How to Start a Profitable ECommerce Business is the crux of this article. This is to guide you into giving your business all the needed online presence.
Starting an ECommerce Business from Scratch
Read Also: Top E-commerce Companies in Nigeria
You may have read our expository articles on E-commerce and want to invest in the budding subsector considering the profitability potential, this article will fill you in with an explicit step-by-step procedure on how to go about starting your own e-commerce business in Nigeria.
How to Start E-Commerce Business in Nigeria
Read Also: Top E-commerce Companies in Nigeria
Here are the Guides on How to Start E-Commerce Business in Nigeria:
1. Get a name for your business
You have to select a unique name that is short but long enough to give a prospective customer an idea of what you do at one glance.
The name you select must be such as you can build a brand around it. This name will also be your domain name. Usually, you have to buy the domain name when the name generator has notified you that the name has not been taken by another business.
Read Also: History of E-Commerce in Nigeria
2. Registration with Cooperate Affairs Commission (CAC)
This is important because you will be required to present a certificate of registration before a bank account can be opened with your business name, this will win the confidence of your customers and contribute a great deal to the fight against cybercrime and internet fraud that may occur as a result of buying and selling online. Apart from this, you will also need it to procure the legal documents needed to run your business.
3. Online Store Setup
If you have no prior knowledge of coding or web design and development, the best setup tools to use would be one of the following; Woocommerce, Squarespace, WordPress, and Shopify, to name a few. These ones are very user-friendly and not too complex to be understood.
Read Also: 7 Importance of E-commerce in Nigeria
4. Secure a Payment Gateway
Payment gateways are platforms that facilitate online payments. Usually, it is advisable to have both online and offline payment options for your business to create alternatives for the not-so-techy clients or customers who will be patronizing your business.
Some examples of payment gateway options available in Nigeria are Flutterwave, Paystack, Interswitch, and PayU. It is best to look up a variety of these gateways, weigh the options and pick the one which has more to offer to you, your business, and your clients.
5. Get a marketing strategy
There are a number of marketing options that you could explore. They are collectively called digital marketing channels and some of them are Email marketing, social media marketing, and content marketing.
These three can be potent platforms through which small business owners can get to reach a larger audience of existing and potential customers.
The need to create an online presence for your business, however small it is, cannot be overemphasized. Social media is a good place to build your brand.
Read Also: How to become a Freelancer in Nigeria
6. Leverage on available software
You can be a lot more productive by using software like email marketing software to manage your customer relationships.
Technology is here to make our lives easier and using its creative tools on your online store or business can save you unnecessary stress and help you meet up with the demands of your business even on days when you have a really tight schedule.
