With the current economic situation in Nigeria, entrepreneurship is truly the way if you can take up the risk despite all odds. In Nigeria, the best and one of the largest cities you can actually start your journey as an entrepreneur is in Lagos.
It is a very large city with a growing population of over 20 million people of totally different cultural backgrounds. The atmosphere of Lagos is extremely conducive with good infrastructure to support the businesspeople.
The top business ideas that entrepreneurs can actually invest in are really numerous. You won’t be wrong If you refer to Lagos as the “city for hustlers” because almost everyone is either doing one thing or the other in exchange for money and to simply survive.
One could choose to climb the corporate ladder much later, by either trying to secure a job or readily taking advantage of the population that definitely will have lots of needs.
I choose to believe without any single doubt, that Lagos State is the center of entrepreneurship in Nigeria.
What's in this guide?
The leading 10 business ideas to start in Lagos
Here are the best business ideas to start in Lagos:
1. Food and Catering Services
This is a top business idea anyone that is capable can readily start in Lagos. There are a few ways to make this work if you don’t have so much money. You could become an online food vendor. As an online food vendor, you will have to come up with a menu you’ll post on social media platforms. When people make their choices and pay ahead, you use the money to purchase the food items and prepare the meal. It’s always better to post your menu a day to your day of food preparation. This way, you don’t have to complain about capital. Start from somewhere.
And the other way to invest in food services is to start the buying and selling of raw food items, and also the selling of cooked food to people in the neighborhoods. You could as well step it up to owning your own restaurant. It all depends on what you’re really comfortable with.
You should know that most people in Lagos are of the working class. This gives them little or no time to prepare their own meals. So what’s next? You can maximize this opportunity to your advantage.
You could as well start up your own food delivery service.
Also Read: How to start makeup business in Nigeria
2. Event Planning
Have you been looking down on event planning? Or you think it’s not so lucrative? I’m about to burst those bubbles. Event Planning is not capital intensive. You don’t need so much capital to venture into this. The most popular word used for parties in Lagos is “Owambe” and Lagos people don’t joke with their Owambe one bit.
Lagosians can party every single day. And who do you think plans these events? Your guess may be as good as mine. Event Planning is another very good business idea. You can start up your own event planning service and help others plan their events.
Nobody really wants to go through the stress of planning. You can take it up and earn good money from it.
Also Read: How to start Importation business in Nigeria
3. Kids Day-care
We all know that most Lagos residents belong to the working class division, and this definitely includes working mothers that’ll need help looking after their kids as they’re at work.
You can own a very good and up to standard daycare that will meet the needs of parents. No parent will enroll their kids in a daycare that is not up to standard, for the safety and well-being of the child(ren).
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4. Clothing Business
Everyone wears clothes, no matter the social class you belong to. The working class, students, the rich, and even the poor all wear clothes. This business should move so well because, in a place like Lagos, people will buy clothes every day. It just depends on the location your business is situated. You could either set up a shop or you could go into the mobile clothing business.
Venturing into tailoring won’t also be a bad idea. Most new schools will need uniforms, you could be lucky to get a contract with one of them. And also, a good number of people prefer ready-made wears now to avoid all kinds of disappointment from tailors. You can choose to make the clothes yourself or hire professional tailors to do the work.
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5. Domestic services
There’s a whole lot of domestic services one can start in Lagos, they include cooking, gardening, childcare, personal services, driving, cleaning, etc.
Lagos is a very busy place, and there are numerous services anyone can render. If only you’re smart enough to think in that light. Let’s take, for instance, the epileptic power supply we experience in Nigeria has made more Nigerians dependent on generators. This just means that with time, they’ll definitely be in need of someone to service the generators when it gets faulty.
There are always opportunities.
Also Read: How to start a bakery business in Nigeria
6. Car Washing
Have you really taken note of the number of cars on the roads of Lagos? To add up to that, the condition of some roads aren’t in perfect shape. Most car owners don’t have the time to wash their cars themselves so they nurse the thoughts of patronizing a car wash.
A car washing business is one of the top businesses you can start in Lagos. You can as well partner with a petrol station. It’ll make the work easier.
Also Read: How to start a pure water business in Nigeria
7. Dry cleaning services
Most people in Lagos don’t really have the time to do their laundry. Your dry cleaning services could cater for the working class in particular.
You can add other offers you’re comfortable with. Be intentional about making your customers comfortable and happy.
8. Hair Styling and Cosmetic Sales
Hairstyling and sales of cosmetics is a very lucrative business idea for Lagosians,, as they’re known for being on fashion trends and being very fashion conscious.
You can set up a nice unisex saloon that will meet the expectations and needs of both men and women. Then you could also sell cosmetics on both very large and small scale.
It’s a very good business idea for a place like Lagos.
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9. Bar Business
Definitely, a lot of people will always want to chill off after a very stressful day coupled with the stress of work and Lagos traffic.
This is a huge problem and you could offer a solution with your bar services. Give them a place to relax and chill, by doing this you have been able to meet their need.
It all depends on the kind of services you want to offer. You could start big or small, depending on the money you have at hand.
Also Read: How to start poultry farming business in Nigeria
10. Real Estate
A sector of Lagos State is dominated by professionals, the same way we have nonprofessionals. Real estate business is another business that ranks at the top list of businesses in Lagos.
There are always accommodation issues in Lagos, and this is where the help of real estate agents comes in.
If you’re financially buoyant enough, you could provide serviced apartments. Build the apartments in areas you’re sure of consistent power supply. That way, you’ll not have challenges with finding interested individuals.
Wrapping Up
There are so many businesses anyone can start-up in Lagos. But these few have been proven to be so lucrative and they don’t require so much capital.
If you’re in Lagos State and you’ve been thinking about what businesses to start up, you can give any of the above business ideas a try.
