Earn more money- develop a side hustle

Everyone wants to earn more money; even Dangote and Bill Gates do too. But if you are a man or woman with a regular 8-5 job (which actually means 6:00am to 8:00pm in Lagos, Nigeria) and the pay isn’t so great, the picture may seem a little bleak because you ain’t just got the time.  Or you have something you are passionate about and would love to make it a money spinner but you don’t want to leave the comfort a regular pay check provides. Welcome, this post is for you. I will group your options into two kinds- passive and active. The passive options don’t require more than few hours a month- just to monitor your investment while the active options will take at least a few hours per week. I will be discussing the active options first and the passive options in my next post.
Selling products online – E commerce started in Nigeria a couple of years ago and has grown in worth to over 12billion dollars since inception. You could either open an online shop with the heavyweights ( Konga, Jumia) for a fee or put a free online advert  on tons of sites e.g Jiji, OLX etc.  One of the advantages of opening an online shop with the bigwigs is that they have shipping options which do not involve you personally delivering the goods to every customer, which save you time and money though you have to register and pay a percentage of your sales to them.  And if you decide to use the free advert sites, there are quite a number of logistics and transport companies who will handle your deliveries while you sit in the comfort of your office e.g Dhl, Redstar, Ace, Nipost etc. There are over 53 million people who use the internet in Nigeria, find your niche- from jerseys to electronics, toys, gym equipment. The possibilities are endless. 

Selling services online– Would it surprise you to know that people would pay you money on the internet to do simple things like entering data on a spreadsheet? Well, this is the 21st century, where the internet keeps breaking barriers. There are several sites- Elance, Fiverr etc where you could offer services to a wide range of people. From graphic design, transcription to writing articles and homework, there is something you can do to earn extra income. The software gurus have better chances here because there are more and more software businesses that are open to having members of their team working remotely. So if you are a ruby or python programmer, a user experience engineer or a very good web programmer, there are lots of people who need your services. You can check out these sites- weworkremotely.com, remoteok.io, https://www.flexjobs.com. There are also options available locally- http://www.gigsnigeria.com, http://www.sourcegig.com, http://www.justfrom5k.com etc

Weekend services– There are businesses in Nigeria where all the action takes place on weekends-weddings, birthday parties and events. Baking, event photography, catering, make up are all businesses that can be done strictly during the weekend. Even being a part time hairdresser or estate agent isn’t a bad idea. You can even tutor what you do as your day job on weekends e.g data analysis, excel modelling, accounting etc. Sites like tutor.ng, https://www.tuteria.com allow you to tutor remotely and get paid for it.

There you have it. If you have more ideas on how to earn extra income, please add them in the comment box.

Business Lessons from the Streets 2

 In the previous series,I talked about the exploits of bus conductors and drivers in Lagos and the reasons for their continued dominance of the Lagos metropolis. I will be adding a few more reasons why I think these guys are so successful at what they do.

Dependability: From the crack of dawn, the yellow buses are already up and about the city, conveying commuters to their various locations till after midnight. I haven’t known them to ever go on strike and even when the occasional/not so occasional  fuel scarcity hits town, they are still seen plying their trade.

Skills: If you are ever stuck in a gridlock/ traffic jam which Lagos is famous for and woe betide you: you have a deadline to meet and you are on one of those roads where commercial motorcycles are banned, you would appreciate better the  badass driving skills of these guys. They weave in out and out of lanes with prowess with as little damage as possible though provoking the ire of other road users and even perform some stunts in the name of overtaking. They are familiar with every inroad and byroad in Lagos to avoid gridlock and there are a lot of inroads in Lagos. They also never get lost. I doubt if they ever get lost and ask for directions.

Organization: Their trade unions are quite organized, this is noteworthy because most of their members are semi literate. They have a quite established pecking order and the heads of these unions are quite famous people in society. They also have designated routes and also designated touts collecting fees for the unions and assisting in getting passengers.

Lagos is a constantly changing metropolis but yet the yellow buses and their owners have become a constant feature in the city. They have become a culture symbol of the city and I have no doubt that they would continually adapt to the evolving challenges of business in Lagos.

Business Lessons from the Streets 1

      There is a new business school in town and guess what, IT IS FREE. Its actually been around for a long while but you know, word hasn’t really gotten out. The only requirements in this school are, “eyes that see”, “ears that hear” and an open and sharp mind.
      Without much ado, may I introduce you to our first lecturers. I have to do an introduction because they are real special. Hmmmmmm (clearing throat), “without a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Business/Marketing, they have dominated the business ecosystem in Lagos and even become a symbol of Lagos, home and abroad, ubiquitous in almost all streets of Lagos, I present one of Eko’s finest and unsung hustlers-
   
Commercial Bus drivers and conductors aka Molue drivers, danfo drivers, touts, agberos.

Tools of trade: A yellow painted bus, a mouth awash with
                          expletives, well muscled hands (to wrestle erring
                          passengers), Bad driving skills, proper vehicle
                          registration papers ( which they never possess
                          by the way), membership of the umbrella body
                          NURTW which stands for National Union of Road
                          Transport Workers and knowledge of all the
                          inroads and byroads in Lagos.
Competition:   LAGBUS ( Government assisted transport buses),
                         Okada (Commercial Motorcycle riders), Trains,
                         Keke (Commercial tricycle riders),private car
                         owners etc.
These guys generate billions of naira yearly and I am not sure they pay taxes. There are a few reasons why these guys have become so successful.

Ubiquitous: In the nooks and crannies, byways and highways of Lagos down to outskirts of the city, the yellow familiar buses are there, providing services to all and sundry.

Ingenious: Many of them could almost make a career in automobile engineering. They come up with foolhardy to almost unbelievable solutions to their problems as they ply their trade. They ply their rickety vehicles and fix them until they work somehow. They come up with all manners of excuses when they are on the wrong side of the law and do bizarre things to escape e.g stripping.

Incredible network: They understand networking and use it so well (without LinkedIn). From the helmsmen brokering in the chambers of power with government officials to the individual members who know every policeman, LASTMA officials, VIO and touts on their route, they are harnessing all their contacts to produce their desired results.

Essential services: They provide a service so essential to the commercial hustling and bustling of the city. Have you ever wondered what will happen if they go on strike for one week? Absolute Chaos. Millions of Lagosians depend on them to carry out their various economic activities everyday. For now, they have few competitors.

I would continue the piece in my next article. Please share your thoughts in the comment box.

Photo: the nakedconvos.

   

Eko-Ile/ Lasgidi

EKO! EKO!! EKO!!!
     Almost every Nigerian knows Lagos. In the hearts of many Nigerians,it is the centre of commerce and trade, and still the land of mythical gold, in whose streets fortunes are made. Despite being the smallest state in land size, it is the most populated with an estimated population of 17.5million and still growing, due to the hundreds of thousands who troop in yearly to find their fortune. Lagos is expected to be a mega city by 2020.

   Lagos or Lasgidi as it is fondly called by Nigerian youths is the heart of the Nigerian economy producing 12% of the nation’s GDP as at 2013. 20% of the total SME’s in Nigeria are in Lagos making it the uncrowned home of hustlers. Recently, Lagos was ranked the 5th best city in the world for efforts to foster entrepreneurial culture in 2015 by Youthful Cities Index and 1st in total early state entrepreneurial activity. YAAAAY! Lasgidi not doing bad at all! Also Lagos is ranked 4th in Nigeria for ease in starting a business by the World Bank. With the second largest per capita income in Nigeria ( Abuja is first),definitely Lagos is
one city that favors entrepreneurship and hustling.
   But this city does have its con’s; cutthroat competition, high cost of living, insufficient infrastructure, traffic and the likes are drawbacks to doing business in Lagos.
    Yet Lagos is still thriving, yes obviously from the throngs at Oshodi, to the bustling markets in Idumota, Alaba and Yaba filled with almost everything you can think of, it is a hustler’s dream
     To all my Lasgidi hustlers, I salute.
      Eko o ni baje, o baje ti.
   

Redefinition

Who is a naijahustler?
To define this, we take a look at the meaning of ‘hustler’ in several dictionaries.
One says: one who pretends to be an amateur at a game in order to win bets, a pimp, a prostitute. Nahnah, this is not the definition we are looking for.
According to Urban dictionary, a hustler is someone who knows how to get money from others,selling drugs,rolling dice, pimping etc. This is still negative. Further down this dictionary, we see another definition which is much better:
‘ A hustler is the way one lives his life. Going out on the streets or wherever making money and working hard for it. A hustler is not lazy he’s consistently out earning money. He gets the money by using his smarts and outcunning everyone out there. A hustler has ambition and a more serious approach to life than that of a gangsta or a pimp.’
This is one of my favs-  H.U.S.T.L.E.R – How U Survive This Life Everyday, Resourcefully.
It is cool to see this definitions in the urban dictionary because they stand for the definitions of the everyday person.
Now, back to the original question-  who is a naijahustler?
This is my humble definition/redefinition: A naijahustler is a Nigerian with a passion to better his/her life positively using whatever means or resources he/she has
When you hear hustle, youth comes to mind. The nigerian youth is either regarded as dishonest or criminally minded. It is an unfair description and I intend to change this popular description  in mass media to who we really are.

NAIJAHUSTLERS

The Beginning

Welcome to Naijahustlers!
This blog is about the experiences of a Nigerian and other nigerians who believe that in Naija, you can hustle your way to the top and that this country presents countless opportunities to those who possess the courage to tackle the challenges of doing business in this terrain.
I will  be celebrating the successful and encouraging those who plan to venture out into their own businesses.
Whatever you do, as long as you believe you can make it in this country as an entrepreneur, you are a Naijahustler.
Welcome once again.