The days when you needed millions of Naira to start importation business in Nigeria are far behind us. Thanks to the internet which has helped to make the world a global village, importation business can be started with as little as N10, 000 from the comfort of your home.
You don’t need to go through an agent; this is a business that you can absolutely handle yourself.
To start your own mini-importation business, these are the steps to take:
1. Determine hot-selling products
You cannot just import anything you feel like. This is a business that must be carefully carried out to avoid losing your money or tying down your capital unnecessarily. You need to do a proper research on hot selling products in Nigeria that can guarantee you quick turnover.
Some of the hot selling products include smart phones, tablets fashion accessories, clothing items, kitchen and household goods, shoes and several others. There are a lot more products you can import but these are just very few of them.
2. Decide on where to buy
This is another area where you must apply serious caution. There are a lot of scammers online but there are more legitimate sellers than there are scammers. You just have to be very careful when buying to avoid falling into the wrong hands.
Some recommended websites where you can get items really cheap and sell them for more than 100% profit in Nigeria include Ali Express, Alibaba, E-bay,Amazon, Taobo, BestBuy and several others.
3. Determine quality
Buying products online is not like buying them physically, you are able to see, feel and touch and also determine quality but when buying online, you have to rely on pictures which might not show you the true state of things. However, there are some ways to determine how good an internet product is likely to be.
4. Search for reviews online
Trust me, a company that sells sub-standard products on the internet cannot go on for very long before it is exposed. Victims usually waste no time in posting negative reviews about them on the internet. Therefore, the first recommended step to take when you want to determine the quality of a product online is to use search engines to search for reviews.
5. Look out for feedback on the website
Most reputable online stores have review systems that allow customers to post reviews about products they bought. You should look out for this as well.
6. Decide on payment method
Paypal is now accessible by Nigerians so payment is no longer a problem.Most online stores accept Paypal as a means of payment. So, if you don’t have a Paypal account, now is the time to register for one. You can also use your debit cards such as Master Card and Visa Card to pay for items online.
7. Place your Order
Now, you can start placing orders for items online. Some sellers would ship to you for free while some others would require that you pay for shipping. However, you can beat shipping costs by making use of Nigerian shipping agents who specialize in shipping items for very little amounts, or making the process customized (source: Custom Crating Services).
8. Sell your Products
Once you receive your order, you are ready to start selling your products. Some of the sales channels you can explore include selling to friends and families, setting up your own online store, Konga Market Place, GTB SME market hub, Facebook and several others.
It is important to always import and sell quality items in order to attract and retain as many customers as possible.
Thanks alot for the advice