reserve event venue
Order for cakes & confectioneries
Order for decoration & decorators
Order for DJ & M.C. services
Order for security services if needed
Provide ticketing & gate pass system if needed
Order and package souvenirs of needed
Work with celebrant to design program of the event
Provide any special requests from the celebrant

It's quite a hands-on job that requires a lot of runabouts, but event planners are usually paid for what it's worth.

In fact, the bigger the event, the more money an event planner can make, and the good thing is, they can do it all working from home.

Make-up Artist

This business is now so lucrative that even men are now going into it.

Make-up artists make money not only from services alone, but also from selling make-up products.

Funny enough, I have a male friend who is into this business and has urged me to go into it.

That's not the main point here though. The fact is that make-up services is a business that any woman can do, and even from home for that matter.

I had a female neighbor in Lagos who used to provide make-up services, and paid her bills from money earned from just that service.

She mostly does makeup for wedding or birthday celebrants, and she runs a young female-only association, so she gets a lot of leads and.recommendations.

These are just a few ideas that any female can copy and start making money doing what they already do for free.

Cleaning Services

If you've ever engaged in house chores, then you already have a monetizable skill you can offer from home.

Cleaning services are in demand almost everywhere, from homes and offices, to hotels and hospitals. Even event venues require cleaning services after each event.

So, if cleaning service is what you can offer for cash, you only need a business card and some reach out marketing to get going.

The good thing about cleaning services is that you could start a company that employs others to do the cleaning.

Most clients in Nigeria would hardly employ an individual cleaner, so it's always best to set up as a registered cleaning company, and then employ staff.

Your new cleaning services company could employ you first, and then grow from there.

Recycling Yard

When it comes to starting a home business, there should be no limit in your mind, because it's all about making money.

This business made this list because I just remembered a woman that did this business in a place I used to live in Lagos.

What she did was build a makeshift shed in front of her house, which was used as a recycling yard.

There she sold and bought all kinds of recyclable materials, from plastics and ceramics, to aluminum and metals.

This is a very profitable form of arbitrage that can make you millions if you know what you are doing.

By buying low and selling high, you can profitably flip any item in your possession and make money.

The only thing is, these days, we've all left this business for the hausa folks and those who we think are lowly in society, but they are actually smart and making a killing from this business.

So, nothing stops you from doing this from home if you have the space for it, and you're willing to invest a little money in acquiring recyclable items.

Livestock Farming

I don't know why, but whenever someone tells me to start a home business, the default idea is usually livestock farming.

This business just feels so natural for anyone to start from home because there is usually year-round demand for meat, and it has proven to be a profitable side business.

You can start up a livestock business from home with about 20 chicks, which cost less than 20k Naira.

The chicks could be bought at different stages, depending on your feeding and sales plan. While some prefer to buy days-old chicks, others prefer to buy chicks that are weeks gone.

Older chicks are more expensive but will cost less in feeding and time before selling.

The good thing about livestock is that there are different options for livestock farmers to choose from. You could rear them for meat, eggs, or just grow their numbers towards subsistence.

You could also rear livestock in a controlled environment or just let them roam free range.

Either way, the feeding, which is the most expensive part of the business, can be produced locally if you want to reduce costs or plan to include specific nutritional additives.

But this is a business anyone, even a female, can run right from home and make good money on a consistent basis.

Fashion Design

Fashion design is the model profession for women, and it can be done from anywhere, as long as you have the required equipment.

In fact, a lot of fashion designers launch their business from home, and then grow from there.

So, it won't be abnormal to set up your fashion design business from home. The only disadvantage would be in terms of visibility, which can be solved by reaching out to customers with new designs and products.

You could even start out by doing some test designs and giving them out for free. That will serve as marketing for you and spread the word about your fashion design business.

Virtual Assistance

A virtual assistant job is a remote job that can be done right from home.

Many virtual assistant jobs require you to know some form of digital marketing, business correspondence and other related tasks.

Here are a few tasks to be carried out by a virtual assistant:

Data collection
Email correspondence
Cold calling
Event scheduling
Research
Article & Memo writing
Lead generation
Customer service
Digital marketing

Most virtual assistants are freelancers who work remotely, and may work for more than one client, depending on the nature of the job.

You can find virtual assistant jobs online via freelance websites such as upwork and Fiverr, or you could cold apply for jobs via Twitter.

I've gotten jobs via all these platforms in the past, and anyone can, if they apply themselves and stay consistent.

Laundromat

A laundromat is a money spinner in Nigeria no matter where you situate the business.

Because of the huge population, there is a consistent demand for laundry services from both corporate customers and individuals.

I've seen laundromats situated far inside the street get even more jobs than they can handle, and that attest to how lucrative this business can be.

Contrary to popular views, a laundromat is not a male specific business, anyone, even females, can start a laundromat if they have the right skill and equipment.

The good thing about starting a laundromat is that you can start from a niche, and drastically reduce your expenses.

Many new laundromats that operate from home do not include dry cleaning or quick service to their offers.

They mostly hand wash and dry in the sun, which means that they started with less than 10k Naira.

This is proof that you don't need all the money in the world to start your own laundry business, and you can do it even as a woman.

25 Small Business Tips Your Mentor Never Gave You

7 Business Models to Quickly Multiply your Income

7 Digital Marketing Careers for Making Money Online in Nigeria

7 Things I Learned from Freelancing on Fiverr in the Last 7 Years

10 Cool Ways to Make Money with Your Phone in Nigeria (2024)

7 Best Business Niches to Invest & Grow Your Wealth in 2024

20 Fast Moving Small Businesses to Start in Nigeria (2024)

10 Best Business Ideas for New Graduates in Nigeria (2024)