41 Profitable Service Businesses to Start in Nigeria Today

Are you an unemployed graduate seeking the best and most profitable service businesses to start in Nigeria? Are you an undergraduate seeking a side hustle to support your education? Are you employed but seeking an alternative source of income to boost your earnings? Did you drop out of school cos of lack of funding and seeking ways to better your life?

Then you need this information I’m about to share with you.

In Nigeria today, it is no longer news that the job market is saturated and the few available juicy vacant positions are filled by the well-connected individuals whom you are better than academically. And help seem not to be coming as we enter the new year.

You see, it is not your fault, and neither is it theirs. It is the way the system was structured and everyone is struggling to succeed.

That notwithstanding, you must succeed. This year should not be like the previous one, you must start something.

Thank GOD for the SERVICE INDUSTRY and your country Nigeria that boosts a huge population filled with individuals with one problem or the other and seeking solutions or help with their needs.

Have you thought of the kind of money you could be making rendering a very simple service that could even be your hobby?

That is what entrepreneurship is all about. Creating solutions to the needs in your environment and getting paid directly or indirectly.

Today, we will be discussing the working service industry in Nigeria that has been proven to be rewarding with hungry consumers on standby.

Why did I say WORKING?

The service I render in Canada, the UK, the USA, or South Africa and paid hugely for, someone may not be willing to pay you for the same in Nigeria.

So if you are aspiring to venture into the service industry in Nigeria, I’ll be sharing some provable service businesses to start in Nigeria and make a steady income from them.

The service industry could be classified under many groups like Home Services, Personal Services, Information Technology, Event Services, Marketing and Sales and not forgetting the Children’s service category and so on.

After going through the underlisted service businesses bankable in Nigeria, you have no excuse not to get started today.

This tip should have come later on this post but because of its importance, I have decided you read this information first before choosing a service to venture into as the success or failure of your new venture depends on it.

Note this;

YOU HAVE COMPETITORS

The crucial point you must note is that before you start offering that service, another servipreneur is already rendering same and may have raked majority of the consumers to their side.

What then should be your fate?

Well, the secret to winning when cut up with this problem is BETTER SERVICE DELIVERY.

And to gain this, you must consider the underlisted;

Determination: Be determined to succeed in that niche irrespective of the hurdles you may encounter at the starting point.

Class: Maintain a class of your own. Never imitate your competitors or be intimidated by their success. Show your aspiring consumers something unique about your service.

Availability and Accessibility: Availability and sister accessibility should be one of your secret key to wooing new customers. In today’s business industry, every company is seeking for a way to be nearer to its consumers and also offer them services any time the service is requested. You could make yourself available 24/7. That could be your winning tool.

On-time delivery: Speedy delivery to service brings return SATISFIED customers. Emphasis on satisfied. If I gave you my cloth for the first time to sew and you deliver before the agreed time but did not give me exactly what I expected, I don’t think I will come back irrespective of the delivery time. But if you give me a very perfect cut with perfect fittings and delivered promptly, why should I be looking for another fashion designer?-

Better packaging: Yes, your packaging speaks volume. Like class, you must package yourself or service to be worth the fee. Two content developers could write on a topic and you may rate them equally but how they are presented could affect the pricing.

Better customer service: Last on this important list is how you attend to your customers. I do not need to talk more on this but one thing you must know about every customer is that they want to feel special as if the existence of your company depends on them. Try to treat them with utmost care, respect, dignity and honour and you will always see them around.

41 Service Businesses to Start in Nigeria Today

Below is a List of 41 service businesses to start in Nigeria today

  1. Catering

If you love cooking and can make very delicious and assorted meals, then you should try catering service. You can cook up hot profits within a short period. Just get the necessary cooking equipment and speak to some family and friends on your new business. They could refer you to wedding or party clients and if you deliver, that is the beginning of your success story into riches. Who doesn’t like good food?

  1. Laundry Service with pickup and delivery

A lot of busy professionals hardly have time to wash and iron their clothes. If you are cloth minded and knows how to care for apparels, then you should try setting up a dry cleaning and laundry service. Offer to pickup up your customers’ laundry and deliver when you’re done at a point convenient for them. This will make your customers feel the impact of service rendered.

  1. Mobile Mechanic

As an automobile engineer, a good knowledge of automobile repair techniques and a list of referrals help you rev up sales. Put your business in the fast lane by bringing your service directly to clients’ homes or places of business.

  1. Personal Chef

You could be a personal chef to some rich clients cooking for them on special occasions or daily in their homes and you could be paid handsomely for this service. Nigeria is growing and so is the mentality of its citizens. Most men now understand that the woman’s place is no longer in the kitchen alone as they now work and may not have extra energy for the kitchen after the day’s work.

  1. Self Defence Instructor

With the increase in rate of violence in Nigeria today, no one can feel too safe or secure. Individual of different age group could benefit from your self defence skill if you are good at it. You could set up a self defence class where you teach your students how to defend themselves in case they find themselves in violent state. You could teach them basic safety skills, karate etc.

  1. Fashion Designer

You can design and sew yourself to fortune if you acquire this skill. My in-law and very good friend, Ikechukwu Igboechi, CEO of Show Realties Fashion House is making waves in this niche. Because he is good at what he does, he design and sew for many governors and senators in Nigeria among other rich client who now pay for customize services and monopoly of design. I have never worn any of his outfits without garnering compliments and referring new customers to him. You can learn this trade and start making good money from it. Nigerians are never tired of new designs and outfits. One thing I love about his dress is the finishing, they are so perfect. He exports his clothes and now running a consultancy service in that niche, training younger tailors and partnering with government in their youth empowerment schemes.

  1. Tutoring

Thought your proficiency in high school further maths, chemistry, physics, geography or history was all for naught? Think again: As a tutor, you could help others bone up on their studies. Whether it’s reading, writing or arithmetic, help your students reach the top of their class with a little experienced guidance and support.

  1. Business-Plan Consulting

Every business require a business plan to obtain either bank financing or any form of financing. A business plan is also an invaluable tool for anticipating and tackling a business’s inevitable ups and downs. With your writing skills and general business savvy, you could show clients how to present their best-laid plans while accomplishing your own.

  1. Food Delivery Service

Since time is now choking the working class especially bankers thriving to meet target, most hardly have time to visit their favourite restaurants. You can set up a food delivery company in your locale, visit some establishments and sort for individuals that would need your help in getting their orders from a nearby restaurant. You charge delivery fee that will include cost of transportation.

Also Read: 10 Principles of Entrepreneurship

  1. Mobile Delivery Van Service

You can set up a mobile delivery service company with a van and your mobile phone. Just be available and read to work any time of the day. You could be expected to deliver furniture or food items across states but be rest assured the pay is good.

  1. Basic First Aider

Every household requires the knowledge of basic first aid as this could prove crucial in life threatening situations and save life in case of emergency. The awareness is already there and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is doing her bit to train grass-root volunteers to becoming first responders during emergencies. As a trained first aider, you could train students or members of a household on the basic skills of attending to a choking or fire-burn victim. You could also teach them on how to perform CPR. All you need to do is write to some private schools or talk to parents on the need to teach their students/household basic first aid.

  1. Pet Sitting

When it comes to creature comforts, most canines would choose their own backyard over a kennel any day. Thanks to pet sitters who take care of pets while their owners are out of town or busy. You can take clients pets for walk or take care of the pets when the owners travel. You could also work with an animal doctor to refer your clients to them should their pets fall sick and be paid an agreed percentage.

  1. Mobile Massage

Success is close at hand for mobile massage providers. Advertise your stress-relieving services at local workout clubs, spas and physical therapists’ offices. Then bring your trained hands and a portable massage table to clients’ homes or places of work and do the magic smiling to the bank doing what you love.

  1. Mobile Car-Wash

Take your car washing business to your clients, and clean up on profits as a mobile car-wash pro. Don’t wait for customers to visit your car wash centre. Go to their homes and offices and seek to be washing for them there. Have your rags, brushes, liquid soaps and grease remover with you.  You can also market your services to car dealers, rental fleet owners, and corporations.

  1. Packing and Unpacking Service

Packing up to move to a new home or office not to mention unpacking on the other end is enough to leave one feeling upended. Thank goodness for packing and unpacking entrepreneurs who, with their hassle and time-saving services, make moving seem like magic. You could also explore this niche.

  1. Computer Repair

If you have good knowledge in computer engineering, you may not need to work for anybody as the workload in this niche is enormous and seeking for able hands to fix damaged computers having both software and hardware issues.

  1. Phone Repair

Yes, that is another lucrative niche for good hands to feed on. Almost every teenager and adults in Nigeria today own a phone. These gadgets are fund of developing one issue or the other. Some could be technical and others just need some setting to unlock its features. If you are knowledgeable enough with mobile phones, you could rake thousands daily fixing peoples’ phones.

  1. Referral Service

Local companies in Nigeria are now willing to pay for old clients or publishers to refer new customers to them. All you are required to do is share your experience with new prospective customers and convince them to make purchase and you get an agreed percentage for your effort.

  1. Social Media Manager

Local companies seeking an online presence and wishing to engage with their customers on social media are daily seeking capable hands to manage their social media platforms. Banks, private organizations, and even groups are paying social media managers for engaging and interacting with their customers online. Giving them necessary information about the company or taking orders. This could be time-consuming if your employer has many followers but rewarding.

Also Read: Impact of Entrepreneurship on a Nation’s Economy

  1. Computer Consulting

Tap into a surging market as a computer consultant. Whether you’re an expert at Linux, Java, putting together hardware components, or networking, a growing number of computer “newbies” will surely benefit from your services. You can work as a freelancer sharing your time among your clients/students and making sure they grasp the knowledge within the agreed time.

  1. Taxi Service

Uber is now functioning fully in Lagos and Abuja and could grow to other parts of the country. If you own a clean car, you could register with Uber and make extra bucks conveying the customers from the app to and fro their destination without having the taxi label on your car. You could also run a full-time taxi service and having your customers call on you anytime they need your service. Your clients could grow if your car is nice and doesn’t disappoint.

  1. Office-Relocation Service

Helping businesses move and settle into a new location comes easy for office-relocation-service entrepreneurs who, as “locals,” know who’s who in providing such services as printing, restaurant delivery and equipment repair.

  1. Debt-Collection Service

Do you know there are individuals that make money from collecting other people’s debt for them? Yes. Money makes the world go ’round: You get paid when your clients get paid by the people who you get to pay them. Sound complicated? It doesn’t have to be: As a debt collector, it pays in more ways than one to have some persistence in tracking down clients’ delinquent debtors. I have also met a man (from Calabar) in Abuja whose work is getting a contractors money out from the Federal Government for 20% fee. The man is a millionaire. I don’t know how he does this but he eventually lobbies for a contractor’s fee to be paid faster than usual. You know what it means to do business with the government and expect to get paid fruitlessly, you will be ready to part a certain amount to get your money out.

  1. Seminar Promotion

If there’s one thing consumers can never seem to get enough of, it’s information. Give them an earful by planning and promoting informational seminars. You don’t need to be an expert yourself; just schedule the speakers, reserve a location, promote the event, and get ready to collect the profits at the door.

  1. Copywriting and Proofreading Service

Creative writers with a knack for finding typos are always sort after. You can source your clients online and always share and promote works of your old clients (with their permission).

  1. Plumbing Services

If it’s broken and you can fix it, then you can monetize it. Tell your neighbors, friends, and association members you can render such service should they have need for it. You can also showcase your work on OLX.ng or Jiji.ng associating your service to a particular area and you could get clients from there. Also check out developing areas and offer to do the plumbing work.

  1. Lawn Care

Clipping, watering, and taking care of residential or office lawns could fetch you some extra cash. Just offer yourself to a few clients and start from there. If you keep doing nice work, you keep being in business.

  1. Painting

You could learn some painting skills and get to work immediately painting for your friends moving to a new apartment or for neighbors seeking to give their apartment a new look. Learning how to screed could also be an added advantage as modern builders love screeding to give their building that perfect touch. You could also learn how to do POP. It’s another cash spinner.

  1. Language Translation

Falling foreign-trade barriers and improved communication technology translate into success for language translators and interpreters. An ear for multiple languages puts you at the forefront of this global movement.

Also Read: How Government Frustrates SMEs in Nigeria

  1. Home Decorating

This might be a small niche but rich clients are willing to pay handsomely for a perfect touch that could turn their house to a home. The key to getting in this business’s door is decorating your home first. Work with local furniture and accessory stores, paint shops, and carpet and drapery outlets to coordinate clients’ interiors.

  1. Pet-Food and Supplies Home Delivery

If you have contact with a pet-food seller, you could talk to some pet owners and be supplying them with these foods periodically or as requested. Now they have no need to stress themselves going to the market to shop for food for their pets. Once you’ve sniffed out some leads, start delivering pet supplies directly to customers’ doors.

  1. Children’s Transportation Service

If you own a neat bus, you could register it with primary/Nursery schools, conveying pupils to and from school daily. For working and nonworking parents alike, you could also offer to be dropping and picking their wards from school. By providing a reliable children’s transportation service, you give busy parents a break and keep their busy kids on schedule.

  1. Nanny Consulting Service

For busy parents, finding a good nanny isn’t child’s play. Nanny consulting agents who screen applicants, check references, match personalities, and set schedules to provide clients with an invaluable service by saving them considerable time and worry. This service should be done with utmost care. You must know whom you are recommending to your clients and be able to provide them at any time should any case arise. I advise if you must venture into this business, you must be duly registered and insured.

  1. Photography

Remember the best moments

Anyone with a camera could be a photographer right? Yes, but you don’t need to be just another photographer. You need to learn some basic photography skills, give your clients a new feel of technology. You could bring out your work as an album or make it have a magazine look. My friend, Nedu Promise Ezenwa, CEO of Bluemoon Photography has carved a niche for himself in this field. He is doing wonders with his camera and traveling all over Nigeria courtesy of his photography job.

  1. Mobile Disc Jockey

As a mobile disc jockey, weddings, parties and other events are all music to your ears. So if you love music and good at selecting the best music for any occasion, then you should try this out. Your laptop could also be your mixer if you can’t afford one at first. You should be ready to know and access the latest reigning music in vogue and play it for the listening pleasure of you clients and their guests. Remember to share flyers and share words about your services to wedding and event planners.

  1. Wedding-Planning Service

Getting married isn’t always as simple as saying, “I do.” There’s a caterer to be contracted, a location to be rented, and flowers to be ordered. So when it comes to making matrimony a more harmonious event for the new couple and their families, wedding planners are much needed.

  1. Event Planning

You could plan events like workshops, seminars, get-togethers, parties, etc for busy clients. You could also register with organisations to plan their conferences, AGMs, meetings. You must be good at this and be able to manage time as well as people effectively making sure the food is ready, drinks chilled, colour of the occasion matching and son.

  1. Children’s Party Planning

Do parents a favor and plan their next children’s party. From hiring Sesame Street character look-alikes to coordinating games, decorations, and food, you’re sure to be the life of the party by allowing parents to relax and have fun, too. Plan birthdays, school parties, and holiday get together for kids and make the children have a cool time.

  1. Children’s Fitness

If there’s one thing that never seems to run out, it’s a kid’s supply of energy. Tap into that vast resource with a children’s fitness program. Put your knowledge of children’s education and physical fitness to the test by renting a location, then coordinate activities such as tumbling, dance, gymnastics, and karate.

  1. Website Design Service

If you have some java or coding skills, there are businesses doing well offline without an online presence. You could offer to put their business online for a fee. For those without coding skills, you could also tap into this niche thanks to specialized softwares like WordPress, Wix, Drupla, Shopify and co. You could design just about any site with those softwares and get well paid. Plugins and widgets are available to give any site that perfect look a client will love. You could also register with some domain and hosting company and use your referral link for your clients making even more money. Just go out there and start talking to some prospective clients like hotels, local super stores and electronic stores in your locale.

42. Janitorial Service

Office and home cleaning service is another booming service business excelling in Nigeria. Talk to engineers building new houses and offer to do the cleaning work after construction. You could also talk to individuals moving to new apartment. Meet with new establishments moving into your area and offer to take up the contract of cleaning their office daily and get paid monthly. You could hire freelance cleaners to the job but make sure you can trust those working for you. Need a coach to guide you on this one, contact me and I will put you through for a token. My Ofran Janitorial Service Company is not doing bad. You could learn from my expertise on the best tools and industrial chemicals to use.

Also Read: How to Exchange Bitcoin to any Altcoin and Vice Versa

Bonus: Private Investigation

Yea, private investigating pays as well. But not every individual is advised to venture into this business. It could be basically for law enforcement agents in service or retired. You could blaze your own entrepreneurial trail while being your client’s eye. As a private investigator, make your mark in the industry by keeping a keen “eye” on other people’s activities. Clients include attorneys gathering evidence for a case or to collect a payment, or individuals seeking information about a significant other.

After reading through this long post on the best well researched 41 service businesses to start in Nigeria today, I doubt you could not see any that match your personality. So take a bold step and start that business that suits you today and quit job hunting.

To your success.

Check out these 15 Small Businesses you can Start with less than 200k

©FrancisNwokike

Francis Nwokike

Francis Nwokike is the Founder and Chief Editor of The Total Entrepreneurs. A Social Entrepreneur and experienced Disaster Manager. He loves researching and discussing business trends and providing startups with valuable insights into running a profitable business. He created TTE to share ideas and tips to help entrepreneurs run and grow their businesses.