Pretoria is one of the largest cities in South Africa and is filled with diverse opportunities for business owners. The government in South Africa encourages Small and Medium Sized businesses through several programs and schemes. Instead of looking for a job endlessly or working a job you do not like, why not take up any of these small businesses in Pretoria?
Top 10 Small Business Investment Opportunities in Pretoria
1. Pet Insurance
Pet breeding, especially dog breeding is hot business in South Africa right now. A lot of African countries buy and import pets from South Africa because South African breeds are considered to be more natural and pure. However, I always advice people to do something different, than what others are doing.
If everyone is selling food, why not sell foodstuff so that they all can come and buy from you? That’s why I am recommending Pet Insurance. Taking care of pets is no small financial undertaking especially for people who have several pets that they use for business purposes. Pet insurance would cover treatment of pets when they are ill, compensation for death and loss or payment for expensive medical procedure.
This service is important especially for people who are into pet exportation. You can start an insurance business that caters to pet owners; not only in Pretoria but in South Africa generally.You can market your business on Pet owners’ forum and on the internet generally. You can also carry out word-of-mouth advertising and print flyers. You can study pet insurance companies like Petsure and Medipet SA to understand how to run this business successfully.
2. Market Research
There are a lot of companies in Pretoria and in South Africa generally.These companies need the right information to succeed. For instance, when companies want to add a new line of products to its offerings, it would need to find out if the product would be well received in the market by consumers and if it would be profitable.
So they outsource their marketing research functions to other companies that specialize in carrying out marketing research. The good thing about this business is that you do not need too much capital to start it; the most important thing you need is the skills and technical know-how.
Also, your business is not restricted to Pretoria alone, with a good website and internet marketing; you can get jobs from all over South Africa and from international companies that may want to invest in South Africa. Some of the jobs that you would be handling for your clients include-:
- Market Information-: To know the prices, demand and supply factors as well as the legal and technical information about a product, service or market.
- Market Segmentation-: This involves grouping buyers of a product or service according to demographic specifications to understand the factors that influence their buying decisions.
- Market Trends-: This is carried out to understand the future of an industry and to help a company keep up with technologies and trends so as to prevent losing its customers to competitors.
- SWOT Analysis-: SWOT analysis is a research carried out to determine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in an industry and is usually carried out during the business planning stage.
- Risk Analysis-: This involves understanding the risks that a business may be exposed to so that they can be properly managed.
There are several types of research that you can carry out for companies including internet research.
3. Produce Seller
There are many farms in Pretoria and in small towns around Pretoria. You can make money by going to those farms to source for food items, fruits and vegetables that are in high demand, then processing and packaging them for resale and supply to supermarkets, food stores and grocery stores.
You can also supply produce in wholesale quantity to companies that manufacture juice, jam, tomato puree and other packaged food items. Another option you can explore is selling of grapes to wine manufacturers.
4. Travel Consultancy
People travel in and out of South Africa all the time. You can start your travel consultancy business by becoming an affiliate to established travel agencies or by setting up your own travel agency from the scratch.
You can help to organize trips for companies, excursions for students as well as vacations for people. You can also offer ticket booking and hotel reservation services to people travelling in and out of South Africa. To successfully market your business, make sure you have a good brochure and you advertise your business using all mediums available.
5. Clothing Line
People still import clothes from other countries because they feel that cloths designed in Europe and America are of better quality. You can prove them wrong by setting up your own clothing line in Pretoria. You can purchase industrial machines, hire designers to make good designs for you and then sew, using quality fabric.
6. Real Estate Agency
If you do not have too much capital to start a business, then you should consider starting a real estate agency. Your job would be to link both corporate and individual clients to people who have property for sale or lease. Gradually, you can grow your business to become a real estate developer yourself with several properties to your name.
7. Mall Kiosk
There are a lot of shopping malls in Pretoria hence; you can start a mall kiosk business. You should talk to the management about renting a little space in the shopping mall where you can sell small items like smoothies, snacks, jewelry, your homemade products and other services.
8. E-Commerce Websites
Internet shopping is taking over gradually. A lot of South Africans have embraced the idea of buying things over the internet. You can create an e-commerce platform for buyers and sellers to come together to sell their products.
9. Recruitment Agency-: Another lucrative business you can start in Pretoria is to set up a recruitment agency to help unemployed people find jobs and help companies fill their vacant positions.
10. Cleaning Services-: You can also consider going into commercial and residential cleaning services to help people keep their environment clean and tidy.