Things To Know And Do Before Starting A Business

 

Starting your own business is a path way to being successful. It is also you path way to being financially independent and actualizing you dreams. However, many people make some serious mistakes while starting their business and that had lead to eminent failure.

To be a successful entrepreneur, there are some things you need to thought out and make plans for. In this article, we will be looking at them.

Make Up Your Mind

You do not start a business because of pressure from anyone or because your friend just started a business and you want to do the same. No. You need to ask yourself if you are ready to start a business. 

You need to be sure that you can see the business through and handle any issue that might come from it. Business is full of ups and downs, so you need to be ready for the profit and the loss also.

Chose a Niche Where You Have Passion

It is not enough to chose your business niche. Before chosen a business niche, you must research about the business. Find out if the sector is growing, if the business is seasonal or not, if there are availablity of starting materials and what people are doing to be successful in that business. You need to know all.

You don't just stop at chosen niche. When choosing your business niche, it needs to be something you have passion for. Passion is what drives a business even when the tides are against you.

Learn About The Business

Education is key to success in all areas of life. Educate yourself about the business. Get learning materials online and study the business you want to venture into. Learn about the products or services and know all that are involved.

Related Post: How To Start Clearing And Forwarding Business In Nigeria

You may want to first approach someone already in the business to learn from their experience, how and where to source for materials, challenges associated with the business and how to be successful in it. Learn everything you can about the business, that is what will distinguish you from competitors.

Get A Mentor

Mentorship in a business is as critical as startup capital. You need a mentor who is already grounded in the business or related business to carry you along and show you the path to success.

You can get a mentor at www.score.org, it's Free. You will also get free business advice and attend free business webnars. You don't pay your mentor. You learn from their vast business experiences. 

Chose Your Business Location

Location of a business is very critical to the success of the business. Your location should be conducive, accessible and affordable for your business type. 

It has to be closer to the target market for easy accessibility and to reduce expenses on transporting your products or services to your prospects. So while planning your business, make a good location a priority. 

Draft A Business Plan

There is no successful business without a good business plan. The emphasis is not just on a business plan but on a good business plan. A well thought out business plan can do a lot of good to your business. It will give your business a direction, vision, objective, action plans, marketing strategies, financial prudence and fiscal policy, expansion plan and staff development. It will equally help you business in market penetration and outshining competitors.

Another aspect of a good business plan is in funding. A well written business plan will help you secure funding for your business. Yes, even without any structure on ground or capital of your own, a good business plan can pitch your business idea to investors and fetch you the much needed capital to get started.

For your business plan, we can undertake it and write a good business plan that you can use to source for fund. Our charges are affordable and we carryout feasibility study for you Free. Reach the contact  below now to get in touch: tochukwudike@gmail.com, dillionworldresources@gmail.com  or support@digitalmarket.com.ng. You can also call/WhatsApp: +2348035217265

 Register Your Business

 The final stage is to register your business. If you are in Nigeria, you need to register with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). 

The process of the registration is simple and you can do it yourself online. Registering your business is very important. Without registration, you may not access business grant, loan nor have business bank account and, it will impede on your business growth.

Also Read: How To Venture Into Cooking Gas Refilling Business On A Medium Or Large Scale

Ways Of Reviving Your Failing Business

Starting a business is one thing and keeping it going it another. It is not easy starting a business considering the ups and downs associated with it. Therefore, taking good care of your business is a must if you actually want your business to keep going and be productive. There are many business startups today that could not continue due to one or more reasons. 

There are several reasons a business can fail after few months of successful start up. Some of them include: poor/inappropriate location, poor product quality, high or too low price/cost, poor management, government interference, natural or man-made incidents, among other factors. Where some of these factors are very much avoidable, some are not and as a business owner, you must put things in order to ensure continuity of your business.

Related post: How to start oil and gas marketing and distribution business in Nigeria without capital

However, for any reason your business  failed, you can revive your business by following one or more of the steps below.

Find Out The Cause Of The Failure:

When your are able to find out the root cause why your business is dying, you are on the right track of reviving your business back to life. There is always a cause for your dying business, focus all your energy in identifying that problem and I tell you, your business problem will be half solved when you are able to identify the problem. As mentioned above, there are many factors that can cause a business to start declining in profit/sales or in danger of dying out. Identify the one that is the cause of your own business epileptic performance and taking the right steps in getting it resolved is not negotiable. Where possible, seek help outside.

Look At Your Finances:

One of the major factor that can cause a business to start dying out is lack of proper management of your business fund. When you channel all your personal problem to your small business, your business is bound to fail. Ensure that your business fund is only meant for your business. If you are to make use of your business fund for personal issues, place yourself on monthly salary. Ensure that the salary is from your net profit, but do not use all your net profit, ensure you plug back not less than 30% of your net profit back to your business to ensure growth. In addition, the personnel managing your business fund and your entire business area must be prudent. Otherwise, change the personnel.

Location:

Your business could be dying due to poor location settings. Customers only want to patronize businesses that are easily accessible. No matter how good your product or services are, if you are not in accessible location, your business is bound to fail. Your business must be located close to where prospect are. Depending on your business type, it must be in the right location, where there is market for it, locate your business in the area where people who will be needing your product/ services can easily find you. A place with straight forward address. Also, your business should be located in the area where there is good road network, constant power and security. It must not block the road or too close to the road as to cause obstruction to avoid government inference.

Related post: How I make money daily trading Bitcoin on Luno Exchange platform.

Product/Service Quality:

Good product quality is very important in ensuring the continuity of your business. You don't expect a customer to return to your outlet when he/she got a bad quality product from you before. Good quality product will make customers to return to your business outlet for more and also, will bring referrals to you. Ensure you get your products from suppliers with good reputation and at an affordable cost.

Product Price/Cost:

The cost of your product/services no doubt has to do with the quality of your product/services. Also it has to do with the cost of supply. Ensure you are not charging customers to high as to scare them away. Find out at what price your competitors are offering the same product/service and where possible reduce yours a bit lower while ensuring profit. You will make more accumulated profit when you are constantly selling at lower profit margin than when you want to sell costly for higher profit margin. 

Also you have to consider your location when chosing the cost and quality of your product. You cannot be selling designer's cloth on area where people there earn less than minimum wage monthly. No one there will patronize you because they cannot afford the cost of your product/services.

Related post: How to start cooking gas refilling business on any scale in Nigeria with little capital

Insurance:

All business types are prone to any form of natural or man-made disaster, such as fire, flood, vandalization, etc. Get insurance cover for your business. Luckily today, there are very affordable insurance packages for small businesses. Get your business insured to ensure continuity.

Seek Help:

The help could be in terms of fund or managerial training. Your business could be dying because of lack of fund to build up your business in such a way as to be able to compete your rivals. There are many micro loan platforms where you can access loans up to ₦500,000 without collateral. You can try FairMoney Loan , PalmCredit or Carbon Loan.

 Also, you may lack the necessary skills needed to pilot your business. Get the right training as related to your business and ensure proper implementation of the knowledge acquired. 

Hire marketers to promote your business even further; online and offline.

Related post: Get email addresses database of Nigeria with free bulk email sender to promote your business

Get Your Business Online

Move with the moving trend. If your business is not online today, you are missing out on millions of online potential shoppers and prospects. You don't need to break a bank to get your business online. Being online will ensure that your business compete favourable with multimillion Naira companies and you could be making daily online sales. You can get a website, it doesn't cost much, open social media pages/handles and push your business online. You can also list your product on e-commerce platforms like Jumia, Konga, etc for more exposure. You can greatly increase sales through email marketing, social media marketing, sms/whatsapp marketing, etc.

Related post: How to use WhatsApp to promote your business

We can help you to get your business online, create an effective and very affordable website with social media pages to give you business up to 500,000 daily online visitors.

You can reach us through:

Emails: tochukwudike@gmail.com   

dillionworldresources@gmail.com 

dillionworldblog@gmail.com

support@digitalmarket.com.ng

Phone: +2348035217265 (calls/whatsapp).

How To Know If Your Business Is Ready For Reopening After Covid-19

Novel Corona Virus was declared pandemic by the WHO by February and since then, many businesses have never been the same.


Every business private or public has been affected uniquely by the Covid-19 pandemic. Also, the process of deciding and preparing to resume normal--or "new-normal"--operations will be just as different on a case-by-case basis.


For some, the timing won't be right even after the green light from government officials is given. Check these four guidelines below to determine if your business is ready for reopening.



You have met all conditions set by authorities

As the decision to reopen private businesses is a matter for states to decide, each is running its own phased approach. Both Federal and state governments have set their criteria for reopening.
Also, the NCDC has outlined some guidelines for the reopening of private companies. You can check their website for details.



You have established comprehensive health and safety measures

Before reopening, most businesses will need to make physical and procedural changes that facilitate social distancing and prevent the spread of Covid-19, such as installing clear barriers and increasing cleaning and disinfecting.


Some of the health and safety measures you need to put in place include:

• providing daily Covid-19 updates addressing social distancing, personal protective equipment (PPE), and changes to normal business operations (e.g., staffing, business hours, etc.); 

• continuation of remote work, including video meetings for any staff working onsite;  

• daily temperature screenings of all employees before they enter the building;

• providing PPE for employees who must be onsite; 

• and limiting visitors to the building, offices, and other physical spaces.

You are prepared to address concerns from your employees

Every business owner should prioritise the health and safety of their employees above all else. It's good humanity, first and foremost, but it also happens to be good business.


Whether for fear of becoming infected with Covid-19 or for other reasons, some employees will be hesitant to return to work environments. Regardless of what their concerns are, manage with kindness and fairness. Meet with your human resources department, employment attorney, or other trusted counsel to be as informed and prepared as possible for those conversations.


By the same token, be prepared to assume the risk that someone may contract Covid-19 at work.




You've considered the consequences of resuming operations prematurely

Aside from potential health risks, reopening your business before it's ready could be more damaging than remaining shut down. Weigh the risks versus the rewards. If you are in retail or manufacturing, for example, are your customers ready to return to the marketplace, and if so, are they in the market for your products or services?


Second, what shape is your supply chain is in? If you don't have enough inventory to accommodate demand, re-opening may be riskier than remaining closed.


And third, what do your fixed expenses look like? If they are on the higher end, the longer you go without revenue, the worse off you'll be. If they are more modest and you don't run a severe risk of losing market share permanently by delaying reopening, some short-term loss may benefit the long game.

Businesses You Can Start With Small Capital As Corona Virus Lockdown Is Relaxed

Last Updated: January, 2021

Because of this novel Corona Virus and the economic/business lockdown that accompanied it, many people lost their jobs, many used up their business capital and are left with nothing. Starting life after the lockdown will not be easy for most persons.


In the light of this, this article is to help many people with great and proven business ideas that one can start with very little capital and, make it big and back to a better financial status in no too distance time.


Coming up with a good idea isn’t a static process; it involves a lot of trial and error. To help, I had come up with the list of businesses you can do to build up your finances in no distance time. Most of these businesses I still do till today, and they are very lucrative and profitable, judging from my experience over the years. You can start of the the business with capital of about N20,000 and you can generate up to N5million (or more) in net profit less than a year, if you put in your time and dedication.



Most of these can be done at home in your spare time, and in your spare space, too. See if there are any ideas below that fit you well. If you find an idea you like, do more reading to know more and then, take action.



Dropshipping Business

Dropshipping is a supply chain management method in which the retailer does not keep goods in stock but instead transfers the customer orders and shipment details to either the manufacturer, another retailer, or a wholesaler, who then ships the goods directly to the customer.


The main concept of dropshipping is selling products you don’t actually own. Working with dropship partners is not only a product acquisition model, but also includes product fulfillment. The process works by taking orders from your online business and forwarding them to your supplier/dropship partner. They in return, ship the product to your customer on behalf of your company.


The key to making money with drop shipping is making a profit on the price difference between what you charge and what your dropshipping partners charge you. The biggest benefit to dropshipping is the ability to offer a large selection of product without purchasing inventory upfront and managing that inventory.
This is one of the most lucrative business anyone can do. You can be an owner of a Dropship store even without lifting a finger and, you will be making massive profit daily.


Read full details: How To Start A Dropshipping Business And Own Dropshipping Store 




Oil And Gas Brokerage/Marketing Business

In the oil and gas business, product trading is where the wealth is and, it has a wide scope, from the Automotive gas oil(AGO- Diesel) to PMS(petrol),  DPK(kerosene) and LPFO( low pour fuel oil- black oil). You will find opportunities from estates, banks, factories, workshops, eateries/hotels and business centres, factories, companies, government offices, filling stations and depots. All these places are where you can supply petroleum products for millions even on your first delivery.



You can completely start the business without capital as an independent broker. The business is completely free to start. This is made possible by payment-on-delivery system of the business. The buyer issues LPO(local purchase order) to you and, with the LPO which you will send to the supplying company, the company then supplies and, when the buyer pays, you will get your commission from the supplying company. You will also get the money you must have added to each litre.


What I mean is, if the supplying company say they are supplying at N130 per litre of PMS, you as an independent broker can tell the buyer that you are selling at N135. That means, each N5 from every litre belongs to you. Each full truck of product contain 33,000 litres, some trucks can also contain 45,000 litres. You will make more money if the buyer is buying more than 1 truck. The supplying company also pays you commission for bringing the business.


You can run the business as a full time business or as part-time business. You are the boss of your own.


Read full details: How To Start Oil And Gas Brokerage/Marketing Business Without Capital 




Email Marketing Business

Email marketing is the act of sending a commercial message, typically to a group of people, using email. In its broadest sense, every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered email marketing.


The term usually refers to sending email messages with the purpose of enhancing a merchant's relationship with current or previous customers, encouraging customer loyalty and repeat business, acquiring new customers or convincing current customers to purchase something immediately, and sharing third-party ads.


Why Email Marketers Make More Money Than Other Forms Of Marketers?
The reason is clear– for ten years in a row, email is the category generating the highest ROI for marketers. For every N100 spent, email marketing generates N3,800 in ROI and gives marketers the broadest reach of all the channels available to them. Despite the plethora of tools available to marketers, email marketing is simply the best bet for business growth. And it offers email marketer great monthly profit.


However, there are some challenges associated with email marketing. These include,  difficulty in getting the email addresses of individuals, verification of the email addresses, updating the database, having effective way of sending out the messages, categorizing the email addresses (location, age, occupation) and the techniques in generating revenue through email marketing, among others.


These challenges are easily overcome if you can reach out to those already in the business who can provide you with relevant information and resources.


Read full details: How To Make Money Regularly Through Email Marketing Business




Cooking Gas Business

Despite the fact that the competition is there in the business, there are lots of profit to be made. More people are embracing cooking gas daily and moreover, households refill their cylinders often. Just like filling/fuel station where competition is even more higher, people are still venturing into it because of the big profit it generates. Cooking gas business is more of the same nature, in fact,  as an oil/gas marketer, I can tell you that you stand a chance of making more profit as a cooking gas refilling business owner than as a fuel station owner.




You can start cooking gas business on a small scale or medium/large scale.

Small scale involves the use of small cylinders in storing your LPG for onward refilling/selling to your customers, usually for domestic/cooking needs. You use two 100kg cylinders for this purpose or twenty 12.5kg cylinders. Though there is plan on a abolishing this type of small scale refilling system, the government are planning on making them MDCs.


Location is a very important factor when starting this business on a scale scale. Also, you don’t need much capital to start this business.

If you apply the right strategy, you should be generating not less than ₦8,000 in profit daily.




Medium/large scale involves the installation of LPG plant. There are various sizes of the plant and you can start this business on a medium scale without breaking bank. In fact, with a good business plan, you can easily get a loan from bank to start this business and, you sure will be able to pay back the money and the interest in about 8 months. Banks are aware of the potentials of the business and are willing to give out loans. There cooking gas installation companies that have made it easier for you to start this business by providing the necessary assistance required such as free installation and maintenance, securing of licenses and permits required, free equipments such as safety gadgets, free Safe training for your employees, delivery of LPG to your plant without charging logistic fees, etc.


Read full details: How to start cooking gas filling business (small/medium scale) with little capital 





Simple Website Designing/Building Business


Most people run away from this business before they lack coding/programming skills. I included this as a business one can go into because, I'm not referring to a robust website, but a simple or single page website.


In recent times, small businesses are on the increase and each want to be noticed and recognized online. Most of this small businesses lack capital to go for robust website and therefore, they settle for a more cheaper and easier to maintain website know as single page website.


Anyone that can operate a computer and type words on Microsoft office suite can venture into this business as creating this kind of website doesn't require coding. Lots of small and medium scale businesses are all around us and, you can approach them, tell them about the benefits of going online and how cheap the price it. Creating a one page website may cost about N4,000 and you can create one in less than an hour.


Creating this kind of website requires the use of software to make it easier. The software eliminates the need for coding and programming. One of such software is Microsoft FrontPage which you can get at about N12,000 on Amazon or locally.

Read full details: How To Start A Single Website Designing Business And How To Get Microsoft FrontPage Cheaper




Gift Card Reselling/Redeeming Business

Unwanted gift cards can be sold for a percentage of their value (usually 70-90 percent).  This benefits both the gift card reseller site and the seller.  The seller (you) get to trade in your unwanted card for a card you do want with the cost being sacrificing a small amount of the value to the reseller site.

The reseller site wins because they now have a full value card which they obtained at a discount.


Example: You where given a $100 eBay gift card and you trades it for a $75 Amazon gift card.
The reseller site can now sell the $100 eBay card for $95 to a buyer, making $20 in the process ($95 -$75=$20). And the good news is this, there are always market for gift cards. Which means, you make make the $20 over and over again.
And you can always withdraw your money right into your local bank account through direct deposit, paxful, luno, etc.



You can start learning the proven methods I have used for months to earn over ₦50,000 a month, that’s over ₦600,000 a year. The infamous 6 figures everyone chases for just Buying and Selling GIFTCARDS. Mind you, you can make more than ₦60,000 monthly.


Read full details: How to start gift cards Reselling and Redeeming business in Nigeria 



Cryptocurrency (Bitcoin) Trading

Buying and selling bitcoins is probably the fastest and easiest way to try and make good money with bitcoin.  The value of the currency fluctuates so much each day, it's a perfect target for traders. The volatility nature, makes Bitcoin a perfect market for trading.


It's little risk, high reward and super exciting because absolutely no one knows how high or low this coin can go.  Lots of money to be made in trading bitcoin. You can learn from availabe information, safe ways to trade and with daily profit. Successfully trading can earn you upto 10% profit of you capital especially when you trade up to 4 time daily. If you take it more serious and dedicate more time to it, you can make more money daily.


You can start with as little as N10,000 and build your capital overtime. This business involves constant monitoring of Bitcoin price and ability to read price trend which you can learn easily from availabe resources (see the link below). You can successfully do this business with your smartphone. One of the trusted platform where you can trade on is LUNO and you can buy Bitcoin directly from your Nigerian bank and withdraw your money directly into your bank without going through exchangers.


Read more: How To Make Money Daily Trading Bitcoin On Luno Exchange Platform 

Things To Consider Before Going For Loan

Loans are simply money borrowed in exchange for future repayment at an extra charge, whether they are granted by a banking institution, a credit association or your best friend. The difference, however, would usually be the formality of the loan contract.



Owning to the impact of Covid-19 on the economy and businesses, many businesses will struggle for capital when the lockdown is over. Many cease to exist if the capital is not there and, for the surviving ones, they might opt for loans in order to keep afloat.
Given the obvious backlogs in accessing loans from banking institutions, banks demand as interest and the requirement for a collateral a new market for many financial technology platforms that now provide loans to individuals and small businesses at affordable rates relative to banks and without the usual cumbersome paper works usually associated with approaching banks for loans.



Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending and a lot of online borrowing platforms actually help individuals smooth out their consumption by providing the opportunity to put future income to use at a cheap rate than is obtainable at traditional platforms.



While this is a welcome development, many individuals can easily get carried away by the ease and lower cost of borrowing. On most of these platforms, it takes less than five minutes to process a loan and one can get up to N500,000 on the spot without providing too many documents.



Below are the things you need to consider before going for loan from these P2P lenders:



The Type Of Loan

Before applying for a loan think about what you want to use the money for. There are lots of different types of loans in the market, henceforth it’s important to choose a loan that suits your situation and what you intend to use it for.



Your Current Financial Situation

The most important factor in deciding whether to borrow money is you. Looking at monthly and yearly budgets may help you understand just how much you can afford to make in loan payments, thus helping you decide on a loan amount.



Your Credit History

The finest rates are available to those with the good credit history. Most lenders are anxious about lending for risk of default. If you had defaulted before, chances are slim that you will be considered for a loan by any lender.



Consider The Interest Rate

Even if this is one of the most important details governing our decisions, you should not be blinded by faulty advertising. A lower interest rate is a good thing; but it also means that the repayments will carry on over a longer period of time. If the interest rate is reasonable compared to the loan term, then go ahead and sign those papers.



Loan Terms And Agreements

Always ensure you read thoroughly the terms and conditions for any loan you are applying for. There could be some hidden clause in many. If possible, go through it with your lawyer being present. You will be reported to the credit bureau when you default. That means, you might not be eligible for loan from any lender.



How You Plan To Pay It Off

This seems like an obvious point but it’s important to plan out how you intend to repay the debt. Will you be paying weekly or  monthly? Do you plan to pay it off sooner than the term? These key factors will help you choose the right loan to ensure that you avoid any unnecessary costs. Some lenders will offer you a discount when you pay off sooner than the term stated.



Penalty Charges

Refusal to repay the loan is a reality we all face. In case you are not able to pay your dues on time, there is normally a very weighty penalty indicted on your credit account. You will be reported to the credit bureau when you default. That means, you might not be eligible for loan from any lender.



 Hidden Charges

Make sure you read the fine print before finalizing a deal. There might be charges you are not aware of, especially for home equity mortgages. Find out about things like early repayment fees, arrangement charges and the like.



In conclusion, before going for a loan, always explore other options and see how to can manage without the loan. But if you must go for loan, always take precautionary measures and ensure you pay off as when due.

How Small Business Owners Can Use Social Media To Improve Sales And Grow Their Business

Failure to have an effective social media strategy can be detrimental to your small business.

While you may not think your lack of a social media presence is having an impact on you today, it will eventually catch up with you down the road. So don’t wait until it’s too late to get started.

You’ve got to keep up with the latest social media trends and apply them to your small business.

If you’re a small business owner not quite convinced you need to use social media to improve your business, you’ll benefit tremendously from reading this guide.

If you are currently using social media to market your small business but not seeing the results you hoped for, I’ll steer you toward the path to success.

Follow the tips below to maximise your business potentials on social media 

Create Profiles On Many Social Media Platforms:

If you have a Facebook page for your business, that’s great. You’re headed in the right direction. But Facebook alone won’t be enough to maximize your reach. You need to establish a presence on as many social platforms as possible.

Less than half of small businesses use Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter to market their brands. Furthermore, less than one-third of owners are taking advantage of LinkedIn and Snapchat. Before you rush to create a profile on all the channels listed above, it’s important you understand your target market.

For example, LinkedIn is more beneficial to B2B companies. That’s because 80% of leads generated by B2B brands come from LinkedIn. Let’s say your small business is targeting Generation Z as your primary audience. Well, 71% of Gen Z uses Snapchat at least six times each day. More than half of this generation uses Snapchat over 11 times daily.

But if your small business is trying to generate leads from Baby Boomers, it wouldn’t make sense to prioritize Snapchat.

For the most part, starting with a Facebook profile is a safe bet. With nearly 1.5 billion daily active users, you can assume your target audience has a presence there.

After you create a Facebook page, you need to determine which other channels are suitable for your brand and marketing strategy. I’d recommend creating a YouTube channel.

Define Your Marketing Goals:

You can’t just blindly start posting content on social media without some sort of rhyme or reason. Before you do anything else, you need to identify your marketing goals.

While lead generation, brand awareness, and customer engagement are all good reasons to use social media, it doesn’t mean these should be yours.

You may be using social media to provide better customer service or directly drive sales.

Whatever your reasons, make sure they are clearly defined. Think of it as you would of any other marketing strategy for your company.

You wouldn’t run an ad on the radio or a print advertisement without establishing a goal first, so you need to treat your social media strategy the same way.

Once you decide the purpose of your social media campaigns, it will be much easier for you to come up with content to post. As we’ll discuss soon, it can be tough to think of ideas for new posts.

Post Content On A Daily Basis:

Now that you have a social media profile on multiple platforms, you’ve got to make sure those accounts are active. If someone stumbles upon one of your pages and the most recent post was from three weeks ago, they aren’t going to follow you. What’s the point of following a brand that doesn’t post content?

Furthermore, think about all the people already following your business page. These people won’t just navigate to that page on their own to see what you’re up to. You need to post new content that will appear on their homepages and timelines.

This is your opportunity to stand out from your competitors. If your competition is only posting once a week or just a handful of times per month, it will be easier for you to make a lasting impression on your followers by posting daily.

Each time you post new content, you remind your followers that your brand exists.

In addition to posting content daily, it’s also important for you to respond to your customers. I’m referring to direct messages as well as comments.

Sometimes, instead of posting writeups, you can make use of live videos to promote your products/services.

Make sure you don't spam with your contents, otherwise, you may lose your subscribers.

Give Consumers A Reason To Follow Your Page:

In order to have a successful social media marketing strategy for your small business, you need to have lots of followers. Otherwise, nobody is going to see your content.

 Once you’re able to grow your social following, it will be easier for you to convert your followers into customers. That’s because consumers are more likely to buy from brands they follow on social media.

Here are some of the top reasons why people would be interested in following your small business on social media:

• they’re curious about your products or services
• you offer exclusive promotions
• your content is entertaining
• they need to reach a customer service representative
• you offered an incentive
• their friends or family follow your brand

So make sure your content is worth following.

 As you’ve seen, getting more followers will ultimately increase your chances of driving more sales.

Form Relationships With Social Media Influencers:

When people think of social influencers, they think of celebrities and athletes. But partnering with a celebrity probably won’t fit within the marketing budget of a small business.

However, influencer marketing is the fastest growing method for customer acquisition in the digital world.

So how can a small business afford to implement a strategy like this? You can find social influencers who are much more cost-efficient than a celebrity.

Try partnering with micro influencers to increase your product credibility. This type of influencer may not have millions of followers, but you can get them to post content about your brand for a small amount of money. You may even be able to get away with offering them just free products in exchange for a post about your brand.

This strategy is effective because micro influencers have stronger engagement metrics with their followers. That’s because they are just regular people.

Implement Automation Tools:

As a small business owner, becoming a social media content manager wasn’t something you planned for, and it might feel as if there aren’t enough hours in the day for you to handle this.

Using an automation platform will allow you to schedule your posts in advance. You can take time once at the beginning of your week to set the dates and times for your posts in the future.

Another benefit of using an automation tool is the ability to respond to messages in a timely fashion. Rather than having to check each social platform individually for these messages, you can find software or in-built automation system that sends all messages to one inbox. Then you can reply directly from the software.

I highly recommend these tools for small business owners who feel they don’t have enough time to effectively manage their social media profiles. Don’t let that impair your marketing strategy.

Encourage User-Generated Content:

Let’s say you run a contest on Instagram where participants have to post pictures featuring them using one of your products.

Your small business just got exposed to a wider audience. Anyone who follows people who enter the contest will see your brand being promoted, even if those people don’t follow you.

A whopping 92% of consumers say they trust a referral if it comes from someone they know. UGC is a great way for you to get more followers and ultimately turn those new followers into buyers.

For any assistance, contact us:

Email: dillionworldblog@gmail.com

How To Prepare Yourself For Entrepreneurship

Here is a true life story by a millionaire entrepreneur-

"I worked for eight startups that failed.

And three that did okay.

That’s brutal odds.

The reason I’m more successful today is simple: practice:

Over and over again.

I practiced every day for five years being a better entrepreneur.

That meant I had to learn all of this:

How to make sales
Find a co-founder
Hire employees
Fire employees
Market my company
Work with a lawyer
Work with a CFO
Create a service customers love
Price services
Understand business analytics
Motivate employees
Create a community
That’s a ton of lessons.

That’s why it can take a long time to found a successful company".


Here’s the twist: Every learning lesson above requires you to practice entrepreneurship.

So if you want to know the best way to prepare yourself -

Jump right in.





credit: Josh F.

How To Start And Run A Successful Real Estate Business In Nigeria

Real estate business is one of the top 5 most lucrative business in Nigeria today. Some people believe that the risk in the business outweighs the profit. That is not true. Real estate (land) is a property that doesn't depreciate in value. It only gets better with time. The most important thing in this business is having the necessary papers and certificate of any property your own.


There are several categories of real estate business and they include: real estate agent/broker, real estate/property developer, land flipping, property rent/lease, etc.
You can go into this business on a small or big scale. Also, if you want to start on a small scale, you can actually do so with little or no capital.


Below are details tips on how to start and run a successful real estate business in Nigeria and other countries.



Write a business plan

Every business start-up requires a business plan. Writing a business plan is critical to every business for several reasons which include, giving your business a sense of direction, ability to attract loan and partnerships. If possible, get professional in the field to prepare your business plan and the executive summary.



Carry out feasibility study on the modus operandi of the business in your area

Find out the big players in the business in your area. How do they serve their clients? What laws guide operations in the city/state where you want to operate? Carry out a market research and determine constraints of the business, your prospective clients, their challenges, etc. These questions have to be considered and answered for you to have a clear vision of your direction. Every feasibility study ends with report. Put your feasibility study on a report for future references.


Related Post: Get the active email address database of High Net-worth Individuals in Nigeria with free blasting software




Register your business and join relevant bodies

Business registration is important in Nigeria. You must register with CAC – Corporate Affairs Commission and get a certificate to operate as a business. There are also associations and agencies that regulate real estate operations in Nigeria. You can also belong to estate developers association like the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria.



Source for capital/partnership

Real estate is capital intensive, depending on the scale you want to operate the business. If you want to operate the business on a large scale, you will need much capital. You must have saved up some amount yourself but, if you're not a multi millionaire, you will still need to source for capital.

If you do not have enough it is important that you seek investors. You can look for equity investors  that can give you enough leverage at the start and accelerate growth.
You can also seek loan but, only seek for loan if you are sure of the property. Get the Certificate of Occupancy, get approval from government surveyor/agency and be sure there is no government project or road that will turn your business into a nightmare.


Related post: Secrets on how to run a successful real estate business


Buy your property

The properties here include land and buildings. Look for a land that is still in a developing area and not far away from a major road. Some of the things to consider before buying any property include but not limited to: cost of the property,  availability of Certificate of Occupancy, local government/development permits, proximity to a major project/establishment/town, security, topography of the area (flooding and any other form of natural/man-made disasters), electricity, etc.



Create a marketing plan

The most important aspect of today's contemporary marketing lies on referral. Create an effective referral program and, hire experience and zealous marketers. You need to engage online and offline means to promote your business.

Use social media ads platforms to reach more prospect. Also, create a program that will make your property affordable to middle class and if possible, installment payment will help you get more prospects.

You should announce to the real estate demand market that you are in business and here to stay. Announce your arrival in the real estate market with the use of handbills, newspapers, real estate journals, radio, television and as much as your budget can permit to advertise.


Train yourself on how to think strategically about what’s happening in your market and be ready to offer something of value to your clients, no matter where they come from.



Create a website

Website is like the backbone of marketing and can serve as office to offer your services to your prospects. Even when you're sleeping, your website is still there working for you.
No matter how much local marketing you do, you need a web presence to attract and engage online traffic towards your business.

Getting a good website is not a capital investment. It's cheap considering the benefits that comes with it. A good website and  SEO on the website help to usher those traffic and prospective clients right to you, is a crucial foundation of every successful real estate business.

The website should be  functional and interactive, enabling prospective clients to make enquiries, see photos and videos of available options of property when you begin to have them or likely ones that would come up later.


We can help you develop a good and affordable website with free domain name and SSL security certificate. Click Here to get started.


How you can start Real Estate business in Nigeria with little capital


Partnerships
Partnership with other players in the field or people who are interested in the business is one sure way of starting the business with little investment. Especially if you know how the real estate works and you can effectively manage it, you can partner with someone that has the money and is able to dish out the capital for the business.

Such investors are hard to come by but, you have to try and arm yourself with a killer business plan.


Cloud Funding
You can call for individuals contributions in starting the business. Prepare your business plan and your pitch note. Convince individuals to contribute in funding the business and work out effective profit sharing formula according to the amount contributed by each individual. I had seen such work on other businesses and real estate is not an exception. No matter the amount each person is contributing, it all count.


Create a website where people who are interested can create account and contribute through online channel. They should also be able to view their profit and progress of the business through their individual dashboard. Sincerity is the key here.


Offering a  Service or Skill 
I had seen surveyors, lawyers and tractor owner own landed properties by providing their professionally services without paying any money.  If you offer any service and your client owns many plots of lands, you could negotiate to be paid with a land property and should the service offered not up to the property worth, you could offer to pay the balance overtime.


Mortgage
One can start real estate business using the mortgage strategy. In this method, a small percentage of the total sum is paid and the rest spread overtime while the property is handed over to you. Most times, a mortgage  bank is involved. If the borrower stops paying the mortgage, the bank can foreclose.


In conclusion, real estate business offers great opportunity and it's a business that only gets better with time. You can join with or without capital.

How To Make Money Blogging By Treating Your Blog Like A Business

When I started blogging almost seven years ago, there where no much money in it. Now that the general population knows they can earn income blogging, they all want in. The problem is they don’t treat a blog like a business.



If you’re also a blogger (or you wish to start blogging) who is wondering how to start turning your hobby into a business, here are a few places you can start.


Related post: How to start Gift Cards reselling business in Nigeria from your home



Decide how you’re going to make money

The first step in treating your blog like a business is figuring out how you actually make money. There are two (kind of three) options here.

• You already have a business (or are building a business) and a blog is a marketing tool.
• The blog itself gets you hired for specific services pertaining to content creation.

In the former example, you have a company and your blog is just one part of your sales and marketing funnel. For example, I have a student who is a travel agent and her travel blog helps her get clients.

In the second, the blog itself is what gets you paid. This usually looks like content marketing work, affiliate marketing and spokesperson work for major brands.


You can also have some sort of a hybrid and add multiple sources of income as time goes on, but in the beginning stages I recommend sticking to one or two things.



Figure out where your clients and customers pay you

The second step is to figure out your sales and marketing funnel. In other words, you need to determine how someone goes from being a blog reader to a paying customer or client. Here are a few examples:

Your following doesn’t actually pay you, but corporate brands hire you as a spokesperson because of your following.

• Blog readers purchase affiliate products from your website.
• Potential clients go to your site for advice, join your email list and you market your products and services to them.

Each scenario has a slightly different roadmap depending on how you’re actually making your money. When treating your blog like a business, it’s important to know what this process is so you can structure your business accordingly.



Create a marketing budget

There was a time when you could use social media and everyone would see your content for free. Sadly, those days are behind us. You need to look no further than the recent Facebook changes to see how this has changed over the years.

That being said, businesses have marketing budgets and as such your blog should as well. This may look like ads or services that help drive traffic or build your social media presence. Fortunately, these things don’t have to cost you a whole lot, but you do need to invest just like you would in any other business.


Conclusion

In order to treat your blog like a business, you need to deal with numbers, logistics, and marketing. While this isn’t the fun part, it is what actually gets you paid.


Related post: Get active and updated Nigerians email address database with free send out and blasting tool

How To Start GiftCard Reselling Business In Nigeria

Updated July, 2022

You can make a full time income reselling gift cards. I am telling you this because I'd been in the business. One of my favorite ways of making money on a part-time basis is buying and reselling gift cards for a profit and I’ll show you how!


How It Works

Unwanted gift cards can be sold for a percentage of their value (usually 70-90 percent).  This benefits both the gift card reseller site and the seller.  The seller (you) get to trade in your unwanted card for a card you do want with the cost being sacrificing a small amount of the value to the reseller site.


The reseller site wins because they now have a full value card which they obtained at a discount.


Example: You where given a $100 eBay gift card and you trades it for a $75 Amazon gift card.


The reseller site can now sell the $100 eBay card for $95 to a buyer, making $20 in the process ($95 -$75=$20). And the good news is this, there are always market for gift cards. Which means, you make make the $20 over and over again.
And you can always withdraw your money right into your local bank account through direct deposit, paxful, luno, etc.


This Detailed post contains all the necessary details on How to Buy and Sell Gift Cards in Nigeria. You can find gift cards almost anywhere. Gift cards are usually issued at, online stores, grocery stores, electronic stores, bookstores, and department stores.

 It might seem impossible to start a business that involves buying and selling gift cards. Big and small businesses are now offering gift cards to encourage loyalty among customers. The paper certificates are no longer popular, but e-gift cards are.


You can start learning the proven methods I have used for months to earn over ₦70,000 a month, that’s over ₦800,000 a year. The infamous 6 figures everyone chases for just Buying and Selling GIFTCARDS. Mind you, you can make more than ₦70,000 monthly.


I’ll be frank this course is NOT a get rich quick scheme. This course outlines a simple proven way to earn a part time, or even significant full time income.

This business requires very little time which gives you something more precious than money…TIME and FREEDOM!

Think about what you could do if you had that? You could spend more time with your family, travel, or finally pursue that passion you have always wanted to.

If you’re coach-able with a good attitude, a willingness to work, and you follow my system you will be earning good income. Even after your first 10 days the profits can be big!


How much capital will you need to invest to start?

That depends on how fast you want to go. I started with #20,000 at first before I quickly realized the potential as a business, after which, I had to invest more.


Here are what you will learn from my manual:

• Where to buy gift cards cheap.
• The best sources to sell your gift cards for the highest profit margin and how to withdraw your money into your local bank account or through Bitcoin.
• The art of negotiation.
• How to advertise your business for FREE! No website required.
• Why I have succeeded from the beginning.
• Fraud Education, how to avoid loss.
• How to redeem different gift cards.
• An effective trick utilizing business cards to retain customers & increase transactions.
• How to earn more Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies from gift cards and, how to withdraw cryptos to your bank account.
• …and much more!

All you need to start is your smartphone and a start up capital of ₦10,000.


You will learn the A-Z of this Business and How to succeed from it. And also, I will be available to assist you further after going through the manual.


To get this teaching manual and learn how to be financially independent through gift card business, the cost is ₦3,000 (or $12). You have  3 days money back guarantee.


Related post: How to start gift card redeeming and gain 100% of card value


I have been in this business and other businesses as well  (see the posts on right side bar of this blog) and I have the passion of teaching others.


Similar courses on gift card business are being offered at very much higher cost. See screenshot shot below:

My Proofs that you will get what you are paying for and earn good amount:

It is my personal guarantee that after going through the manual, you will be able to make up to ₦50k monthly.




To get the manual, see contact details below for payment info:


dillionworldblog@gmail.com
tochukwudike@gmail.com

+2348035217265 (calls and WhatsApp).

Reasons Your Side Hustle Is Not Turning Into A Full Scale Business

Side hustles grow into full-time businesses because of strategy and the right mindset.



There are very few feelings in the world as discouraging as side hustling and seeing hardly any growth over months or years. Even if you started side hustling just to supplement your full-time income, you’re probably hoping the side work will someday overtake your full-time income so you can ride off into the entrepreneurial sunset.



Here’s the hard truth: Side hustles stay side hustles and don’t turn into legit businesses for reasons. Here are a few reasons why your side hustle isn’t growing:



You’re a master of none:

Side hustling and running a business are two different animals. The purpose of side hustling is to make as much as possible however you can. Maybe your main hustle is freelancing but you rideshare a few days during the week and tutor other days of the week as well.


If you want your main business to be freelancing or consulting, you need to specialize in it. You need to become a go-to person who does a specific thing, and not a hustle generalist. Doing a bunch of different hustles means you spread yourself thin and cannot devote the time necessary to turn one of your hustles into a legitimate business.


Choose one of your side hustles to focus on. Give yourself a time frame where you will dedicate all of your energy to growing this one hustle. Focus can do wonders.




You’re grasping at straws:

It’s difficult to grow a business when you have no idea what need you fulfill in the marketplace. I’m of the belief that not everyone needs a full-fledged 100-page business plan to make their business work.

However, you do need to establish what you do, why you do it, your business model, who your target market is and what’s your unique edge. It’s also a good idea to picture where you see your business six months, one year and five years from now. If you focus on day to day activities, you’re not doing the forward thinking that’s necessary to grow your side hustle into a full-time business.



Put together an abbreviated business plan if you need one. Don’t fall into analysis paralysis thinking it needs to be perfect. You don’t have to feel trapped by your business plan. You can change directions as you’re operating.

 Another planning exercise you can do is think about how many people you want to serve and why.

You can reach more prospects through marketing/advertising. One of the easiest and cheapest/free marketing/advertising means you can use to promote your service is email marketing. Click here to learn more.



You’re playing small:

You think you want success, but you’re subconsciously holding yourself back. Playing small leads to small growth. People play small in different ways. Maybe you haven’t yet set up business systems to take on more clients because you’re subconsciously scared of getting too busy.

Perhaps there are clients you want to pitch but you’re scared of rejection so you procrastinate by doing useless tasks like tweaking your social media bios.



When you’re stuck, start asking yourself some of the hard questions. Why are you scared of taking on more work? Why are you scared to pitch new clients? Confront your fears so you can push forward and grow. If you’re scared of getting too busy, it may be time to raise your prices so you can do less work for more money. Fear of rejection is common when pitching. Practice your pitch and try to make cold leads warmer so you can feel confident.




Conclusion:

Side hustles grow into full-time businesses because of strategy and the right mindset. Take some time to sit down and think through what area of business you want to specialize in, what your purpose is and how to up your game. Nothing in business happens miraculously. Success happens through intentional steps and learning experiences. Stay focused on where you can offer the most value to customers and you should be able to successfully turn your side hustle income into a full-time income.






By Taylor Gordon; due.com/blog

Why WhatsApp Marketing Strategy Is Better Than Any Other Form Of Digital Marketing

UPDATED: January, 2022

WhatsApp currently is more than a peer to peer chatting app. It is a professional and effective platform to communicate with potential customers or create a loyalty program.

WhatsApp is a social, instant messaging platform which leverages your phone’s internet connection to aid communication between parties. This communication can be to one person at a time, multiple people on a broadcast list or a collection of like-minded individuals in a group.


The greatest thing you can have in business is an audience, and the chances are very high that a very large percentage of your customers are using the platform already. It is hard to sift through 1.5 billion people using Whatsapp and not find a decent/handful groups that would be interested in your product, wouldn’t you say?


The best reason to use WhatsApp for business is that many of your customers are probably already using it. More than 60 billion messages are sent through WhatsApp every single day. Also,WhatsApp is free to use. This means that you can reach out to millions of prospects free of charge.


Surprisingly, users of WhatsApp and similar services are willing to engage with businesses. According to Nelson's Facebook Massaging survey, 67 percent of mobile messaging app users said they expect to use chat more for communicating with businesses over the next two years. What’s more, 53 percent of respondents say they’re more likely to shop with a business they can message directly.


If your customers and prospects are young, they’re more likely to be comfortable using messaging apps for their day-to-day communication. A study by Pew Research Center shows that 55 percent of smartphone owners between 18 and 55 years old use messaging apps like WhatsApp, compared with only 19 percent of smartphone owners who are 60 or older.


Plus, messaging apps like WhatsApp have incredible engagement rates: 98 percent of mobile messages are opened and read, with 90 percent of them getting opened within three seconds of being received. No matter what the message is, the receiver tends to open it on arrival. This makes WhatsApp the best marketing strategy ever.


WhatsApp may be an invaluable marketing tool but the success of your campaign lies in getting customers to readily give you their number. This is where we come in.


We have access to over a million active Nigerians WhatsApp numbers and we have the resources to all collect even more. Our aim is to help business that wish to promote their products/services to reach more prospects through effective WhatsApp Marketing.


The most difficult aspect of WhatsApp marketing is getting the WhatsApp phone numbers of potential customers. We have the solution to this. Our WhatsApp marketing tools are designed to generate real WhatsApp numbers of people in any region.  The numbers can easily be seen once you refresh your WhatsApp contacts.

The greatest part of this tool is, the generated WhatsApp numbers are not stored in your phone contacts and you can easily delete all the numbers with one click. You can have over a million non repeated numbers which you can easily export or use and delete.

We sell active Nigerian WhatsApp numbers and we also offer our WhatsApp marketing tool together at a very affordable rate.

To get the package, the cost is ₦5,000.


Here is what your ₦5,000 will get for you:

• Our WhatsApp marketing tool for generating only real WhatsApp numbers as much as you need.
• Access to over 1,000,000 real Nigerians WhatsApp numbers for your marketing need.
• WhatsApp contact exporting app.
• Ebook on effective and successful WhatsApp marketing strategy.

Once you are in possession of our WhatsApp marketing tools/materials, your business will experience great boom.
Our tools requires no monthly nor yearly subscription. It's just one off payment of the ₦5,000 and they are yours forever. We will also offer you free after sale advice and guidance on when you get in contact with us.


For further inquiries/payment, contact:

dillionworldblog@gmail.com
tochukwudike@gmail.com
customercare.dillionworld@gmail.com
+2348035217265


Also, you can pay online through Paystack and download the materials immediately after the payment.
Click Here To Pay Online







Disclaimer: We do not support unsolicited messaging nor violation of people's privacy.