Top 4 Small Businesses To Start With Low Capital in Africa

Do you have a dream of becoming a young CEO, but you cannot roll out your plan because you do not have millions to invest in your dream business?

What if I told you that there are businesses you can start with little to no capital and make millions in a year and possibly in a month depending on how well you invest in the business. 

Starting a business is usually a Herculean task, especially when you do not have the capital, but with the right idea and a great plan, you can turn your dream into reality. 

In our world today, small businesses are taking over the sales market with their innovative and creative approaches to making it known to potential customers. With the help of technology, it is an easy job to locate clients with just one click even if they are not around you. 

All it takes now for a business to thrive is the dedication to using the right tools and platforms to advertise to your target audience. 

This is no joke or scam to make you waste your money and time but active businesses that can get you what you need to stop worrying about money. Here are the top four businesses you can start with little to no capital in Africa. 

1. Affiliate  Marketing

Simply put, affiliate marketing is a marketing module where a business rewards affiliates for promoting their goods. If you are an affiliate marketer for Jumia, this means anything someone purchases using your link will fetch you a percentage earned by the company and the individual seller.

There are a lot of business and marketing platforms that offer affiliate marketing services. Platforms like Digistem, Amazon, Shopify, Jumia, etc offer these services. While you can register to be an affiliate marketer for free on some of the platforms, others, like Digistem, require you to pay a registration fee to access the platform fully. To start this business, you need to research more on the various affiliate marketing platforms, find out their pros and cons, learn marketing strategies, and choose the best fit to begin your journey. When in doubt, you can always reach out to successful affiliate marketers for guidance or watch reviews from YouTube. 

2. Sales Of Girly Essentials

This is one of the fastest small businesses you can start with low capital. There are a lot of items for females that are currently selling high on the market. Every year, there are new trends for women that tend to catch the attention of everyone. Even those who do not care much about trends end up patronizing some of these items because they are must-haves. If you want to go into this kind of business, you should consider the sales of scrunchies, hair bonnets (customized), customized tote bags, bow clips, hair clips, face sheet masks, eye masks, lip masks, perfumes and perfume oils, room decor, etc.

The best way to sell these items is to make them into a package and give them an affordable price. For instance, you could have a package that consists of one face mask sheet, lip mask, eye mask, scrunchy and a hair clip then you give it a price that will fetch you profit and also be affordable to your buyers. This is not a get-rich-quick scheme, but in a matter of months, you would have a large client base. To be successful at this, content creation with the items using very girly bright colors will always catch viewers attention on platforms like TikTok. 

3. Freelance Writing

This business module can be started with no capital, as you just have to show your skills and bid for jobs on freelancing platforms. Freelancing simply means self-employed, which suggests that the work is yours; you just need to write for clients at your own time and place. If you are a good writer, this job is one of the options, as you don’t have to be moving from place to place. It is mostly done remotely, and all you need is a stable internet connection and the writing skill. You can get writing gigs from platforms like Fiverr, Freelancer, Upwork, LinkedIn, etc. 

4. Virtual Assistant

A virtual assistant is also a freelancer. The work of a virtual assistant is to provide technical, creative and administrative assistance to clients. Virtual assistants work remotely, and their work is similar to that of a personal assistant. The only difference between the two is that the personal assistant works onsite while the virtual assistant works from home and at their own time.

Some popular works of the virtual assistant is to plan and schedule the day for a client, book and confirm their appointments, plan their travel, buy their tickets, take charge of lodging, send and respond to emails, etc. 

If you want to become a virtual assistant, the best platforms to find gigs are rev.com and freelancer. It is important to carefully read and further research into these jobs to find the one that best suits you. Don't  rush into things because you need a get-rich-quick scheme.