For a very long time, Nigerians focused solely on exportation of crude oil, and any other natural resources that could be exported were ignored. But thankfully, things seem to have changed these days. Nigerians have now discovered other products that are in high demand in the international market and readily available in Nigeria. And now, the export market in Nigeria is booming like never before.
On the list of highly profitable and easy to find exportable products is charcoal. You can earn huge profits with very little effort just from exporting charcoal to foreign countries, especially European countries. Many Nigerians have become millionaires overnight just by engaging in this highly profitable business.
In this post, you will learn the basics of the charcoal exportation business as well as the steps towards starting your own charcoal exportation business without getting ripped off by so called ‘exportation agents’. That aside, here is a charcoal briquette production business plan for those serious in investing in this business.
How to Make Money from Exporting Activated Charcoal
- Countries where activated charcoal is bought
Although there are markets for activated charcoal in other continents, the biggest market is in Europe. Therefore, when you want to start searching for buyers, you should look at countries like Germany, united kingdom, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Poland to mention a few.
You don’t have to worry about competition in this business because the demand for charcoal exceeds supply by all means. Even though there are many other countries where activated charcoal is made (like Thailand, Malaysia, Brazil and several other African countries), the Nigerian type is mostly preferred over others because it is believed to be of better quality.
- What is activated charcoal used for?
Of course, if you intend to start selling a product, you should know how your buyers would use the product. This will help you understand how to conduct your business better. So, what is activated charcoal used for? It is mainly used for the purification of water and other liquid substances.
Getting clean, uncontaminated drinking water is a challenge in the world today due to pollution; our waterways, seas and oceans have been polluted, making it difficult for us to get access to clean, natural water. It has therefore become necessary for us to find ways to purify our drinking water without destroying the nutrients and benefits that natural water is supposed to offer.
One of the ways this is achieved is by filtering the water with activated charcoal. If you have ever seen a black substance in a water filter, that’s activated charcoal. Interestingly, the concept of using activated charcoal to purify water is not a new one; it’s been around for ages and has been used for that purpose since far back as 2,000 years ago. But it is now being industrialized more than ever before.
Filtration is not the only use of activated charcoal; it is also used in the medical industry to relieve gastrointestinal problems such as indigestion, flatulence, food poisoning and other health problems. It is also used for heating purposes. As you already know, it’s very cold in Europe and they rely on house heating systems to survive. Some of these systems are fueled by charcoal.
There are three major ways to make money from this business; you can choose to be any of a full exporter, a broker, or a product-sourcing expert.
3 Ways to Make Money from Activated Charcoal
There are many people who desire to invest in this business, and they have the funds but lack the required time and knowledge. As a smart businessperson, you can seize this opportunity to look for willing investors who would drop the funds to for running the business. You will then share the profit with them at the end of the day. You can even gather a group of investors in the event that you cannot get a single investor. For example, you can bring together a group of three to four investors under one umbrella to carry out the business and share profits together. You can start from there and before you realize it, you would have become an exporter yourself.
You can also go into the business as a full time exporter. This means you would have to handle the processes of registering as an exporter, sourcing for products, shipping, sourcing for clients and all other activities involved in charcoal exportation business. To be able to go into the industry on this level, however, you must have enough knowledge and experience of how the business is run.
c. Product Sourcing Expert-: Lastly, you could become a product sourcing expert who simply focuses on helping exporters source for charcoal for export.