How to start a wholesale provision store in Nigeria

Nigeria is one of the largest black nations out of Africa. It has an estimated population of 210 million people, and these people have daily requirements they must meet, no matter how unstable the economy system of the country is.

Now, talking about how to start a provision store in Nigeria, the question that will pop-up in your mind is “Is the selling of provisions profitable in Nigeria?” In this article, you’ll learn how to start a profitable wholesale provision busines in Nigeria.

You’ll also learn profitable products to start a provision business in Nigeria, and how much it will cost (startup capital) to open a provision store. Hence, let’s get started!

How do I start a wholesale provision store in Nigeria?

To start a wholesale provision store in Nigeria is a very simple task. However, you’ll need to create a business plan and a startup capital for a start. For full details, follow those steps highlighted below to start a whole provision business in Nigeria.

Create a business plan

A business plan is a fundamental aspect of every startups. No matter how small your business maybe, apart from making you a professional, it’ll also boost your business progress.

The main goal for creating a business plan is that you won’t miss any important decisions once everything is documented initially. The business plan for your wholesale provision store should include:

Startup capital, running capital, company overview, company analysis, competitive analysis, market research, marketing plan and operating plan.

Financial Institutions and Investors (such as business incubators and accelerators) can request your business plan (alongside a proposal) before lending you a business loan, or funding your startup.

Raise startup capital

Startup capital is also known as startup cost: is how much that will be enough to start your wholesale provision store in Nigeria. Once you’ve draft your business plan, the next thing is to fundraise your startup capital.

There several ways to raise startup capital, some of them include Angel investors, incubator and accelerator, bootstrapping, venture capital, business partnering, personal saviing e.t.c.

Additionally, You can also apply for business loans in some financial organizations such as thrift cooperative societies, microfinance, and commercial banks to fundraise your provision store startup capital.

However, to start a wholesale provision store in Nigeria, you’ll need a N1million startup capital on average. If you can’t raise up that amount, you can go with less stocks and start with N500K. 

Apart the startup capital, you’ll also need money for operational cost such as electricity bills, salaries for employees and freelancers, subsequent rent billing, unplanned contingencies e.t.c.

Rent a large shop

Next, you should get an affordable site to map your provision shop. Ensure your wholesale provision store is located in a busy area with little or no crime record.

Additionally, ensure your provision shop is by the road side, and it’s structured to withstand rain, storms and other harsh weather conditions to avoid goods damages during weather hazard.

Competition is another important factor that worth considering when choosing location to site your wholesale provision store. To avoid running out of business before you even start, it’s advisable to consider another location If there are already more than 2 wholesale stores in the locality selling products similar to yours.

Brand and register your business with CAC

To brand your wholesale provision store, you’ll need to register your business name with Corperate Affairs Commission (CAC). Not just that, branding a business involves registering your business name, designing your logo, printing business cards, getting a customized uniform for your store workers, etc.

The benefits for branding and registering your business name with CAC includes; ability to opt-in for business loan and other financial support, ability to open a coperate or business bank account to manage business transactions e.t.c.

Furthermore, branding your wholesale provision store with logo, cards and other branded identities will potentially convince customers to buy goods from your store in bulk.

Get working materials such as Furnitures

As a wholesaler, it’s important to get all the necessary equipment and materials to keep your provision store up and running. Some provision products and goods are perishable while some needs to be kept in a dry environment and of course, away from pest.

Hence, you’ll need equipment such as refrigerator, furnitures such as table and chairs, shelves to showcase your goods, a medium-sized room, insecticides to keep way pets and insects e.t.c. in your wholesale provision store.

Stock your provision shop and acquire a distributor rights.

Once you’ve got all the equipment needed to keep your store running, next you should start loading  goods and products directly from manufacturer to your provision store so that you can sell at wholesale price.

Some manufacturers may require you to apply for distributor rights, and these may cost you around ₦100,000 or less. Examples of manufacturers that require distributor rights include Coca-Cola, cement, instant noodles, and other big companies.

Hire a sales representative

A sales representative or assistant or store keeper will be needed whether you like it or not. Since you claimed to be a wholesaler, you must be dealing with moving of bags, cartons, kegs, e.t.c.

Infact, some of your customer may demand for home delivery. So, it’s vivid you cannot do all these jobs all by yourself. Hence, you’ll need a sales representative, cashier, store keeper, drivers and more depending on how fast your provision store is growing.

In summary, these are just the simple steps to setup and stock your wholesale provision store in Nigeria. 

FAQs about starting a provision store in Nigeria.

Is selling of provisions profitable in Nigeria?

Yes! selling provisions in Nigeria is a very lucrative and profitable way to make money offline. Since everyone must brush teeth everyday, bath with soap, drink milk or soft drink, amongst other things. As a result, the wholesale provision store is a very profitable and lucrative business in Nigeria.

However, to make provision business more profitable in Nigeria, you must implement business supply chain model. That’s, you will buy these products in bulk from manufacturers and then resell them to other sellers and end consumers.

Which Goods & Products are most profitable for a wholesale provision store in Nigeria?

Here is the list of goods and products that are most profitable for wholesale provision seller in Nigeria:

• Washing and bathing soaps
• Toothpaste
• Softdrinks and beverages
• Bodyspray and performs
• BabyDiapers
• Haircream
• Liquidantiseptic
• Babyfoods
• Biscuits
• Bodylotion
• Bread
• Cornflakes
• Hairrelaxers
• Water Dispenser Bottles
• Instantnoodles and spaghetti
• Salt Maggi, Palmoil, Groundnut oil and other kitchen ingredients
• Sugar
• TakeawayPlastics and disposables
• Bread
• Insecticide such as snipper
• Umbrella
• Custard
• Razorblades
• Cigarette
• Nescafe
• Drycell batteries and lots more.

Generally, any product being used in the household daily will be very profitable for a wholesale provision store in Nigeria.

How much does it cost to open a wholesale provision store in Nigeria?

On average, estimated money to start a provision store in Nigeria is N1,000,000. But If you’re starting small, you can open a provision store with a startup capital of N500,000.

Conclusion

No matter how worst Nigeria economy may be, people cannot stop buying and using provisions in the house. This has made the business idea more profitable in Nigeria.

A as wholesaler in the supply chain, you can consider wholesale provision selling as a very profitable business opportunity and make good money. Start your wholesale provision store today!

Thanks for reading this article. I hope you find this article interesting. Please share your opinion and experience about wholesale provision store and share this article with your friends and families.