HOW TO START A TRANSPORTATION BUSINESS IN NIGERIA

The transportation sector is one of the booming industries in the country today with a lot of business prospects coming from the industry. It offers a number of opportunities for individuals to actually get a way to start a business and also make good amounts of money from it. In Nigeria, getting involved in the transportation business is one of the most lucrative businesses you can find. There are different means of transportation in Nigeria and while some people have cars and other means of transportation, others don’t and this makes it a good business idea. In Nigeria, starting a transportation business could either mean getting a bus or car, or a tricycle or in some cases, a motorcycle.

Buses are one of the popular means of transportation in Nigeria and they are mostly used to go through long distance journeys. They could move from one city to another, and even one state to another. Though buses are mostly used for this kind of journeys, cars are also now being used to convey people to far distances. In Nigeria today, buses are one regular part of the transportation sector. There are a lot of people who do not have cars, and buses become their best option to move from place to place at a price.

Tricycles or “Keke Napep”, as they’re popularly called in Nigeria, is quick becoming one of the fast rising businesses in Nigeria. Since it’s introduction in Nigeria during the tenure of Olusegun Obasanjo in 2002 as a measure to alleviate poverty and give people a chance to make a living, more people have continue to look at the business as one of the bright prospects in the business world judging by the ever increasing number of the tricylcles out on roads almost everyday. The business is quite lucrative as it could bring in huge amounts of profits depending on the routes you choose for the business. Keke is one of the safest means of transportation in the country and is mostly used for short distance journey or rather not too far distances.

Motorcycles or “Okada”, as they’re popularly called, is one of the fastest means of transportation in the country today. A lot of people love entering motorcycles especially when they have a quick appointment or they need to be somewhere as soon as possible. It is infact very fast and only takes a few minutes to get to your destination. Unlike buses and tricycles, it is for even shorter distances due to restrictions in some part of the country though sometimes it can also go to distances the keke can go. A number of people go into this aspect of the transportation sector due to its high demand, low cost of the machine and also the love it gets from customers.

The transportation industry and its different aspects of business has a lot of benefits for individuals who plan to start the business. One, for instance, is that individuals get to start a business where they’re the bosses and decide how to run it. Except in few cases where some get to work for someone, they are actually business owners and enjoy their profits alone. Also, it offers them the opportunity to dive into a sector with huge prospects and a very big chance of making huge profits. A lot of people patronize the different transportation avenues everyday and you’re bound to definitely get customers every day.

Starting the business is not really a hard thing to do when the capital is readily available. The capital helps to properly kick start the business. However, there are two forms when it comes to starting the business. You can either decide to be your own boss, get the means of transport you plan to go into, and start up the business on your own or you can choose to get involved in hire purchase. In this case, you get to buy the bus or tricycle or motorcycle and then you give it to someone who will use it to make money for you. In one way, the person works for you and in the other, the person is doing the work on their own. This is because in hire purchase, the individual is buying the means of transportation instalmentally and based on agreement, the person has to give you a certain amount of money after a period of time. Other cases, the person works for you full time and is not at all interested in buying but only to make their own salary or gain.

You can decide to either pick any of the two but regardless of whichever one you select, you’re sure to get your profits from the business. In the next sub heads, I’ll be discussing the steps involved in starting a transportation business in Nigeria and some of the factors that will prove useful in getting the business to make you regular profits.

1. RESEARCH

As always, the research is very important to the start of any business. It is only right that you’re well equipped with enough information about a business before venturing into it. There are a number of things that become uncovered in the course of the research and it makes some things clearer and gives you a good idea of what the business entails and if it will be a good choice or not. The essence of research is typically to get informed about the neccesary things on the business

Things like how to go about operations, aspects of the business, cost of starting the business, ways to properly set up and also maintain the business are made known. For a transportation business like this, there are quite a lot of things to know. There are transportation experts and bus, tricycle or motorcycle owners who have been in the industry for a while, you can visit them and ask questions and look to get reliable answers from them. After concluding the research, individuals must’ve been clear about what it takes to run a successful transportation business, the risks involved, the different routes available and how to sustain the business in the long run.

2. SELECT THE MEANS OF TRANSPORT AND THE MODE OF OPERATION FOR THE BUSINESS

As I’ve mentioned earlier, there are three main transportation methods in Nigeria today and there are buses, keke and Okada. Select the one you’ll be dealing with and find out all you need to know about the one you’ve selected. They all have their different modes of operations and you’ll need to understand that after picking the one to specialize on. Also, you’ll have to decide if you’ll be the one in charge of the business or you’ll be employing someone who will operate the mode of transportation selected. If you’ll be going for hire purchase, ensure that you thoroughly interview the person you’ll be working with and make sure the person knows about the business.

3. LEARN HOW TO DRIVE AND GET A DRIVERS LICENSE

If you’ll be the one operating the business, ensure you know how to drive or ride the mode of transportation you’ve selected. And afterwards ensure you get a license. You cannot drive a bus, car, tricycle or Okada without a license, it’s almost as important as every other aspect of the business. If you can drive, enroll and take a class or rather seek the help of a professional to put you through.

4. GET THE MODE OF TRANSPORT AND GET REGISTERED

It is at this stage you’ll get bus, car or whichever one you’ll be selecting. The keke and the motorcycle are the cheapest to get as compared to the bus and car though you can also get a used one for a fairly reasonable price. Then after that, you’ll need to get papers for whatever you’ve selected. There are a number of papers you’ll need to get to confirm that you’re able to get your vehicle or tricycle or motorcycle on the road without being harassed by regulatory authorities. Also, you’ll need to register with the union and the park authorities across the routes you’ll be passing through.

5. GET STARTED.

That’s about all and the business can then be started. One important tip to consider when starting this business is that you should make sure you know the different routes in the area you’ll be going through and also make sure you’re honest and hardworking as it could get you more customers and also help you earn the trust of customers who might eventually require your services for personal trips in your mode of transportation. And with all that, you’re sure to start making your profit.