I am under the impression that there must be some sorta demand for maternity clothes in naija because a couple of friends of mine have asked me to bring back stuff from the UK or US. It seems that unless you ask someone who is an experienced pregger, its not clear where to go for trendy, comfortable, reasonably priced maternity clothes. The average pregnant woman in naija resorts to native dress during this period and a coupla tops but with the young working professionals that have shiny new cars on the roadn I dare to dream that there might be an actual place for a little bit of business. Its hard to measure the demographic but perhaps with adequate marketing in the right circles, one just might be able to pull this off.
Baby clothes wld automatically go hand in ahnd with this and perhaps other baby goods like cots and car seats. Fashion does little to excite me so I truly doubt that this is one idea that will blossom naturally for me.

HERBAL BODYCARE LINE

My previous post got me thinking about the type of cosmetics that would be utilised in a Nigerian spa and I think that if executed properly, there might be a chance to expand our herbal soap industry. Dudu Osun has done magnificently well, I see it in so many african stores abroad and the price of the bar is decent. Some people have been using Dudu Osun for years and they are very loyal customers. I like the soap as well but unfortunately it dries my skin out. What I'm wondering however is how come there isn't any visible competition for dudu osun. Are we saying that black soap is the only local soap formula that can be reproduced on a large scale? I wouldn't be surprised if there are other soap recipes that are just as good or probably even better. One would definitely need to hire people who are in the business of soap making and understand the whole process. Something that I would be particular about if i were to get into this would be quality control and packaging. Perhaps a whole skincare range can be created..and No! I'm not talking about just paying a company to brand a generic product with your name. Women especially, are always on the look out for ways to pamper their skin so a good product would be an easy sell with the right marketing strategy.

Please don't hesitate to tell me what you think!

NIGERIAN SPA BUSINESS

Ok, this may sound a little far-fetched because Nigerians don't have time for nonsense like going to spa unless they are very rich old women with nothing better to do with their lives!! This is the general impression but we may just be wrong. The average woman makes time each week to go to the salon abi, so I think that maybe, just maybe they might be willing to spend another couple of hours every month or so to receive stress relieving massages.

At the moment we have lovely places like the Montaigne Place(don't ask me how its pronounced) in V/I Lagos that provide facial and full body services. They seem to have a deal with Clarins because the place is full of the stuff. Contrary to popular belief, quite a few young women like myself have begun to indulge ourselves in life's little luxuries. I've also heard about a Moroccan inspires spa in Abuja and from what i hear, the place is doing very well.

So I'm thinking, why not make spa services more accessible to a wider demographic by lowering prices and providing native-style massages in a modern, chic spa.

Strangely enough I found an article called How to start a spa business in nigeria..lol!! its funny I had no idea there was anything like that until this minute. It gives the general idea of starting a spa business and has good tips on registering your company. http://www.ehow.com/how_4708595_start-spa-business-nigeria.html


It just occurred to me that I completely ignored men in this post, who said men can not enjoy a little bit of pampering every so often. Perhaps it may even be easy to centre it around men...A couple of skilled "hot" masseuses would be enough to spread the word and keep customers faithful..wink wink!!

Home services could also be offered, with supervision of-course since I don't intend to spark off a call girl/boy service. The problem however is that after training the staff and getting your clientele, the issue of loyalty comes into play, before you know it, someone steals all the staff and starts a similar establishment..I've seen that happen so many times but I guess that should not be a deterrent. Instead a plan needs to be devised that protects the owner and benefits the staff as well.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES

There are so many designers in Nigeria designing all sorts of clothes. How about making cute little children's clothes with African fabrics. I remember when I was in primary school, our school uniform was a white polo shirt with navy blue adire skirts. Funnily It was a British school in Lagos and till today I notice that our nigerian school kids are wearing drab school uniforms that look so cheap and worn after a few washes.

Perhaps one could interest a few schools in changing their pupils school uniforms and provide well tailored indigenous fabrics. In fact perhaps setting up an indigenous fabric uniform company may work in the new "Proudly Nigerian" Nigeria.

The pitfalls of the business however would be the dependence on tailors and other semi-skilled workers. A business like this without supervision could easily crash and burn but since there are particular seasons for school supply it could be a seasonal business with contractual staff. Hmm the more i think about it, the more doable it seems.

School supplies also include stationary, furniture and books. The market is huge and cornering even 0.1% of the market in Lagos would be lucrative.

I remember reading an article on bellanaija.com about a company called "Wewe Clothing" The lady makes african print inspired clothes for children in L.A. http://www.bellanaija.com/2008/10/19/wewe-clothing-little-ones-doing-big-things/
I think its a wonderful idea and I think it actually inspired this post.

RECIPE MIXES

Going through store aisles in the UK or US you find racks and racks of spice and recipe mixes. Some of them are dry, some are canned and some are refrigerated. What they have in common is the promise to make any cook appear to be a master chef. World foods such as Indian curries and Mexican fajitas can be prepared quickly just by following the instructions at the back of the pack.

Searching online for Nigerian recipes, one thing I have noticed is that a lot of measurements are not specific or particularly uniform. This makes it a little bit difficult for a non-savvy cook to reproduce the dishes or even be sure if their finished dish actually tastes like it is supposed to.

My friend's Sierra-Leonean mum makes her own spice mixes by blending a variety of spices together which she uses to season her meat and poultry. To me this ensures that there are no surprises, you are sure your food is going to taste the way you set out for it to taste. Of course everyone has to add their own personal flair to their cooking but it I think making nice spice mixes to suit Nigerian/African palettes may save a lot of new wives some embarrassing experimenting!! lol!!

At the moment most of us "assist" our culinary skills with stock cubes like Maggi and Knorr. Curry, thyme and dried peppers fly off market shelves. Dangerous msg's such as Ajinomoto are popularly used to enhance the flavor of foods in restaurants and bukas.

I really think this is a good idea and I am definitely going to look into this and find out the best ways to pull this off.

RECYCLING IN LAGOS

I thought I was going to begin this blog telling you about businesses I had already researched on over the past few months but for some reason I woke up today and all I'm thinking about is recycling. I have an environmental science career background and I have always been interested in conservation and wildlife but for some reason I haven't really explored the option of incorporating these passions into money! Hmm I find this quite puzzling!

So the fact is my home country is Nigeria and for most of the year (at the moment anyway) we live in Lagos. It is a bustling city with so much to do and so many people to serve, The problem however is that there is little structure for building any business. One has to structure their affairs around very peculiar circumstances. For example getting competent as well as honest workers is like trying to find snow in the Sahara! They come few and far between so one must think of innovative ways to protect your investment.

OK now back to recycling, there is so much waste around the place and in recent times the state government seems to be making an effort to make the place tidy, so where is all of it going. I know there is a lot of space for landfills but surely there must be a way for me to raise consciousness about recycling and set up a scheme to make it happen.

So far I have found an interesting link on starting a recycling business http://www.conservation.ca.gov/dor/crcp/recyclers/Documents/StartingARecylingBusiness.pdf
It has the general gist on how to begin a collection business but assumes that there are recycle plants in place that are willing to pay for the collected waste. To the best of my knowledge there is no working scheme to this effect but I might be wrong so I will definitely look into this.

There are so many materials that can be recycled ranging from paper to mobile phones. The crucial thing I guess is to identify possible end users that the recycled product will attract.

WHAT TO DO?

I have been searching the Internet for ages trying to figure out WHAT TO DO?
I need to maintain a flexible lifestyle and finding a business that will fit itself around me is a little challenging. But challenges can be fun can't they?
There is so munch information online and every time I have a new one I type it into google and discover loads of like-minds who either inspire or squash that brilliant idea.