In a country like Nigeria where inflation takes most of the monthly salary, the desire to be self-made continues to grow among men (and women), as such, every man wants a small business they can do engage in to complement their source of income.
The beauty of being a business owner is that you can conveniently run two or more after stabilizing one.
Note: The business ideas in this post are not exclusively designed for men, women, and students can also tap into some of them, we already published other legitimate sources of funds for undergraduates which can be found at: https://infomediang.com/funds-for-student-to-start-business
Table of Contents
What men should do to set up a business:
You need to bank on your skills if you’ve been a teller at a banking institution for some years and you plan to be your own boss, setting up a financial analysis firm will be a great business idea for you. This way, investors can pay for your experience in the investment sector.
Whatever your skills are, they can be monetized, you can transform your skills into several business ideas.
If you want to expand your knowledge on the already acquired skills, there are tens of remote online platforms where men can find work-from-home jobs
The first step to take is to have an idea you can transform into a feasible business.
If you’ve been nurturing the idea of setting up your own business, here are some of the ideas for men, which you can tap from:
Web developer:
As a web developer, you can use your sitting room as your office. There are hundreds of new online businesses that want an expert to design an e-commerce website for their goods and products.
Your knowledge in HTML, CSS or Javascript will fetch you extra cash. Some of the platforms you can get web developer jobs are:
- Upwork,
- Fiverr,
- ProgrammeMeetDesigner
- 10X Management
- Rent a coder
- Topcoder
- Toptal
- LocaLancers
- Codable
- Hirable
- Joomlancer etc
Web development is one of the lucrative business ideas men can explore as you can continue to get gigs from customers who are ready to pay hundreds of US dollars for your services.
A physical office isn’t required. Your laptop and a good internet connection with data are all you need to get started.
Start a Restaurant
If you’re a good cook, this is for you
Start an Online Coaching Class
During the lockdown when COVID-19 engulfed the universe, a colleague started an online class. He shared his success with us on how he charged $5 for a session.
According to him, he had close to a hundred students per session. He would not disclose how much he made in total, immediately after the lockdown, he for himself an apartment and a brand new car.
You can make a lot of money starting an online class.
The point is…
Look at your comparative advantage skill. Your skill-sets is very important.
Look..There are hundreds of online communities that are ready to pay for your services and skills.
You can start your online class by setting up a YouTube channel where you can value to the lives of your subscribers.
If they love what you do, they will be ready to pay for your service.
Make money by starting a driving school
As a man, you can turn your car into an asset instead of a liability. One of the ways you can do this is by using your to train other people how to drive and make money from your service.
Starting a Blog
Starting a blog requires creating content your reader will find useful which makes the blogging business very demanding.
You have to research your topic before setting out to put out your content. You must back up your claims with facts to gain the trust of your followers.
In 2020, Growth Badger, a content marketing firm, says the number of blogs on the internet exceeded 600 million. Of the figure, Tumblr has the highest with over 488.1 million blogs. WordPress comes second, with over 77.8 million blogs while others like Medium, Wix Joomla average about 2.5 million blogs each.
What does this tell you?
You can make off creating content. In Nigeria, Opera News Hub is a content creation platform where you are paid for creating engaging content.
How to start a successful blogging business:
- Focus on a niche you are good at
- Good writing skills to make your readers keep coming back for more
Some of the niches you can focus on are travel, fashion, gossip, health, clothing, etc. Monetise your content as your views grow
Setting Up Barbing Salon
Another great and profitable business idea for men is by starting a barbershop as you don’t need millions to get started. You can get started with the basic tools like clippers, covers, chairs, mirrors, power, generator (where the power supply is bad).
To start a barbing salon, you need to rent a shop and as you grow, you can expand by purchasing more sophisticated tools to make your work easier.
Provide Editing Service
Another legitimate small business idea for men is by providing editing services online. Hundreds of firms require the services of good proofreaders.
Sign up on freelancers, check the jobs tool on LinkedIn to find a vacancy in editing.
Starting a Laundry Business:
In one of our blog posts, we highlighted how to set up a dry cleaning business.
Any man who is looking for a profitable business can start a laundry business.
Family members are getting busier than ever, they need someone that can handle their laundry and ready to pay for this service.
Why can’t you tap into this opportunity and start making money washing other people’s clothes?
To start, get a good location, buy a washing machine, generating set, steam iron, pressing board, and other tools needed for laundry.
Sell Photos Online
It seems monetisation of photos online isn’t popular among Nigerians and generally in Africa.
In countries like the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, people make cool cash from their unique and original photos.
Selling photos on a site like Smugmug is another great way for men to make money online. The beauty of this is that there are beautiful location sites in Nigeria and across Africa.
You can start exploring the full potential of your iPhone and other sophisticated phones you only use to make calls and chat with friends on social media platforms.
Examples of great places where you can upload and sell photos are:
- Adobe Stock,
- Shutterstock,
- Alamy,
- Etsy,
- Fotomoto, and
- Crestock among others.
Your account is credited whenever uploaded photos attract downloads from subscribers of the premium photo websites.
Provide Home-Teaching Service
Home teaching service gives you the total freedom to choose the best time to work. The day-to-day activities to make ends meet is gradually making home teaching service in high demand.
Parents who want the best for their kids in their studies, but are always busy are seriously in search of a good tutor and trustworthy teacher.
Make yourself available, dress responsibly, showcase your skills and services on your social media profile, your client might be looking.
It is a very lucrative business for men who stay in highbrow locations like Lekki, Victoria Island, Ikoyi, VGC, and flamboyant estates spread across a city like Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.
In Abuja, you can also find a home-teaching job. In the United States, United Kingdom, you can a home-teaching job and charge $10 per hour, you could make $150 per child at the end of the month.
Imagine you have up to five kids to home teach? It becomes more lucrative when the performance of the kids starts to improve, you jack up your service.
Are you ready to start? Use search terms like:
- Home-teaching service in Ikoyi
- Home-teaching service in Lekki
- Home-teaching service in Quebec etc
To get a perfect result in your search, localise your search words
Start Freelance Writing
Blog owners around the world are constantly looking for freelance writers Most of them are busy or couldn’t do it alone.
To be a successful content creator, you need a high level of imagination. This side hustle for men can be rewarding most especially if you found a client who wants a long-term business relationship.
The best part is that you can choose the best time that works for you, it’s also possible to work with more than a client.
Don’t know where to find a freelance writing job? We’ve got you covered with the list below where you can sign up for FREE
- talentdesire.com
- motivejobs.com
- remotehub.com
You can also search for jobs on flexjobs.com (it’s premium, it’s $6.95 per week to apply for jobs on flexjobs)
Make money from podcast
While hundreds of content creators have made millions of dollars from their creative writing through their blogs, podcat is still underutilized.
If you already have video content, you can turn them into podcast episodes. Pick a niche, become an authority in your niche.
A report by thebestmedia.com says you can make between $500 to $900 if have about 10,000 downloads per episode.
You can also get sponsorship from private organisations that are ready to pay if you have between 3000 and above per episode.
Podcast platforms you can use are:
- anchor.fm
- Spreaker
- BuzzSprout
- Castos
- Transistor.
- Google Podcasts
- PodBean
- Captivate
- Simplecast etc
Investing
Do you know that one of the ways the rich is getting richer is through their ability to invest?
They invest, take out profit, and re-invest it again to make more money. Real businessmen hardly keep their money in the bank. Bank makes use of your savings, they use it for business.
So, what have you been doing with the money you keep in the bank since the beginning of the year?
It’s time to start investing. You need to find an investment to channel such money into for it to yield interest for you.
Do your research, don’t be carried away by the MMM-related investment. Any business that promises a guaranty 200% interest within a month is a red flag.
Starting a Translating Business
Are you a polyglot? If you haven’t monetised your language skills, it’s time to do so.
Translating works are available in the U.K, United States, Canada, and other countries around the world.
There are international companies that need the services of a polyglot. For instance, someone who speaks English may require the services of a Chinese translator for some specific personal or assigned tasks. Providing these services is a great way for men to up their earning.
Set Up A Shoe Making Business
In the past, shoemakers were seen as accorded the respect they deserve. It’s a different story today. Thousands of young unemployed graduates are now embracing the job.
For men, it’s another means of making money. We’ve even seen women who are shoemakers and are doing well for themselves.
The shoemaking business isn’t buying and selling, you need to acquire the needed skill to get started.
To make more sales, bring your creativity to bear. Attractive and unique designs would sell faster than common ones.
Make Money from Event Planning
Event planning is gradually becoming a unisex job, men are also doing well in the business though it is dominated by women.
What does it entail? As an event planner, the burden of what guests will eat, what drinks would be suitable, sitting arrangement and proper location becomes your business.
You completely take the stress off the host of an event.
Start a Cleaning Business
Closely related to laundry business is cleaning business, men can start making money by providing cleaning service to an apartment in the estate in your location
Provide Tour Guide Services
As disturbing security in Nigeria is, hundreds of tourists come in every day If you live in tourist locations like Obudu Cattle Ranch, Osun Osogbo Festival, Ikogosi Waterspring, you can provide tour guide services for tourists to enable them fully experience and enjoy their stay.
Interestingly, this is one of the part-time jobs you can do.
Real Estate Brokerage Service
As a real estate broker, your primary responsibility is to mediate between a prospective buyer and the seller of a property or a real estate company.
Any sales you make bring in commission for you. Although it is a complete part-time marketing job, you can make millions in commission if you closed a sale that is worth several millions of naira.
n Nigeria for instance, most of the real estate company companies give you 10% commission if you closed a deal.
When it’s a completed apartment, it’s 5% commission. For instance, if you closed a deal of N100, 000, your commission is N10 million if it’s land, it’s N5,000,000 if it’s a completed apartment in top choices in areas like Lekki, Ibeju-Lekki in Lagos.
Starting a real estate brokerage business requires little or no capital. Find a credible real estate firm, sign up, download flyers of products, share on your social media by including your phone numbers and start selling.
More details coming on how to set up a real estate brokerage business in our subsequent guide.
Takeaway:
- Small business ideas do not require big capital, most times, your phone can get the job done (if it’s selling photos online)
- Businesses like real estate brokerage services may not require a physical office, you can do the marketing online and when you find a prospective buyer, you take him to the real estate firm’s office from where you take them to site for inspection.
- Side hustle jobs for men are a great way to fight the reduce the stress of bearing the financial burden.