5 Profitable Small-scale Production Businesses To Start In Nigeria And African Countries With Their Costs
Starting a production business in Nigeria is a very lucrative venture. With Nigeria’s population currently estimated to be over 190 million by National Population Commission, there is need for more production businesses or companies in the country. Since it is a fact that the currently existing companies cannot be able to handle the huge demands placed on them by the increasing population. Hence the door to production businesses or companies in Nigeria is still wide open.
However, as much as starting a production business is a good idea. Not everybody is as rich as Dangote to start a large scale production business anywhere of his choice.
That is why in this post, I will be showing you small-scale production businesses that are profitable for anyone to start in Nigeria or elsewhere. Especially African countries. I will be including their costs of production as well.
Before I go on with the list, let me briefly tell you the challenges facing production businesses in general. Whether small-scale, medium-scale or large scale. These factors have greatly influenced the rate at which they thrive in Nigeria and other African countries.
ELECTRICITY
It is a well known fact that many African countries are yet to boast of a steady power supply. The saddest of them all being Nigeria as of the time of this writing. This flaw in electricity has led to so many production businesses to turn to generators for power. Often the cost of these generators and their maintenance slows down the success of production businesses.
However with careful planning and adequate preparation, this challenge can be overcome.
TRANSPORTATION
Production businesses need a good transportation system to thrive. This is because goods or products have to be taken from the point of production to the places where they are needed. In the transportation plan of production businesses that are hoping to succeed, things like vehicles, roads, drivers, etc must be carefully considered.
POPULATION DENSITY
The population density of an area has a major role to play in the success of production businesses. This is the reason in Nigeria, places like Lagos, Kano, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Aba, Onitsha etc has more production businesses than every other place.
For instance, if you start with producing 80 bottles of oil in a town of 160 people. In the long run, you are likely to be more successful than a person who started with producing 160 bottles of oil in a town of 80 people. Except he extends his business reach to other towns, he is likely to fold up within a very short time due to obvious reasons.
This is why production businesses whether small-scale, medium-scale or large-scale always take the population density of an area into consideration.
CAPITAL
This is the biggest on the list of challenges that production businesses face in Nigeria and other African countries.
Capital goes a long way to determine the type of equipments to be bought (local or foreign), buildings to be used, transportation methods, salaries etc.
Having seen these challenges, let me begin the list of small-scale production businesses that are profitable to start in Nigeria and other African countries.
NYLON PRODUCTION
Nylon is one of the most used commodity in Nigeria and other African countries. Everyday, millions of nylon bags and wrappers are used in Nigerian homes, restaurants, shopping malls, schools, pharmacies, hospital, open markets and almost everywhere in the country.
These nylon bags are in different sizes, shapes, thickness, colour and designs. The commonest examples are customized nylon bags for pharmacies, shopping malls and restaurants, Table water nylons (pure water bags), santana, bagco bags (plain and striped) etc.
The equipments for nylon production are: Extruder Blowing Machine, Nylon Cutting Machine, Punching Machine and Printing Machine.
Due to the high cost of these equipments, going into full nylon production will cost from 10 million naira above. This is why for small-scale production businesses, I will recommend you begin with nylon cutting which costs less than 3 million naira to start (using locally produced equipments).
As the business grows you can then upgrade to full productions.
TISSUE PAPER PRODUCTION
Tissue Paper (Toilet Roll) is also one of the most used commodity in Nigeria and other African countries.
Millions of African homes, schools, hospitals etc use toilet paper for their day to day activities. This is why tissue paper production businesses thrive greatly in this region.
At the small-scale level, this production business does not require much to operate. Even without having a brand name, your products have the ability to do well in the markets. The reason for this is that when it comes to buying of tissue papers or toilet rolls, most people do not have a favourite brand. They just buy anyone that is available at the moment they need it.
The equipments used for tissue paper production are: Core Making Machine, Rewinding System, Band Saw Cutter, Embossing Unit and Perforating Unit.
Some of these equipments have their locally manufactured which are very cheap compared to foreign ones. It will be a great idea for anyone starting this production business to start with the locally produced equipments.
With less than 5 million naira (13,889 USD as at the time of this writing), this business can be started successfully.
BREAD PRODUCTION
In a country like Nigeria, Bread is a welcome commodity in every home. This is one of the reasons Bread production businesses are thriving very well in Nigeria.
The first step in starting this business is to register with The Nigeria Bakers Association. One of the advantages of registering with them is that they will help make sure your Bread meets the NAFDAC requirement and will cover for you till you are able to secure a NAFDAC registration.
The equipments used for Bread production includes: an Oven (either the home based type that bakes only 25 bread at a time or the type that bakes up to 150 at a time), Mixer, Dough Mould, Dough Divider, Fermentation Chamber (Proofer), Pans, Slicer, Weighing Scale and a Table.
With less than 500,000 naira (1,389 USD), this business can be started as a small scale.production business.
SNACKS PRODUCTION (MEAT PIE PRODUCTION)
Snacks production in general is a very lucrative business to start. Whether it is Meat Pie, Doughnut, Egg Roll or any other. Snacks production is always a very good idea.
However for the purpose of this post, I will be focusing on the most lucrative of them all. Which is Meat Pie Production business.
Meat Pie is one of the most consumed snacks in this part of the world. It sells faster in schools, restaurants and open markets.
When it comes to small-scale production businesses in Nigeria, this is one of the simplest of them all. With as little as 20,000 naira (55 USD), this business can be started on a small-scale level. On this same level, it can be owned and managed by only one person.
The equipment used in Meat Pie production includes: 2 Baking sheets, 1 Pastry Brush, 1 Rolling Pin, Round Dough Cutter, Bowls for mixing and a Table.
LOCAL DRINKS PRODUCTION (ZOBO AND KUNU PRODUCTION)
If there are local drinks in Nigeria that you can make money producing, they are Zobo and Kunu drinks.
There is not a single state in Nigeria where these drinks are not sought after. In schools, workshops, markets and on roadsides, these two drinks are always sold.
I personally know a couple that has made a lot of money producing and selling Zobo and Kunu drinks in Anambra state, Nigeria.
The equipments used in producing Zobo and Kunu are:Plastic bottles (water cans) for packaging, Sieve, Heater, Pot, Bowls, Refrigerator (can be replaced with ice blocks).
On a small-scale level, 15,000 to 20,000 naira can be used to start this business successfully.
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