Do you need out-of-the-box ideas that will thrive in Lagos Nigeria? If YES, here are 67 best small business ideas in Lagos you can start with low capital. Nigeria is a developing country so there is always a lot of room for new businesses to grow and thrive there especially when the ideas are fresh and brilliant.
Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs in Nigeria are lazy when it comes to brainstorming business ideas – they just look at what other people are doing, then copy their business ideas. Before long, the Business model becomes thrash because everybody is doing the same thing, and supply becomes extremely higher than demand.
This is one reason why many new businesses collapse within three to five years in Nigeria. If you want a business that can grow overtime, or at least earn you a sizable amount of profit before it gets hijacked by business copycats, you must look for out-of-the-box business ideas; business ideas that are relatively new and highly profitable. People flood Lagos markets daily looking for one item or the other to purchase. In fact, there is a popular creed that goes:
“If you can’t find it in Lagos, you will never find it anywhere else.”
To give you a head start, we’ve come up with 67 out-of-the box business ideas that you can startup in Lagos, one of the most populated cities in Nigeria.
67 Best Small Business ideas & Opportunities in Lagos
1. Healthy Fast Food Restaurant
The fit- fam trend is gaining ground all over the world and Lagosians are catching up on the trend fast too. A lot of people understand the importance of living a healthy life but unfortunately there are too many fast foods and restaurants serving unhealthy, junk food in Lagos.
You can set up a restaurant that serves only healthy meals – you know, like gluten-free snacks made with coconut flour or almond flour, low-fat meals, low-carb meals, and other healthy recipes. A lot of people who are on diets can easily enjoy healthy, guilt-free treats at your restaurant.
2. Pet Boarding
There are many people who own dogs as pets in Lagos but there are no pet boarding facilities. People who need to travel usually need a place to keep their pets until they return so that they don’t starve, and can be well monitored. You can earn a lot of money from setting up one of such facilities in Lagos.
3. Mobile Hair Salon
The traffic and hassles of moving around Lagos can be very discouraging for people who need to visit the salon to get their hair done, you could set up a mobile hair salon that would be fully fitted with all the tools and equipment needed for such services, then go around providing these services to people who would prefer to get their hair done in the comfort of their homes.
4. Yoga Studio
Another good idea is to set up a yoga studio. Yoga is a fitness exercise that is gaining increasing popularity all over the world. Yoga has a lot of benefits as it promotes fitness, and reduces depression and other mental diseases. A lot of Lagosians would love the idea of having a yoga studio that they can visit for yoga exercises.
5. Tiny Houses
If there is one problem that people living in Lagos have, it is the problem of accommodation. Accommodation is very expensive in Lagos due to the large number of people living in the city. You can bring the growing tiny houses trend into Lagos as a way to solve the accommodation problem in the city.
Tiny houses are small-sized houses, sometimes built on trailer wheels and fitted with basic facilities to make the occupants comfortable. A tiny house estate or a tiny house settlement can go a long way in fixing the accommodation problems in the city.
6. Food Sharing
Another expensive item in Lagos is food. Most of the food items being sold in Lagos are imported from neighboring towns and villages because there are few farmers in Lagos. A food sharing service can help to reduce the money that people have to spend on feeding in Lagos.
How this works is that you would have to get people who are interested in food sharing, gather the money together, and then visit those neighboring towns and cities where food items are sold for cheap so that your customers can buy in bulk, and share the food items amongst themselves.
It’s cheaper to purchase food items this way than buying from retailers who also buy from the same source and would have added some extra money so that they can make profits.
7. Meat and Vegetable Delivery
You can start a meat and vegetable door-to-door delivery service. With this service, you can make it easier for people to access fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat from the comfort of their homes.
8. Fruit Basket Delivery
This service also caters to the growing enthusiasm for fitness and healthy living in Lagos, and all over Nigeria. Many people now understand the importance of eating fruits, making their own natural fruit juice and smoothies instead of carbonated and sugar-packed drinks. You can start selling fruits with a fruit basket delivery service that allows people access to fresh fruits conveniently, and at affordable rates.
9. Addiction Counseling Services
There are many peoples suffering from drug and alcohol addiction in Lagos, with no idea on how to get help. In developed countries, there are many addiction counseling centers where people can get help and recovery from addiction but there are hardly any such help centers in Lagos. You can consider setting up one and make profit from it.
10. Dropshipping
If you are looking to jump on the online business trend but cannot afford the funds to purchase stock, you can consider using the dropshipping model. You can set up your own online store, and search for items that you can sell on platforms like Konga, Jumia, JiJi, OLX, etc.
Add a little amount to the cost price as your profit, and then when you get a customer to purchase the item from your own store, you simply deduct your profits, and give the Jumia or Konga seller the buyer’s address so that they can ship directly to your customer as though you were the original seller. This is a business model that is widely used in developed countries, and you can make good profits from it.
11. Virtual Reality Center
Virtual reality centers are gaming centers that have games that seem real to the player. For instance, the player might be playing a game about driving a speed boat, but the way the game is set up, it would look and feel as though they were really on water driving a speed boat.
12. Website Rentals
Website rental is a growing trend in the Online business community. Many small business owners love the idea of owning a business website but they have no idea about how to manage a website, and sometimes, they don’t have the time to do it. Such people can rent pre-set up websites within their niche that they can use for their businesses and pay a fraction of what it would cost to fully own and manage the website.
13. Arable Land Rentals
Urban farming is gaining popularity all over the world. A lot of people are embracing the idea of growing their own foods because it’s guaranteed to be fresh and organic. However, since there are usually limited spaces for gardening in urban centers, they rent small portions of gardening space from people who have large pieces of arable lands.
If you have a large piece of land in a strategic part of Lagos, you can make money from it by renting it out to people who are interested in gardening. This will help you make some cool cash until you are ready to start.
14. Piggybanking Services
Cultivating a savings culture is very important for many people. You can set up a piggybanking service with a mobile application or a website that allows people save money remotely, and get it after a short while, preferably with interests. You could also introduce some kind of penalty for early withdrawals as a way of enforcing savings discipline.
15. Home Schooling Service Provider
Over the past few years, young school children have become the target for kidnappers in Lagos. However, parents cannot stop taking their children to school because education is important but many parents would gladly embrace the idea of home schooling their kids, where they can be well monitored, protected and taught on a personal level.
You can create a home schooling service with a network of teachers who can teach students remotely via the internet, or visit their homes to provide one-on-one teaching services.
16. Themed Bars and Restaurants
In developed countries, there are themed bars where people of like-minds or people that share the same interests can meet, hang out together and network. For instance, there are gay bars, or lesbian bars that are strictly for people who have the same sexuality. Homosexual bars are banned in Nigeria but you can set up bars for bankers, doctors, expatriates, ladies, engineers, and so on so that people who share the same interests can hang out together.
17. Coffee Shops
This is not really strange but there are very few of such centers in Lagos. You can set up coffee shops where people can come and hangout or even work during the day.
18. Shared/Co-working Space
Many people are choosing to work remotely in Lagos, and the number of freelancers are increasing. There are not enough co-working spaces to satisfy the growing number of freelancers in Nigeria. This is one business idea you can also look into.
19. Spa Retreat Centers
There are spas in Lagos but hardly any retreat spa centers with accommodation and other facilities that can allow people spend the night, or a few days relaxing at the spa.
20. Nanny Services for New Moms
Most new moms, especially first time moms, hardly know how to take care of their new babies themselves. The usual custom in Nigeria is for the mother of the groom or bride to come around after the baby is born, and help to care for the child until the mother is able to do so on her own.
Parents can find it more convenient to hire a nanny who would help them look after their babies and perform delicate chores like bath the baby; massage the baby, and so on. This can be a helpful solution for couples whose parents have passed, or whose parents are employed or too busy to help them care for their babies the traditional way.
21. Pre-owned Wedding Dresses
Most brides have no use for their wedding dresses after the wedding. You can start a service that buys off wedding dresses from such brides, and sell it at discounted rates to brides looking to buy wedding dresses on a budget.
22. Laser Skin Care Studio
Another idea is to start a laser skin care studio that deals in premium services like hair removal, tattoo removal, and stretch mark removal.
23. Maternity Wear Rentals
Many pregnant women have to buy new dresses when they are pregnant. You can start a maternity wear rental service, or a business that deals in selling pre-owned maternity wears to mothers who cannot afford to buy new ones.
24. Dance Studio
Dancing is an important culture in Nigeria. Every year, a new dance style is introduced into the Nigerian entertainment scene. You can set up a dance studio where people can learn some of the new dance trends, or where couples looking to get married can enroll for dance lessons so that they can put up a good show on their big day.
25. Senior Care Services
There are facilities for senior citizens in developed countries, where the aged can live and have access to healthcare and welfare services. There are hardly any such facilities for senior citizens in Lagos.
26. Freelance Writing
Many Lagosians are still unaware that they can make money from the comfort of their homes simply by writing for bloggers, book publishers, and internet marketers. If you are looking for an internet-based business idea that would fetch you good money, this is one business idea to consider.
27. Amazon Kindle Publishing
Another online-based business idea that many are unaware could fetch them a lot of money is Amazon Kindle Publishing. You can write books on diverse topics of interest, and earn money from publishing these books for sale on Amazon Kindle publishing platform.
28. Animations Expert
Still on internet-based business ideas that would keep you from doing what everyone else is doing in Lagos, and earn impressive income in a unique way, you can consider providing animation services. If you are good with graphics and animations, you can register on online platforms like Freelancer and Fiverr, and earn top dollars for providing animation services to people from all over the world without leaving your home.
29. Room Rentals (Air b‘n’b)
If you are familiar with business trends on the international scene, you would have heard about Air b ‘n’ b, a platform that allows you to rent a bedroom, or space that you are not using within your home out to tourists and short-term visitors.
This service allows you to turn your home into a short-term bed and breakfast, and make money from living spaces that you are not using. We don’t have Air b ‘n’ b in Lagos yet so you can consider introducing something like that since many tourists and foreign business people visit Lagos.
30. Internet Security Consultant
Another lucrative idea is to provide internet security services to business organizations to secure their internet based operations and keep their business websites, company accounts, and online transactions from being compromised by hackers.
31. OEM Manufacturing/Private Labeling Services
Most people who need private labeling services in Nigeria look to China. Private labeling service is a business model that involves providing manufacturing services to businesses so that they don’t have to go through the stress, or bear the costs of production, but the products would be branded as though it was manufactured by the seller.
If you can afford equipment for manufacturing products that are in high demand in Nigeria like soaps, detergents, toothpastes, and so on, you can start a private labeling service for businesses looking to build their own brands in Nigeria.
32. Homemade Food Sales and Delivery
There are hundreds of bachelors and people who are too busy to cook their own meals in Lagos. You can set up a business that involves cooking and delivering food and soups to these groups of people so that they don’t have to eat at fast food restaurants all the time.
33. Niche Ecommerce Store
Another smart idea is to create a niche e-commerce store that specializes in selling a specific type of product. For instance, you can create an eCommerce store for drug and health product sellers, fabric sellers, lingerie sellers, and so on. There are many niche ecommerce store ideas that nobody has explored yet in Lagos.
34. Business Matching Services
Another lucrative business idea is to set up a business matching service. You know how in the past, people used the trade by barter system to get items that they want because the hard currency system wasn’t in place at the time, well, that system is back.
Here, business owners who require a service are linked up with other business owners who can provide the service without taking cash – payments are in the form of service exchange. You can start a service like this, and help business owners in Lagos to reduce the costs of doing business.
35. Personal Trainer
There are few personal fitness trainers in Lagos. This is another business that allows you to benefit from the growing enthusiasm for health and fitness in Lagos.
36. Personal Concierge
You can set up a network of personal concierges. You can dispatch these concierges to work for clients who need their services for a short while. Personal concierges help their clients to run errands, and complete tasks that they are unable to handle themselves. You can think of a personal concierge like a personal assistant.
37. Finishing/Etiquette School
You can set up a finishing school that teaches etiquette lessons such as personal etiquette, business etiquette, health etiquette, fashion etiquette, and so on.
38. Packing and Moving Services
Most people in Lagos have to struggle with packing, unpacking and arranging their stuffs when moving from one location to another.
You can set up a business that deals in providing packing and moving services to people who are trying to move from one house or office space to another, so that it would be easier for them to do so.
39. Cryptocurrency Trading
The cryptocurrency investment trend is growing all over the world. An American celebrity recently made $5 million dollars from cryptocurrency investment. This is a business that can bring you impressive profits if you are smart enough to handle it.
40. Food Truck
Instead of opening a brick and mortar restaurant, you can consider setting up a mobile food truck to sell lunch or breakfast to the working populace in Lagos.
41. Drone Manufacturing/Sales
Drones are highly versatile – they can be used in Engineering sites to take photos of sites or areas where humans cannot safely reach, they can be used to take selfies and live recordings on social media for social media lovers, they can be used to fight crime remotely, and perform several other important tasks. You can start manufacturing and selling drones to people who require these gadgets in Lagos.
42. Subscription Service Business
Another idea is to set up a subscription service business where people can subscribe for regular supply of a particular product or service, and you can supply it to the subscribers on a regular basis. People can subscribe to a monthly supply of heath products, beauty products, vehicle maintenance products, and so on.
43. No-waste Toiletries
No-waste toiletries are gaining popularity all over the world as they are environment-friendly, and cheaper. You can set up a store that sells no-waste toiletries in Lagos to sell things like menstrual cups, cloth diapers, and other no-waste toiletries.
44. Product Photography Services
A lot of people sell their goods and services online nowadays, and these goods have to be presented in an appealing way online. You can set up a product photography business that deals in product photography and presentation.
45. E-waste
E-waste is another smart out-of-the-box business idea for the city of Lagos. E-wastes services can help to reduce pollution in Lagos, and help you earn some money too.
46. Maid Hookup Services
The era when under aged children and underprivileged foreigners where used as maids in Nigeria is fast coming to an end. It has now become illegal to employ these categories of people as maids. You can set up a service that employs qualified people as maids, and help them find job placements in the homes of people who need maids to help them with their household chores.
47. Cruise Shipping Services
There is a sea in Lagos that links other parts of the world, but quite shockingly, there are no cruise shipping services in Lagos. A lot of people enjoy going on a cruise trip and you can be the first person to set up such a business in Lagos.
48. Vehicle Flipping Service
Another idea is to set up a service that links vehicle owners together. People can easily exchange vehicles that they have grown tired of with other people, without having to go through the stress of buying and selling their cars.
49. Social Media Manager
You can provide social media management services to companies who have social media accounts that they are not able to manage by themselves.
50. Crowdfunding Platforms
Lastly, you can consider setting up a crowdfunding platform where people with smart business ideas can raise the funds that they need to finance their business ideas.
51. Start a Home Cleaning Service
Everyone loves a clean home and environment but because of the busy lives of most residents of Lagos, there isn’t much time to thoroughly clean their homes and even the surroundings; as they would have loved it. Honestly, I don’t think I have the time to clean my environment especially during the environmental sanitation periods which holds every last Saturday of the month in Lagos; and I believe a lot of people share my view too.
This is why home cleaning services is now a hot business in Lagos. You could make a minimum of N1, 000 daily from cleaning just one home. So let’s say you are able to clean 50 homes daily (of course you will need extra help), that’s like N50, 000 in a day.
52. Start a Cab service
With the number of people trooping in and out of Lagos daily, you can never go wrong with setting up your own cab service. Cab drivers in Lagos make about N10, 000 daily. The good thing is that you can start with just one car and gradually build your fleet and if you cannot drive the car yourself, you can employ a driver who would give you daily returns.
53. Start a Home tutoring service
It all boils down to the busy nature of most Lagos parents. Well, while they get busy with their works and businesses, you can cash in on the opportunity make money for yourself by offering home tutoring services to their kids. You will help children who are weak at certain subjects in school get better and also help them with their home work.
54. Start a Maid/Errand Services
With the use of under aged children as house helps becoming seriously frowned upon by the law, smart entrepreneurs have found a way to create a solution to the problem and make profit too. Nanny/Errand services employ adults who are at least 18 years old and above to help people with their house chores and errands.
You can also start your own babysitting network and make money by helping parents eliminate a problem. However, you must bear in mind that this business is based on trust and reputation; so you must preserve your integrity.
55. Open a Phone sales and repairs outlet
You will need to take a trip to somewhere like Computer Village in Ikeja Lagos to appreciate the viability of this business. People flock in from all around the country daily searching for one phone or the other. Selling of mobile phones and accessories is one of the hottest businesses in Lagos today. You could also add phone repair services to it for more streams of income.
56. Start a Day care center/Crèche
Most companies give their female staff just three months to nurse their babies after childbirth and then it is back to work. These new mums have no choice but to look for a good crèche to keep their babies while they are at work. In a similar situation, some parents also need a place to keep their kids after school or during weekends. You can start a day care center that would also work on weekends to cater to this category of people.
57. Become an Event planner
There is always one event or the other in Lagos every weekend. In fact, statistics published by the Lagos state government revealed that Lagosians spent N1billion (One Billion Naira) on parties (Owambe) in 2013 alone. You can make money from helping people plan and organize some of these parties.
58. Establish a Dating Service
Setting up a dating service means that you would help to link single people who are willing to date together. You would make money from making people pay for subscriptions for this service. You can refocus and narrow your niche by targeting Christian singles, single students, Muslim singles, etc.
59. Become a Business Broker
With the number of commercial activities going on in Lagos, you could make money from acting as a middleman and linking buyers and sellers together or helping businesses source for scarce commodities or raw materials. You can connect importers with retailers and distributors; you can connect exporters with local suppliers or farmers, etc
60. Launch a Mobile Supermarket
A mobile supermarket is another innovative business idea to cater to the needs of busy people who need to purchase one item or the other. With a fancy looking truck stocked with goods, you will take your goods to people’s homes and offices and allow them shop conveniently.
61. Become a Real Estate Agent
If there is one group of professionals and non-professionals that hold the ace in Lagos, then it is the real estate agents. As is the case with most overpopulated cities, accommodation is a huge challenge in Lagos and estate agents are banking on this trend to rip off desperate home seekers. You can become a real estate agent and make huge commission from genuinely helping people get their dream homes.
62. Start an Employment Agency
This is a business opportunity that I don’t need to stress much on, as you already know the unemployment problems Nigeria is facing; with Lagos holding the highest number of unemployed people (graduates and non-graduates). With your own Lagos-based employment agency, you will make money from linking job seekers with companies that are looking for capable employees to fill vacant positions.
63. Photography/Videography
You can also start a digital photography or video recording business. You can visit event centers to take pictures of guests who would love to capture the moment. If you have enough money to invest, you can take it a notch higher and open a photography studio.
64. Become a Tour Guide
Most tourists coming into Nigeria come in through the Lagos international airport. You can become a tour guide and help tourists enhance their holiday experience.
65. Start a Pet training service
Helping Lagos residents train and groom their pets is also another smart business idea that you can start with little or no capital.
66. Become a Travel consultant
You can also make money from offering ticket booking and reservation service and visa assistance to people who wish to travel out of the country.
67. Hair stylist
Residents of Lagos are fashion conscious. You can set up a unisex salon that would cater to both men and women hair grooming needs.
68. Cosmetic sales
Selling of cosmetics and personal grooming items is also a very good business opportunity for people interested in investing in Lagos.