How to Start Small Scale Car Wash in Nigeria

Car Wash is one business which can be easily set up if detailed feasibility study is carefully carried out. Such study does not require the service of an expert to be successful. It is a business that can be handled from one person up depending on how big you plan to start

 The business is not limited to a particular class of the society. It can be started by the youths, graduates, unemployed, businessmen, women, investors etc. it is so viable that anybody that set it up would never dream of changing his line of business.

As easy as the business seems, there are some important tips that had to be strictly adhered to, to stay afloat and become successful, please stick to these steps;

1. Finance - the first thing that should be uppermost in the mind of anyone going into a car washing business is raising of capital. You need finance to get necessary tools to work with. From rough estimation it is a business you need nothing less than two hundred thousand naira only to commence operation.

2. View others - one area that pushes some people out of business is lack of needed expertise in such business before delving into it. To succeed in this business, please visit at least three to five other outfits (in same line of business) and see how it is set up generally.

Ask helpful questions, get facts and figures on how to bill and treat customers so they would always come back. Be confident and very observant you never leave anything out during your tour of these places (if possible go with a writing pad and a pen).

3. Location - deciding on a particular spot to cite the business is another step that requires careful consideration. Don’t locate the business out of sentiment as this might push you out of business. Get a place where there are lots of vehicular movements. You won’t last long in this business if you settle for a remote spot or an area out of town not known with lots of traffic.

4. Approval - after deciding on your location, the next step is to get needed approval from authorities where the business falls. Don’t ever commence business without getting this approval as there necessary things that ought to be in place due to nature of the business.  The authorities must confirm such area has good drainage and gutter so that dirty water won’t flood the road.

5. Borehole /well - water is the live-wire of any car wash business. Take every effort to sink a borehole (this is a small machine sunk to the ground with the ability to produce water where there is none). Another alternative is by digging a well. Make sure the well is treated on a regular basis to give clean water suitable for vehicles.

6. Overhead Tanks - the tanks would be strategically placed to store water for any period when there is none available. A small thank will do in this instance to save cost. As time goes on you can then go for the bigger ones.

7. Power - you can generate light by getting a small generator (which is about ten to fifteen thousand naira). You need it to power the borehole to produce water as at when due. You also need power to illuminate your surroundings when it’s getting dark.

8 Detergents - Go for detergents that are vehicle friendly (you must have learn this in course of viewing other car wash outlets). From experience, some detergents might be too harsh on paint of vehicle. Am sure you don’t want to run into unnecessary debts.

9. Buckets - Towels, Brushes: other materials needed include hand brushes (used in washing vehicles), towels to mop dry and buckets to mix detergents. All these are very easy to get in any neighborhood.

To cap it all, you need lots of humility and self restraint when dealing with customers. Some of your customers might have gone through some tortuous moment in traffic; they are ready to flare up at the slightest provocation. Treat your customers well and you'll have constant supply of cash.

How to Start Small Laundry Services in Nigeria and Make it Big

A laundry business is another good and profitable venture, any smart person can make money from it very easily. You see, the businesses that make millionaires their millions in most cases are not necessarily one big business like that. Sometimes, it may just be ordinary services like this Dry Cleaning business we're talking about here. Haven't you heard about a Lagos based Business Man who is making millions constantly from 'SHIT' business?

If you're serious about starting business, laundry service is one of the business you should give serious consideration. Besides, Dry Cleaning business is a very clean business full of respect and dignity and still brings good money. That's what make the business a must for smart guys and ladies.

There are many types of laundry businesses, but for the purpose of this post and what I intends to explain, I'm going to focus on "Home Based Dry Cleaning" the type you can start small and eventually expand to something big. You already know what Dry Cleaning is so lets go straight to what you'd need to  get started.

1. Wide Ironing Table: It is very important for your table to be wide enough, at least to give enough pressing space and convenience   as you will be handling large quantity of ironing. Do not use small table that will make your work inconvenient and eventually cause you some damages. Get a table that is smooth and wide enough, something like 4x6 feet.

2. Good Pressing Iron: Invest in  nice pressing Iron for the sake of efficiency, and don't forget you are handling people's fabric. Inefficient Iron could cause more trouble than gain by raking havoc on people cloth. Go for high quality, brand new Iron from known makers like Philips.

3. Garment Conveyor: You will need a garment conveyor for hanging finished clothes. Just get a nice local ones made by furniture makers, but let it be wide enough to avoid stuffing cloths. The picture here is just to give example of what Conveyor looks like. That will help you design your locally made one if you do not have money to buy standard conveyor. 

Garment Conveyor

4. BIG Washing Basins: You will need many of this to soak different colors and different types of materials separately. Be careful how you handle people's fabrics so that you don't go about paying for damages rather than making profits. Soak Jeans separately from other materials, soak whites cloths separate, and other colors too. Do not mix colors!

5. Industrial Laundry Detergent: Cleaning is technology, you need to master it with all sense of seriousness. Good cleaning detergent will go a long way to assist you in making thorough cleaning, and that in turn will bring more customers. Do not go for just any washing soap, go for high quality detergent that comes in quantity - you will be needing much quantity of it.

6. Space For Ironing: Spacious ironing environment will not only make your job faster and more comfortable, it will give you sense of balance and relaxed feelings. Devote big enough part of your home for it.

Laundry Ironing Room

 7. Other Items Like: Clothespins, Lines, and Drying space should be put in place as well. With all these ready, you're good to go.

Start your marketing with words of mouth around your neighborhood, there are plenty people waiting to patronize you. Treat them well and you will have permanent customers who will ensure your profits daily.

As you go about your business, make sure you don't over charge your customers. Moderate pricing ensures continuous patronage and sustainable venture. The real money comes from rendering good services at affordable prices, that will make the customers come back again and again.

Investing in Property - Where to Buy Cheap Lands in Lagos

Landed property business is currently booming in Lagos and most other parts of the country and will continue booming for a very very long time. It is the easiest and my choicest aspect of real estate business and I am beginning to invest in it real good. A land you purchase this year is likely to double in price next year and so on...

Buying cheap lands and reselling for profit or what we call Land Flipping
is a business for smart and wise investor because you do nothing more than just invest your money and watch it grow by means of property appreciation. In the previous Real Estate Investment
article, I mentioned how the land I bought on April this year for N4.5M is now going for N7 M - giving me profit of N2.5 Million if I decide to sale without breaking sweat. If that is not a good business, then tell me what is?

I want you to be in this business and I want you to make money. Therefore, I am going to list some of the areas in Lagos where you can buy lands very cheap and resale at great profit within a short time.

Like you and I knows, Lagos is rapidly expanding it's development. Infrastructures are developing by days. Greater number of people are migrating to Lagos as a result of it's development. More people are likely going to build their own houses instead of living in a ranted apartments. 

Because of all these, cost of lands in main parts of Lagos such as Surulere, Yaba, Lagos Island, Ikeja, and other places like that are increasingly becoming out of the reach of average Lagosians, forcing people to move to the outskirts. More and more of this outskirts that where previously bush are becoming mega developed due to movement of people. 

You can capitalize on this trend to create wealth for yourselves by buying cheap lands in the nearby rural areas in Lagos. Where are these areas we're talking about?

1. Ikorodu - You can still get lands in some parts of Ikorodu between N300,000 to N700,000. Go to areas like Ogijo, Imota, Ijede, Igbogbo, Imowonla, Igberigbe, Igbolomu, Isawo, etc... Look for someone who knows this area I'm talking about to help you locate some choice properties at good price.

Secret: Expansion Construction is ongoing on the Ikorodu - Lagos Road and will be completed by August next year. By the time that road is completed, prices of lands will increase by 1,000%. Grab yours now and wait for the cash!

2. Agbowa - I heard the Lagos State Government has great plans going on for Agbowa axis. Great housing estates are being developed and Government is planning massive infrastructural development there. This the time to position yourselves for profit taking. A plot of land goes for between N200,000 to N400,000. You can even get some for N150,000 at a very good location. Within two years from now, the properties may be going from N1 million, quote me when it happens.

3. Epe - You don't have to be told about the potential in Epe axis of Lagos State. As development criss-cross through Ibeju-Lekki Local Government, you find-out that Epe Local Government will be the next bus stop before taking off to connect with Ijebu Area. 

Properties are still there for sale for as low as N400,000. Your duty is to go locate good ones, pay for it and secure all the documents. Then wait for the profit time. The price is guaranteed to double within a year time. 

4. Agbado - You can get land cheap in Agbado area now. The 16 lane world class express carriage way being constructed by Lagos State Government is almost nearing completion. When that is done, property in Agbado area will be out of reach. But you can still get it now between N300,000 to N600,000. These same lands will be going for nothing less than N2M when the road is completed.

5. Akute - This is another good and quiet area in Lagos where lands are still being sold cheap. That area is devoid of trouble and rancor. Buy land there very cheap and quickly resell for good profit.

If you have idea of how lands goes in your state and where it can be gotten cheap and resell for good profit, write the article and send to me. I'll be glad to publish it here.

 Do you know other places in Lagos where land is sold cheap? Please tell us by commenting.

How to Start Small Scale Hotel in Nigeria

There is actually real money in hotel and hospitality industry in Nigeria and you can become part of it starting from today. Your hotel really don't have to be that big, just something small in form of small lodge and beer parlour.

Nigerians are heavy spenders when it comes to merriment and good life and hotel business is one avenue through which you can tap from such heavy spending. 

Tradewinds Hotel, American Samoa

 Let's assume you have a hotel with only 10 rooms and a beer parlour and charge N3,000 per night, you'll be making N3,000 X 10 = N30,000 daily! That would be roughly N900,000 Monthly revenue from 10 rooms apartment, excluding revenues from foods and drinks.

If you apply my winning formula of good customer relationship, to achieve the above sum is very easy and simple. Remember, we're talking about local hotels - it doesn't have to be big or situated in the happening part of the city. Now let's get down and see how you can put things in place and get started as soon as possible.

Get it Right From The Concept - It has become like a norm in this country that every local hotels has to be dirty and unkept after all, is it not just to sleep on bed with a woman and get up the next morning... This is the  number one area where Nigerian hotel owners are getting it wrong.

Hotel is beyond just a bed and mattress for sex, it's a place for relaxation under superior comfort, different from what is obtainable in homes. Get this aspect of your business right and you're a winner in your business!

Register Your Hotel Name - Good name they say is better than silver and gold, Choose a very attractive name for your hotel, some names attracts while some are not - choose the one you think would make someone want to know "what goes on in there?" Words like: Exquisite, Delight, Deluxe, Luxury, Platinum, and Classic - are good in hotel names. Choose your name very carefully!

Then, proceed to register your name with The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) of Nigeria if the name you've chosen isn't yet registered by someone else. N30,000 would be enough for that

Choose a Nice Location - This doesn't have to be exotic, just a befitting place in your location but let it be in a place that is easy to locate, property by the road side is preferable. Negotiate and acquire it except you already have a property in a good area. This would cost you some money - From N800,000.

The prices of property varies from place to place, we can't really put a price on this, just do your home work and try to negotiate properly.

4. Put up a Nice Structure - Face me I face you building format with all rooms en-suite is ideal for hotel business. Don't be too economical with the room sizes, let the rooms be a bit spacious and carefully plan and execute the structure in such way that your guest would see the class in your hotel.

Tastefully furnish your hotel rooms irrespective of the price you want to charge. After all, you aren't going to be furnishing it every day! Put high quality beds and bed sheets. Let your hotel rooms reflect high class even though you'll be charging low price.

Employ Staffs - If you have background in hotel management, that's nice. If not, don't worry - employ people with these skills and learn with experience. The good thing is that you're starting small so you'll be able to learn as you grow your business.

You will need capable hands to manage the security of your guest and the hotel in general. Different people will come into your hotels, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Prepare for them all.

You will need Caterers too, for the foods and services and the general well being of your guests.

You will need Laundry men whose duty would be to wash all the bed-sheets, the towels, and the curtains. It's a hotel abomination to give the guests bed-sheets and towels that has been previously used by another guest! Be careful of these bad practices.

You need Barmen, Cleaners, Receptionists, Room service attendants, a Supervisor and a Manager. While you administrate your business if you can.
Put all these in place and you're good to go. Don't forget that every big thing always starts small.

How to Start Kerosene Business in Nigeria

Kerosene is one of the most essential petroleum product in Nigeria and is used extensively in both rural and urban areas. Almost every home makes use of Kerosene in Nigeria in one way or the other, that is why people always experience hardship whenever it goes scarce.

Kerosene is equally one of the petroleum product in Nigeria that make huge money for the oil and gas entrepreneurs. People are said to be making millions of naira in the business everyday and from my findings, I can tell you it is a business that worth investing into. It is so lucrative that you can make your entire investment capital back from your first sales!

Kerosene Lamp Lighting at Night

Why is Kerosene business in Nigeria very lucrative?

One basic reason for the profitability of Kerosene is the high demand for the product caused by the very high population of low income earners in Nigeria. 11,000,000 litres of Kerosene is said to be consumed everyday and the demand can only get higher due to the ever increase in population.

Another reason is lack of proper supply of electricity in Nigeria. Most homes depend heavily on Kerosene for their cooking and other home energy related purposes and simply can not do with the product.

Because it is a product that is in high demand, dealer in Kerosene make quick sales and return back for another round of supply. The result is that they make more and more profit as the around trips continues.

The disparity in the product pricing is probably the biggest reason why Kerosene business is very lucrative. Most people are ignorant of the real official price of DPK but the dealers knows exactly and are cashing on peoples ignorance to make huge profit even if it is unjustified. 

Kerosene is officially sold at N50 by the NNPC. From NNPC you can land the product at unit cost of N50 per litre and sell for N100 per litre.

All you need to do is to know your way, that is what filling station owners and other dealers do. Though I don't support sharp practices and taking advantage of peoples ignorance but that isn't my duty to control, it is the duty of the Government and the price regulatory body.

If you lift 10,000 litres of Kerosene from the NNPC or other major dealers like the Capital Oil, sell for 100 and gain at least N50 per litre, you will gain N50 x 10,000 = N500,000. A dealer confirmed that they make N1,900,000 profit from 33,000 litres of Kerosene.

What you need to get into this business

Kerosene business is one of the easiest business to start and the capital requirement is very very minimal compared to other oil and gas related businesses. Everything put together may not cost more than N700,000 at most N1,000,000 depending on the level you want to start from.

Here are some of the things you need to get you started as soon as you can

1. Business Location - Since the sale will be from the surface tank, you will need a business place or location where you can put your tank.

Any place where there is reasonable population of people is ideal for the business. It could just be in front of your resident or the nearest major road side. If it is in front of your resident, you wouldn't need to spend extra money for the rent.

In which ever way, you may just budget N30,000 at most for that. In some cases, you may even get it for free depending on who you know.

2. Surface Tank - The Welders will construct a very good surface tank for you. Look for a very good welder that is not far from the proposed business location to ease the cost of transporting the tank. Construct 10,000 litres volume tank but let them make it 10,500 litres to be able to accommodate all your Kerosene.

You can do 15,000 litres if you want. It wouldn't cost you more than N100,000. Make sure it is properly welded to avoid leakage. Coat the inside and outside against rust, the welder will do that as well.

3. Source Your Kerosene - Independent Marketers controls more than 60% of Kerosene sales, while NNPC controls maybe 40% of the sales through the Pipeline and Product Marketing Company, a subsidiary of NNPC. You can buy directly from the source. I am seeking for additional information how you can get it from there and will update here very soon.

One of the Numerous Kerosene Queue in Nigeria

You can get the product from other Independent marketers, Capital Oil Ltd and the rest. There are other countless sources where you can buy Kerosene but beware of adulterated product. You may be arrested if the Kerosene get exploded in peoples home.

How to Register Your Business in Nigeria

Are you thinking of doing business in Nigeria? Then you must register it with the Corporate Affairs Commission which is the Agency empowered by the Company and Allied Matters Act 1990, Pursuant to section 659 to register businesses operation in Nigeria. It is the requirement of the law that you should register your business if you wants to do legitimate business in Nigeria.

Depending on the magnitude of your business, you can register it all by yourselves without the need of a Lawyer. The categories for business registration in Nigeria are:

(a) Business Name Registration

(b) Private Limited Company (LTD)

(c) Public Limited Company (PLC)

(d) Company Limited by Guarantee (LTD/GTE)

(e) Unlimited Company (ULTD)

(f) Incorporated Trustee

In this article, I will be dealing with the first two (Business Name and Private Limited Company) which is the two most popular and most relevant to small and medium scale Entrepreneurs. Apart from the requirement of the law, there are other great benefits of registering your business.

1. It helps you secure your company name before someone else takes it. I have seen people try both their first and second choice name with none available and considering the stress one go through for the name search, not having the first set available isn’t what anyone should toil with. So early registration helps secure your choice name.

2. Registering your business add seriousness and authenticity to your business. It makes you feel more responsible and work harder towards establishing your business and brand.  It makes you feel like a serious business person and Increases your drive towards success.

3. You will be able to open a corporate account with your business name only if it is registered and of course you know the importance of having a corporate current account – it makes people feel more relaxed to transact business with you.

Now that you know the importance of registering your company, how do you proceed to register your business in Nigeria? The steps are simple but sometimes can be very tedious due to our system. Here are the practical steps how you can go about it without much tears!

Step 1 – Proceed to the Corporate Affairs Commission Office nearest to you and submit your business name for Name Search. Just walk into the place and obtain the CAC Form 1 for N200

Fill the form correctly in CAPITAL LETTER – There is nothing much to fill, just your name, your address and The Names you intends to register, tick the type of company category you want to register as. You have option one and two – Option one is your first choice name, while option two is the alternative name in case the first choice isn’t available.

Make a Photocopy of the filled form before submitting it, the photocopy is what you will bring back to be used to locate your form.

Submit the original and go back in three days to check if your name is available. If not, you will have to repeat the process all over again until you find one that is available.

Note: If you go for popular phrases, you have 99% possibility of not having it available. Chose something unique and uncommon.

Step 2 -  Once you checked and your name is available, begin the registration process immediately! Obtain the Business Name registration form for N250  and fill it.

If it is Limited Company you want to register, you will buy the set of Company Incorporation forms for N500. Download the PDF of the detailed requirement for Incorporated Trustees Under Part C of CAMA No.1 of 1990.

If you are confused about what to fill in those forms, ask someone there to assist you. For business name, its really not difficult. For Limited Liability, it can be quite challenging but someone there can just be of help as long as you’ve provided all the requirements in the PDF downloadable above.

Step 3 – Take your completed form to the Federal High Court or State High Court for attestation. That one cost N250. When you get there, ask for where you can do attestation.

When you are through with that, return back to Corporate Affairs Commission office and submit your completed and attested forms. The first person will view it and sign on it and ask you to pass it to the next person who will type it into the computer and print it out for you to see and make amend if necessary.

Make your final payment for the registration into their UBA Bank account usually attached to all the CAC offices, so you don’t need to go elsewhere to make the payment.

When all these have been successfully fulfilled, your business will be up for registration and certification.

For Business Name – Go back for your Certificate after 8 working days or thereabout. As for Limited Company, your certificate will be sent to you once it is ready.

If you like this article, be sure to share it with your friends on Facebook using the Like buttons below. You can also make comments below – ask questions or add to the article. God bless you as you join to make this world a better place.

Diesel Supply

We all know that oil and gas business is one of the most lucrative business in Nigeria. People are making billions of Naira annually and the money in the industry just seem endless! Supply of Diesel also known as AGO (Automated Gas Oil) is one of the most profitable business in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

I have been eying this business since when I was serving but there is no enough capital and I don't want to beg or borrow for this that is why I decided to start with Cyber Cafe the one I can easily afford without stress, and decided to dig deep around to find some facts that will enable me set up this business fast and easy anytime I'm ready by his grace 2016. As usual, I am going to share the findings with you so that you too can tap from the wealth in this sector.

Why supply of diesel is a good business

You know the quality of power supply we currently get in this country? It is nothing to write home about! All the giant diesel generators that power most of our industries run on diesel. MTN alone is said to have over 6,000 diesel generators that power all their base stations across the country and they run on average of 20 hours daily.

If each of those generators consumed 50littres for the 20 hours daily, that will be a total of 50 x 6000 = 300,000 Litres of diesel daily! In a month, MTN generators alone would have consumed 300,000 x 30 = 9,000,000 Litres of Diesel. What a waste!

Now multiply the above figure by all the four GSM Network operators in Nigeria, all the banks and their branches, all the factories, all the agencies and organization, all the media houses, and all the homes that runs almost 24 hours on generators! Needless to tell you that billions of litres of Diesel are avoidably burnt everyday in Nigeria.

In business and supply sense, the best product to deal on is the product that is in high demand. That makes diesel product one of the very product of choice when it comes to Nigerian oil and gas supply business.

Another good thing about Diesel supply business is that it is less complicated and less expensive compared to that of PMS because – Diesel is easier to store and transport due the fact that it is less flammable, unlike PMS that could catch fire from a distance and requires more elaborate storage system that cost fortune.

One of the best part of the business is that you basically do not need to store the product, all you need to do is to market your customers and supply on demand, cash your money and smile to the bank! You can even do the business on a small scare without keeping an office. However, to operate on the standard we are talking about, you must get an office. Don’t get me wrong – Diesel business is a serious business and requires careful planning.

If you get it right believe me, there is millions of naira waiting for you in this business – the issue of profit is like 120% guaranteed. Go ahead and invest provided you have the required capital.

Profit potential for Diesel Supply Business

Just like every good business, there is money to be made in Diesel supply and profit is always there. We are going to base our calculation per litres per truck. You can get 33,000 litres of Diesel from major distributors and NNPC at N2.5 at the unit cost of N78 per litres.

A truck of 33,000 liters of Diesel to retailers like Filling Stations supplied at unit cost of N88 will give you a profit margin of N10. In that case, you will be generating profit of 33,000 x N10 = N330,000 from each supply. That is the lowest profit you can make – profit for 33,000 litres are sometimes up to a million naira.

When you multiply that to how many trucks you are able to supply in a month, you will find out you are in money. The secret to success in diesel supply business in marketing. Expand your horizon, talk to as many companies and individuals as you possibly can. The more you supply, the more profit you make.

In all, a medium scale Diesel supplier that puts everything properly in place makes between 3-5 million naira monthly after expenses. Isn’t that great? 5million naira monthly is a good business by all standard, so go ahead and give it a go!

The figure above gives you idea of what is obtainable! It is by no means the final figures, prices can change and some other factor may come into play. However, everything remains relatively within the estimated range.

If you have additional information you think will add more meaning to this article, feel free to explain it in the comment section and lets expand the topic. We hope to make this article as comprehensive as possible to cover every necessary details we need in starting Diesel supply business in Nigeria because I need this too.

The Requirements for starting Diesel Supply Business

The requirements I'm talking about is the things you need to put in place to ensure a smooth starting of your business. Let us take it one after the other and see how it goes.

1. Register your Business – You need to Register your business either as a Business Name or Private Limited Company. Registration is very important in your business.

Some companies may not want to deal with non traceable individual. If you don’t have a registered company, you may loose out from their deals.

When your company is registered and with a permanent office, people feel more relaxed to do business with you because they know a place they can fall back to should they need to contact you physically at anytime. That is very very important in business.

Again, you have a place you refer people back to when negotiating a deal, something like – My company is Dandy Oil and Gas Ltd. Our office is at No. 123 Ahmadu Bello Way. Then people know you are serious in business. It cost about N50,000 to register a Private Limited Liability Company with the Corporate Affairs Commission.

2. Invest in Brand Equity – This is really not official requirement but very necessary if you hope to Stay Ahead of Competition in your business. Your name do not make much impression as your brand, it is the brand that people get attached to in any business. When you think of MTN what immediately flashed into your mind is the Yellow square logo – Isn’t it?

In this part of the world, people tend to look down on branding while some do it very poorly. Branding is even more important than the business itself, good branding will go a long way to lift your business.

Get professional Graphic artists and brand experts to work on your company’s brand. Let them design professional logo for you and other things like your company letter head, business cards and stationary. Open a corporate account with your registered company’s name, etc. These are very very important in any business too.

The importance of these in your Diesel supply business is that when you present business proposal to your would be clients, every thing will look professional and that helps make very good first impression which is vital for winning contracts.

3. Purchase your Truck -  You can always rent one from haulage companies. However, buying yours is more beneficial and cost effective at the long run. A good truck/ trailer head from Germany or anywhere from Europe cost about 9Million Naira. If you can't get one, go for hire while you save money and buy later

Source for your Diesel Product

There are two major places to buy your product: From Major distributors like Mobil, Texaco, Oando, Total, Conoil, etc... They are major importers of the product and are always looking for distributors. In most cases, they always have the products available though at a higher prices.

The second one is NNPC. They are like the ultimate in terms of prices but not for availability anyway. Approach these two major sources and negotiate your way.

The ultimate when it comes to Diesel importation in Nigeria happened to be Zenon Oil. You can buy your product from Zenon.

Latest Trend! The product is said to be very cheaper in Niger Republic. Some fuel importers import their diesel from the Soraz refinery in Niger at cheaper rate and sell to distributors within the North. If you have your own truck and logistics, you may give it a try, buying from them up North at cheaper rate especially if you are from the North. Else, you may just make do with the others (Zenon, NNPC and Major Distributors) for convenience and security.

Once you have the product aspect covered, your major assignment is marketing. Reach out for potential buyers. Make advert on the daily newspapers and online.

Now throw your questions and add what you know into the comment box and lets expand on this post. I wish you success in your journey to become a Supplier of Diesel oil product.

Petrol Filling Station

Nigeria is one of the biggest oil producing nation in the world with a very huge crude oil deposits around the entire South South, South East, and South West region of the country, both tapped and untapped. Everything about oil is money, from exploration to exportation and marketing (crude or refined product), etc.

Further to being oil producing nation, Nigeria is also one of the biggest consumer of oil products in Africa with about 40 million litres said to be consumed everyday. Why not? All the millions of cars and trucks on the Nigerian roads run on PMS or AGO (petrol or diesel) everyday.

Almost every home in Nigeria have Generator that work sometimes all day to power our homes (I’m writing this article with my laptop powered by generator right now), and most of these millions of generators used in Nigeria run on petrol and diesel.

The Factories, Businesses, Schools, Hospitals, in fact everything in Nigeria depends of power generated privately from petroleum products consuming sets. And all these oil products are dispensed almost 100% through Petrol Filling Stations.Therefore, If you can lay your hands on petrol filling station of your own, to market all these products, you’re in for money. The demands for oil related products are very high, and suppliers seems to just can’t be enough. Even the major oil marketers like Mobile, Total, Oando, Texaco, MRS and so on are always looking for individual marketers who have the needed finance and logistics that they can sponsor in this business.

The current commodity prices for these petroleum refined products are high, and that guarantees more profits for marketers – As at now (Nov, 2013) the prices of petroleum products are:

Petrol – N97.00 per litre
Diesel – N160.00 per litre
Kerosene – N130.00 per litre

These means that in Nigeria where 40million liters is said to be consumed daily on Petrol alone, a total of 97.00 x 40,000,000 =  N3,880,000,000 are spent on fuel daily by Nigerians!

Now let’s assume you buy a full tanker load of fuel with maximum load capacity of 30,000 litres. When the product is completely sold which usually takes less than six days to sell (depending on where your Petrol Filling Station is and the demand at that time), the cash returns expected from one tanker of each of the petrol product sells will be:

1 Tanker of Petrol = N2,910,000

1 Tanker of Diesel = N4,500,000

1 Tanker of Kerosene = N3,900,000

The Expected Profit Return from the sale of these products = N3,200,000. This means, in a week or so, if all the products are sold, you’ll be making profit of 3million Naira!

Your Petrol Station need not necessarily be in the city like Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Port-Harcourt, etc. It can be located in the rural area as these areas are always neglected by the major marketers who prefer the urban areas. Having your Petrol Filling Station in the rural area is far less expensive to set up and to maintain and still guarantee sustainable profit.

In case you’re ready to hit the ground, here is a practical guide and requirements on how to go about setting up your Petroleum product marketing business either in rural or urban area. Enjoy it and drop me a feedback below in the comment box after reading!

Choose The Type of Marketer You Want to Be

There are two types of Petrol Marketers: Dependent Marketers and Independent Marketers. Each of them have both advantages and disadvantages. You’d need to understand these very clearly before choosing which one to go for. You can only be one at a time except you have enough investment capital to build more than one petrol station, use one for Franchise and the other for Independent Marketing.

Who is a Dependent Oil Marketer? -

You are an Dependent Marketer when you holds the Franchise of a Major oil Marketer to market under their name with your own facility fully branded by them. You’ll need to be clear on what the advantages are as that will help you make proper decisions. In my own opinion, it seems the advantages of being a Franchisee of a major marketer is more than the disadvantages

Advantages

1. You will build your business off the brand of The Major Marketer or what I called under the ‘umbrella’ of a Major Marketer.  The Major Marketers are the established brands like, TEXACO, Mobil, AP, Oando, Total, etc.

2. You will be riding on the back of your chosen Major Marketer and inherit their customer base within where your business is located, and as they keep marketing their brand, you keep making business off the popularity.

3. You wouldn’t need to assign Agent and representative to be at the depot on your company’s behalf, your Major Marketer already have that cover for you.

4. You wouldn’t have to pay for your petroleum products using bank draft, you pay directly into your Major Marketer’s account, taking away the hassles that come with it.

5. You will be having your products delivered directly to your filling station and on time by your chosen Major Marketer as they already have the logistics.

6. You will have no business with advertising, your Major Marketer overall brand advertising does that for you too. You just seat back while they do the marketing for you.

7. You will be enjoying some high level of logistic support from a well established brand and build your business off their credibility.

Disadvantages

1. You will miss out from the opportunity of building your own brand and pushing your name forward.

2. You will also miss out from gaining higher profit margin per litre of petroleum products you lift because the prices of products from The Major Marketers are higher. And the subsidy thing too will elude you.

3. Your operation will 100% dependent of your Major Marketer’s terms and conditions and policies. You will be regulated by them, including the prices, and the products you sell.

Who Is Independent Oil Marketer?

A Petrol Filling Station owner who run his business under his own name, buy products directly from NNPC and has a representative and assistant representative at the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) depot by NNPC.

Advantages

1. You run your business under your own chosen name and build your own brand and marketing logistics.

2. You lift products directly from NNPC Depots at lower prices and earn certain amount per every litre of petrol products you lift, and you can source your product anywhere you like.

3. You are free of another company’s policies and standards, you deal directly with the authorities and agencies. You do your business under your own policy and terms.

Disadvantages

1. The minimum quantity of petrol product you can buy from NNPC Depot is one tanker of 30,000 litre that cost within 2million Naira. Therefore, you must find a way to afford it.

2. You must have your own tanker that will be transporting your products or you deal with haulage company which will cost money and delay sometimes in delivering the products.

3. You are in charge of marketing your brand, therefore you have to do some forms of advertising which cost money as well.

4. Payment for petrol products to NNPC requires bank draft issued in the name of NNPC and payable to The Central Bank of Nigeria in the state you intend to lift from. You must employ someone who will be doing that.

5. Each time you lift products, you pay the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) N5,000 for insurance and Association fee.

6. Movement of petroleum products on your own from the depots to your filling stations involves many risks, accidents, fire, extortion, and cost. You’ll have to bear all that.

7. Many times. you may find it very very hard to get a supply from the NNPC, but if you’re a Major Marketer’s Franchisee, you will get supply as much as you want, at any time you want it directly from them.

With these, you can now be able to chose the type of marketer you want to be, and having decided on your choice of marketing status, the next thing is to acquire a property and build your Petrol Station.

Building Your Petrol Filling Station

 

Picture of Petrol Filling Station in Nigeria

 

1. Carryout research and feasibility study about the business structure and the location you intend to situate your business. This is very important as it will help your decision making and form part of your documentation.

Remember, you are making a huge investment, you need to carefully study your Intended Petrol Filling Station environment. After this, you proceed to get Approval to Construct.

2. Basically, your Petrol Filling Station has to be along the major road so that passing vehicles could easily have access to the facility.

3. Closeness to a busy area like motor park, round about, or market is a plus so that vehicles engaging in commercial activities in those area could easily branch and make use of your fuel station to have their tank refilled.

4. If your intended location is by the double lanes express-way, make sure the proposed land for your petrol station is close to a U-Turn or round about.

LAND –

Two plots measurement of land is the minimum property requirement to build your petrol filling station. This will be able to afford enough space for vehicles to queue and make exit turns.

Carefully negotiate price for good landed property, the prices varies from places to places and locations to locations, no specific price could be placed on that here. You will need to find that out using property Agents.

 STORAGE TANK –

After acquiring your property, do the documentation, carryout the proper land survey, and structural design. The next thing is to sink the Underground Storage Tank, these tanks varies in measurements: 30,000 litres, 35,000 litres, 40,000 litres, 45,000 litres, 60,000 litres, etc.

I recommend that you go for high volume tank, like the 45,000 and the 60,000 litres if you intend to be storing extra fuel. If you go for 30,000 litres underground tank and you intend to be lifting full tanker of 30,000 litres, then you will have to always wait until the last drop of fuel in that tank is sold before going for another turn.

CONSTRUCTION –

The petrol station construction engineer will be able to handle that effectively, I wouldn’t go on to tell you the the measurements, construction specifications, and all that (those ones are matter of choices). The Engineers should handle that, but you will need:

A Bungalow – How big or small is entirely your choice depending on the space available and what else you want to add. Do you want Restaurant, Supermarket, and Car Wash? Then, you need bigger bungalow.

Canopy over you Pumps – The shade constructed over petrol station pumps is called Canopy, it protects the pumps and the petrol attendants against the sun and the rain.

Perimeter fence – It’s regulatory requirements to fence the three sides of your petrol filling station, leaving only the entrance open for entry and exit. If you’re on a T-Junction, only two sides would be required to be fenced, the rest two would remain open for easy entry and exit from both joining roads.

Hardcore flooring – Vehicles of different sizes and capacity would be making entry into your petrol filling station when operational. Your floor must be hardcore concrete to resist the pressure from these vehicles.

Standby Generator (25kva to 35kva and above) – Do you need to be told that power supply isn’t stable in this part of the world? As far as petrol station is concerned, power supply is non stop throughout the day, even when the business is closed for the day. Besides, standby generator is one of the requirement for approval.

3-6 Pumps (Electronic) – The pump that dispenses the fuel, you will need between 3 and 6 depending on your size and level of approval you get.

After all these have been done, next is to get your License and Approval.

Staffing Your Petrol Filling Station

Security - This is in my number one in the list of staffs because of the high security risk in the business of having a petrol station due to the expected flow of cash. Security in this country as you and I know is a total mess. Until the cashless policy becomes fully operational and adopted by every individual, security will always be a top priority in this business.

Armed robbers prefer to attack late at night and during the weekends when they hope to meet plenty of cash. Prepare to battle them in all front, enlist the services of private security operatives and pay them well.

Make sure you wouldn’t be leaving plenty of cash within your petrol station at all times, security or no security.

Attendants – You will need 2 petrol attendants for each pump, they would be shifting between them, one person at a time. Multiple that by how many pumps you intends to have, that’s the number of attendants you need to employ.

Cashier – This person will be in charge of handling the cash and keeping records of the cash transactions. Employ an Account and use functional efficient software to keep accurate record of your cash movements.

Supervisor – His duty is to go about making sure everything is in order, both the facility and the staffs. He sees to it that everyone is up to his task and he/she reports back to the manager.

This person must be very reliable and proficient at what he does, must not be a compromising individual.

Manager – He is the superior in charge of the overall function of the petrol filling station and must be experienced with the running oil business. Every other staffs reports to him while he in turn is accountable to you. Carefully chose this person, your business can be make or marred by him. I’ve seen managers run businesses down.

With every thing stated above in place, you are 100% ready for real business and good to go!

Oil and Gas Business

Nigerian oil and gas Industry is the engine of the Nations economy - an economy that suppose to be the biggest in Africa and one of the biggest in the world if not for mismanagement and corruption. Everything in Nigeria practically depends on oil. It funds The Government, the meager infrastructure, and the untold huge corruption that runs into hundreds of billions of dollars!

According to BBC report:  Nigeria is one of the world's biggest oil producers but most of its people remain mired in poverty. Anyway, that is the talk of another day. The business at hand now is that legitimate investors are making millions of dollars everyday and you could just be one of them if you take the step and invest in Nigeria's Oil and Gas sector today.

Oil and Gas is another name for wealth - you need to get close to some guys who are into oil business to understand what I am talking about. At my office complex in Apapa Lagos when I was still serving in 2010, you will see Mercedes Benz cars of N80 million, Bentley of N100 million, Porch cars of N80 million in different shapes models allover the place. Who own those cars? Oil Investors occupying some of the offices in the same complex! That tells you the extent of wealth in the business.

A look into the sector reveals that there is almost business for everyone, this means that no matter who you are and your financial capacity you can still invest somehow in the Industry and make your own mega buck.

Most of the activities is at Downstream sector and that is where most of us can afford to invest. The Upstream sector is mainly for multinationals and big investors who has the money and the expertise.

Before you talk of investing you need to know where to invest, the decision you make after this depends on your capacity. What I mean is: After reading through this post you decide if you can afford building a Refinery or a Kerosene Tank by the roadside. Whichever way you take, you are sure to make good money.

The Investment Opportunities

1. Oil Refinery - This one is the most ambitious of them all and the heart beat of the Downstream sector. It cost between $5 billion to as much as $500 billion to build one and take at least two years to complete. As you can see, this is not business for faint hearted Investors. Refinery requires huge deployment of fund, careful environmental and physical planning and technology.Nigeria-Oil-and-gas

People are trying hard to make me believe that building a refinery isn't economically viable but I don't believe them. I just wonder why people like Dangote and co can not do this even if only as a service to Nigeria and Africa? If I have the money I will surely invest in refinery. I remember in those days when Filling Station owners used to go to the nearby refinery to buy their product directly and the cost of fuel per litre was about N10 then.

If you can afford this or there is anyway you can pull together Investors who are ready to shell out huge fund go for this. You will be buying crude oil here in Nigeria, refine and sell locally to millions of dealers and distributors, export to other African countries and even Europe, plus you make millions of dollars from other petroleum by-products.

You will make your billions back - Dangote and other Billionaires where are you? I think the reason most Nigerian billionaire don't want to invest in this is because they prefer to steal money from Government through importation. We heard what happened during the fuel subsidy scam probe and thereafter?

2. Fuel Importation - This is where all the big men are falling over each other, making untold billions of legitimate and corrupt money. You too can invest in importation and make legitimate money. There is currently importation root from Niger Republic. One of the major requirement for fuel importation is having a Tank Farm or group of filling stations where the imported product can be stored.

Fuel importation is a big money business and heavy infrastructures are also required. To be able to get the importation license and permit, you would need to have fuel depot and functional jetty among other things. Those who are into it are making double kill from the sale of products and Government subsidy money. You can go into this on a very small scale and make good money.

3. Oil Servicing Business - Oil and Gas installations requires constant maintenance and servicing. This is where the business of oil servicing companies comes in. It is one of the most essential aspect of Upstream and Downstream sector of Oil and Gas Industry.

Huge money is flowing in Nigeria oil and gas sector. You and your group can grab part of it take the step and invest now. To be in this, you will need to put together the technology, equipment, and highly skilled personnel.

4. Petrol Filling Station - Thousands of Investors across the country have been making billions of naira annually. It is one cool business, full of money for those who have the investment capital. I know a man some years back who only manage to sustain himself through his local tea making - gradually he raised money and built his first small filling station in a local area - today he has over ten Petrol Filling Stations spread across the states.

5. Petroleum  Haulage - This involves the transportation of petroleum products from one location to another as a service rendering. One Tanker is enough for you to be in this business and it is very lucrative. From one tanker, you can expand to build fleet of Tankers and huge Haulage company.

Tanker owners charge about N150,000 to transport product from Lagos to Kaduna. According to insiders information, the transportation of petroleum products from places like the Port Harcourt refinery to other various parts of the country is indeed good business.

The price for haulage services ranges from N20, 000 to N200,000 per trip, depending on the location the product will be taken to and the capacity of the tanker.

6. Diesel Supply - Many guys are going into this one now and I am considering joining the deal. I wrote article recently on Diesel Supply Business and based on my finding, it is a mega million Naira business.

Consider this:

Product N 139.00 X 33,000Litres of A.G.O         N 4,389.000

                                                            Clearance      N 16,000

                                                            Haulage          N100,000

 

Cost of product is                 ( 33,000Litres)          N 4,587,000

 

SUPPLY: - Supply of A.G.O depends on final destination e.g within Lagos is being supplied at N 150

N 150 X 33,000litres

                                                                                    N 4,950,000

Cost of product         ( 33,000Litres)                  - N 4,587,000

 

                                                                                    N 363,000

 

PROFIT: - For each 33,000lires supplied at the rate of N 150, per litre will yield profit of N 363,000

To start up supply of A.G.O will require at least N 5,000,000 for obtaining necessary documents / paper’s, hiring of truck and buying of product.

A serious beginner will go far at least with N 5million or more he/she will have a successful entrance into the market.

7. Kerosene Business - One thing most people don't know about Kerosene is that the product is actually gotten so cheap from NNPC. From NNPC you can land the product at unit cost of N50 per litre and sell for N120 per litre. That is what filling station owners and other dealers do.

If you lift 10,000 litres and gain at least N50 per litre, you will gain N50 x 10,000 = N500,000.

Share what you know with others by commenting...