Have you ever heard about the sayings that Nigeria is a consumer-driven economy?
The Manufacturing sector in Nigeria is currently growing faster than the telecommunications, oil and gas, and agricultural sectors. Nigeria’s large population of upwardly mobile consumers, coupled with investments in power, implies that the strong growth of manufacturers, including food producers and breweries, is sustainable.
Manufacturers in ….Nigeria had attributed the remarkable increase recorded in capacity utilization within the last year to favorable government policies, especially concerning the industry, trade, and investment.
Manufacturing in Nigeria also potentially provides you more leverage from your investment of money than many other categories of business.
Since you are adding value to raw materials, equipment, and capital costs, you can often be quite profitable.
How to Start Manufacturing in Nigeria
Manufacturing can be challenging, but the rewards can be great — both emotionally and financially.
The first and the most important of all is, of course, an idea. I often hear people say, I need to make money and my question is, are you the government? It is illegal to make money. This idea- that you need to make money to have it – limits you to believe you must trade time for money.
Quit thinking about making money and think in terms of collecting it. When you trade something of value with the public you will get money in return. However, if you are interested in how to start your own manufacturing business you most likely already know what you would like to produce.
Nevertheless, you must be sure that the product you wish to produce is needed.
After all, you have to sell your product if you want to succeed. There are no guarantees that people will like your product, however, this is a risk every entrepreneur needs to take.
Things to do first:
• Idea about what to Manufacture
• Research on the products and its target market
• Find the location for your factory and office
• Register your company with the corporate affairs of Nigeria
• Raise funds from Loans, Savings, SMEs funding programs, Donations.
• Buy the Machines needed (preferably from India or China).
• Assemble the Machines
• Employ few workers at first
• Start Manufacturing
• Promote your Products
• Sell Your products
Running Your Manufacturing Company in Nigeria
1. MANAGEMENT:
Management is an important aspect of business and many companies fail simply because of the way they are managed.
As the owner of the company, you must set up a great team that will achieve the objectives of the company.
You have to build a good team, inspire them to do more, acknowledge their success, avail a better working condition for them, give them the task to do with limits, provide the opportunity to them in taking some key decisions, make sure they love what they do and promote them when necessary.
2. FINANCIAL PLAN:
This is another good aspect of the business.
Hire some good accountants to assist you in this area. Get advice from reliable accountants. Make sure everything is documented and done properly. Regulate their work and access their progress.
3. MARKETING:
Marketing is a good branch of business that is very important in making your products known to the people. Hire people with marketing knowledge who can identify the target market for your product. Create a marketing strategy and share it with them for effective implementation.
Marketing Mix:
The 4cs and 4 ps-
• Consumer wants/needs-VS-Products: – You have to study consumer wants and needs and then attract consumers one by one with something each one wants.
• Cost-VS-Price: – One of the most difficult places to be in the business world is the retailer selling at the lowest price. If you rely strictly on the price to compete you are vulnerable to competition – in the long term.
• Convenience-VS-Place: – Place is where the customer meets the salesperson. This may be a retail establishment, the customer’s home or office, or some other places.
• Communication-VS-Promotion: – Promotion is the tool that the market uses to inform the population about the product. For somebody to know they can get the product from a place for a price, they’ll have to have that product promoted to them in one way or another. Promotion exists in many forms, and it continues to evolve to this day.
SWOT Analysis
Structured planning method used to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats involved in a project or a business venture.
• Strengths:
What advantages does your organization have?
What do you do better than anyone else?
What unique or lowest-cost resources can you draw upon that others can’t?
What do people in your market see as your strengths?
What factors mean that you “get the sale”?
Consider your strengths from both an internal perspective, and from your customers and people in your market.
• Weaknesses:
What could you improve?
What should you avoid?
What are people in your market likely to see as weaknesses?
What factors lose your sales and customers?
Consider this from an internal and external basis: Do other people seem to perceive weaknesses that you don’t see?
• Opportunities:
What good opportunities can you spot?
What interesting trends are you aware of?
Changes in technology and markets on both a broad and narrow scale.
Changes in government policy related to your field.
• Threats:
What obstacles do you face?
What are your competitors doing?
Are quality standards or specifications for your job, products, or services changing?
Is changing technology threatening your position?
Do you have bad debt or cash-flow problems?
Could any of your weaknesses seriously threaten your business?
Other important things to consider are as follows:
– Brand strategy
– Competitive analysis
– Market trends
– Target Customer group
– Market share
– Customer demographics
– Sales strategy
– Distribution strategy
– E-commerce and technology
– Pricing and positioning
– Advertising and promotions
– Risk Management
To start and run a business, it is not enough just to have good viable ideas. You also need to have the right skills, attitude, and personality to make the enterprise succeed.
Being a manufacturer can be very creative. A lot of us are interested in and challenged by the process of devising, designing, and producing.
THINGS YOU CAN MANUFACTURE EASILY IN NIGERIA
– Maize Flour Production and Packaging
– Corn Chip Production and Packaging
– Garri Processing and Packaging
– Rice Milling and Packaging
– Baking and Confectionaries Production
– Fruit and Citrus Juice Production
– Feed Mill Production and Packaging
– Palm Kernel Milling and Processing
– Potato Chip Processing and Packaging
– Plantain Chip Processing and Packaging
– Popcorn Production and Packaging
– Groundnut Oil Milling and Packaging
– Briquette Production
– Bottle and Sachet Water Processing Production and Packaging
– Candle Production
– Oil and Gas Products Blending Plants
– Concrete, Bricks, Blocks, Poles, and Pillar Production Plant
– PVC Manufacturing Plant
– LPG cylinders Production, Gas Storing, and Filling Plants
– Poultry Production
– Fishery Industry and Fish Processing
– Printing
– Ice Block Production
– Shoe and Leather Processing
– Ginger Processing
– Soap and Detergent Production
– Cosmetics, Cream and Body Lotion Production and Packaging
– Particle Board and Laminate Production
– Saw Mill AND Plywood Processing
– Garment and Textile Production
– Foam production
– Paint
– Soap
Factors affecting manufacturing in Nigeria include:
- Security challenge
- Power (Shortage of Electricity)
- Customer’s preference for imported goods
- Low access to finance
- Lack of infrastructure
- Lack of local patronage
- Absence of innovative ideas
The Government is putting a great effort into tackling these challenges and has set up some SME funding programs to help finance manufacturing companies.
The government is also providing security and contracting roads for easy access to goods and services.
I hope this helps and if you find it interesting or have any inquiries, please like the post, share, and comment. I will love to have your thoughts.
