Top 20 Lucrative Business Ideas For 2018

 

2017 was amazing for many businesses; I’m still buzzing from the profitable excitement. Now, let’s see 20 lucrative business ideas I believe you should look out for in 2018.

The business ideas listed in this article will be hot in 2018 for very good and different reasons, but they are not the only businesses you can start in 2018. They are enough, however, to set your idea wheels spinning so you can start something if you have not done so.

The good thing about 2018 is, just like 2017, a lot of people will find new, creative ways to do old businesses, and that will be the beauty of it.
Technology is making things a lot more interesting. Many startups are springing up to address a lot of economic, financial, power, health, agriculture challenges and so much more.

1. AGRICULTURE

Agriculture has been rightly promoted as one important channel for our country to bounce back on her feet and regain her former economic glory. Young people are realizing this and are doing their best to key in and prosper.

Among all the business ideas listed on this blog, agriculture business ideas get the most search hits on Google. The hunger to succeed is there.

To make this work, government should provide resources and incentives to encourage more young people into agriculture.

This has happened a bit with the introduction of grants for rice farmers and export financing for agro-commodity exporters among others. 2018 will be a good year for agriculture.  Now is a good time to get started.

2. SOCIAL MEDIA CONSULTING

All eyes are now on 2019, if you know what I mean. Just like in 2015, the battle will be fought and won mostly on social media. One of the Alhaji gentlemen is already spending serious time on twitter, more will follow.

Where am I going with this? Social media consulting will be very hot business in 2018. A lot of business are realizing the wonders of social media and will be looking for experts who will help establish their business brand on social media.

Many politicians will also be looking for brand influencers who will help them win their political battle because, like it or not, it’s all going down on social media. If you have not done so, learn as much as you can about social media marketing. Even if you don’t work for one political Alhaji or another, you can at least establish your own business brand on social media and make your cool money.


3. DROPSHIPPING
 Dropshipping as a business has always presented huge challenges for young Nigerians because of the difficulty we have in receiving international payments especially on PayPal.

That notwithstanding, people are getting into the business. Truth is, dropshipping is one of the most perfect passive income, side hustle businesses you can ever think of. The process is so simple and the business so lucrative, those who know how are making a killing.

4.ANIMAL FEED PRODUCTION

People worry so much about starting animal production business; only a few see the huge potentials in animal feed production. Fish must eat to grow, right?

Don’t wait till you have a big factory. A friend of mine made huge profits this year in animal feed. He would visit noodles production factories and make a deal to buy off the waste product of noodles (the broken, no-use ones). He would then supply them to fish farmers as feed. He has no company or factory, just his resourcefulness and ingenuity, and he makes very good money.
Animal feed is good business, more so in 2018.
 

5. WASTE MANAGEMENT

I’m happy with the efforts we are now making to clean up our environment. TrashHaters is now a thing and more people are joining the movement. The campaign grows stronger on social media with prominent personalities like Oby Ezekwesili championing the cause.

This is the perfect time to learn how to turn those waste to wealth. There’s enough room for everyone because this sector is largely untapped.

Saving the planet will be a big talking point in 2018 and waste recycling business is one way to make it happen.

6. PAPER BAG PRODUCTION

This will be one of the hot business ideas for 2018. It concerns the environment and the environment will be a huge talking point in 2018.

Still on the environment, I expect plastic bags to gradually go out of use from 2018, maybe not that immediate but bound to happen at some point.

Paper bags have got good shouts in other African countries with nations like South Africa, Morocco, Rwanda, Uganda, etc all imposing a ban on plastic bags. How long before our beloved Nigeria follows suit? No matter how long it takes, investing in paper bag production will be worth it.

7. ONLINE TUTORING

Blogging is not the only way you can establish yourself as an expert and make money out of your knowledge. Many people now take online courses to make up for the knowledge they could not get in the classroom. There is a big opportunity in this niche.

If you can deliver tutorials on topics people are interested in learning, people will gratefully pay you to learn them. Starting your own online tutorials does not take much. For a start you can sign up as an instructor on Udemy and later, develop your own blog/platform.

8. REAL ESTATE

Every year is a good year for real estate business. 2018 will not be an exception. The major drawback in real estate business is the amount of capital it requires for startup. There’s a way around it.

If real estate business is beyond what you can handle as your active income source, you can make it your passive income source and make serious money too.

9. CRYPTOCURRENCIES AND COIN MINING

You must be living on Jupiter if you have not heard about Bitcoin by now. So many people have become millionaires trading bitcoins while so many more have become broke doing the same thing.
Although bitcoin is not the only cryptocurrency, it is the most popular and the price keeps soaring higher every hour.

Like it or not, cryptocurrencies have come to stay and a lot of people are joining the trend. However, I advise you tread with caution on this one especially if you have no knowledge of how they work.
People will say anything for you to buy cryptocurrencies but just like any investment option, if you have knowledge or experience, tread with caution.

10. MOBILE FOOD VENDING

If you love cooking, mobile food vending will be a good and lucrative way to get into the catering business in 2018. The Igwe Brothers started Speedmeals Mobile Kitchen in 2010; the market is still as open as ever.

The major challenge with this, as with any food business, is getting peoples’ trust. You do this with proper hygiene, tasty meals and timely, consistent delivery. It will also put a lot of ‘mama put’ on their toes to improve their quality of their cooking.

 11.ECOMMERCE

Konga recently took a brave step to suspend their Pay on Delivery feature. People are getting used to shopping online so the kid gloves are gradually coming off.
Don’t be afraid of selling your products online. It’s one of the most rewarding business decision you could make in 2018.

E-commerce is a business industry in internet marketing. You don’t need to have your own e-commerce website. You can sell on social media; you can even sell on established e-commerce websites like Konga and Jumia.

You can also start your own e-commerce business without spending tons of money or any at all.
E-commerce is one of the hottest business ideas in 2018. If your business is not online, you don’t have a business. Wake up!

12. LOGISTICS/COURIER BUSINESS

The increase in eCommerce businesses will open doors for more delivery/courier companies to emerge. If you are shipping goods from Owerri to Lagos, someone has to deliver them.

Cost of shipping is a hindrance to eCommerce business in Nigeria. More delivery companies will provide healthy competition, forcing down prices. This is a good thing. How to start a small courier company? Read this article.

13. DIGITAL MARKETING

Take your pick: blogging, freelancing, information marketing, affiliate marketing, there are plenty. More people will make more money online in 2018 than they did in 2017. It is no longer a secret that people make full income on the internet.

14. TECH STARTUPS

The Nigerian tech industry is in the spotlight for many good reasons. We have seen Nigerians develop award winning apps like OkadaBooks, Find-A-Med, BudgIT, AfriNolly, etc.
Because the tech industry is proving very lucrative, more people will look to explore their creative tech side in 2018.

15. PROGRAMMING/CODING TUTORIALS

There are two ways to make money through what you know: you can do what you know and you can teach people how to do what you know.

For our tech industry to keep booming, people will need ways to learn coding/programming. You can start learning programming right now, free of charge.

16. TRANSPORTATION

Like real estate, every year will always be a good year for transportation. Uber has challenged the way transportation works in Nigeria and now we see startups like FindMyRide and GoMyWay creating innovations in the transport sector.

Taxi drivers are no longer the old men driving rickety cars, polluting everywhere with smoke. You too can make money in transportation. The opportunities are endless.

 17. APPS DEVELOPMENT

Mobile smartphones are not going anywhere anytime soon; they have come to stay. One of the best ways for your business to stay relevant is to give people easy access to your online platform and that is by creating an app for your business.

There are literally millions of apps on playstore and many more are coming up everyday. The app development business is booming for very good reasons.
If you don’t have a business to develop an app for, you can still make money planning and developing apps for existing businesses.

18. LOCAL MANUFACTURING

When Governor Ayade of Cross River state unveiled the Calabar garment factory in September, 2016, it became further proof that local production is the way to go as opposed to importation.

Tissue paper production, soap production, toothpicks, matches, cement, I cannot begin to list all the things you can make money from producing in Nigeria.
Our import sector has taken a huge hit following our FOREX problems. Many importers would rather settle to producing things locally instead of paying exorbitant rates on importation.

19. FASHION DESIGNING

Fashion is a business for every year, I know, but creative fashion designers will make more money in 2018 than conventional designers. The emphasis is on creativity; those who do things differently.
Have you seen what designers do with our Ankara fashion recently? That’s what I’m talking about.

20. PRIVATE LABELLING

Private labeling means you don’t have to spend huge amounts on machinery or factory before you have something produced in your name. Entrepreneur Dilim Okeke made a convincing case for private labeling in her new book, Business Big Time. It is a book every entrepreneur should read. It details new and affordable ways of getting into the production business without spending tons of money.