This is a Guest Post by Tony from naijaecash.com. He shares his experience with web entrepreneurship in Nigeria and provides answers on how to start a blog without spending a kobo (a dime).

Is it possible to start an online business in Nigeria without spending a kobo? Yes, it is possible. That title is not an exaggeration, neither is it a false claim. Anyway, if you think it is false, just spare 3 minutes of your time and I will convince you otherwise.

Steps To Starting A Simple Online Business

First, I assume that you already have access to internet. After-all, without internet access, you won’t be reading this except you’re reading a printed copy, in that case, you need to consult a relative or friend that has access to the internet. Okay, you need just three things:

1. A website – A domain name or URL that people can type into a web browser and get to you.

2. An E-mail – An electronic mail box where people can send messages to.

3. A quality product or service to market – Something that has VALUE. Anything offered to meet a NEED! The need can be physical, emotional, or even imaginary. A visitor is the one that determines his or her need. It is your job to either satisfy the need or provide relevant information on how it can be satisfied.

Using a Blog to Start an Online Business

The simplest example of an online business I can think of is a blog. A blog is a web-log or electronic diary being maintained online. A blog can be as simple and informal as a scrapbook where you write anything that appeals to you. It can also be an online-asset that generates millions of naira for you annually.

A blog as an online business may provide products or services (either produced by the website owner or being marketed on behalf of the producer) for visitors to the website to buy. However, majority of blog do not sell product or service directly, instead, they provide free information just like the local TV that air their programs freely. Such bloggers make money by displaying advertisement from sponsor to their visitors, just like the commercial breaks on TV.

Starting an online business using a blog is much more simpler than setting up any other kind of online business. This site you are on is a very good example of a blog that is an online business. The web-address of this blog is http://www.startupsnigeria.com Anytime this URL (also known as domain name) is typed into a web browser, it will lead you straight to this site and not another site. Please, note that the name StartupsNigeria.com is not free, it is paid for, I don’t know how much Loy paid, if you’re curious, ask him

Also, the blog is hosted by a webhosting company. The webhosting company is responsible for ensuring that the content published by the webmaster of StartupsNigeria is always available on the Internet 24/7 all year round. Note: This service is not free.

Using FREE Resources to Start an Online Business

Like I promised, you can start a business without spending a kobo. That means, you can get a business set up online without paying a kobo. All you need to do is set up a business blog with free resources. For example, www.blogger.com and www.wordpress.com will provide you with a website free of charge.

Any of those two big websites will give you a free sub-domain name and a free web hosting plan. Please, note I said sub-domain name! Yes, the free URL will be something like www.mysite.blogspot.com or www.mysite.wordpress.com.

I highly recommend getting a free sub-domain name and free hosting from www.blogger.com. All that you will be required to do is visit the website and create an account with Google (the account comes with a free Gmail email address) and you are good to go. If you need any assistance setting up the blog, you can contact me.

Get A Quality Product or Service to the Market

Millions of people surfing the internet are looking for ways to satisfy their needs. While many are searching for free solution, some are willing to pay. So, invariably if you can provide the solution to those needs or information on how the solution can be gotten, then people will be willing to pay you. Simple, isn’t it. However, that is where the problem lies. Whose need are you going to satisfy?

This is the most difficult aspect of starting an online business. It is at this point that a lot of newbie online entrepreneur fail. Instead of asking, What need am I going to provide solution for? They ask What product or service should I market? Please note that success in online business is dependent on people’s needs being met. You can’t become successful by cajoling or deceiving people to buy products or services that you think are fantastic. Once they discover that it does not meet their need, they will blacklist you. So, the issue is You must identify a NEED you want to help people satisfy and it must be something you are PASSIONATE about (sometimes, it takes time to identify this).

Let’s use my blog, Nigerian Entrepreneur as an example. I am passionate about Nigeria and Nigerians. I have identified that there is a need to educate Naija brothers and sisters on how to start and run an online business from Nigeria. So, I have a blog that talks about that. Please note that I did not start my blogging career with that website, I actually did some trial and error blogging for about six months (in the process learning from mistakes and accumulating experience). I actually did that using the same free resources I recommended above. One of those trial and error blogs eventually generated the fund that I used in purchasing the present website name and hosting.

Recommended Action Plan

1. Make a list of your personal interest, hobbies, things you don’t like, things that infuriate you, things you wish for etc.
2. Having made the list, ask yourself, out of this lot, which are the five I am most passionate about.
3. From the five, ask yourself, which one can I talk about, argue about and work on tirelessly for six months none stop.

If you carry out that exercise, you will have at least a good guess of what you can blog about. Next create a blog by registering with www.blogger.com. Make the blog a personal online diary, and start writing to it everyday for about a month. Feel free to write about other things beside the main topic of interest, as you do this, start visiting and socializing online with other bloggers.

Very soon, you will discover if you are truly passionate about your chosen topic or you have something better. Within three to six months, you would have acquire enough skill online to make a good choice on a niche (a category of people’s need) you want to concentrate on. Then you can open another blog and concentrate on developing that one into an asset. By that time, you may opt to spend some little amount of money on domain name and hosting package (don’t get scared, the cost is less than the amount you currently spend on drinks and snacks every month, N550 will get you a good package, ask Loy).

I hope this post have provided you with an insight into the possibility of starting an online business as a Nigerian without spending kobo. The post was not meant to answer all your questions, it is just an introduction to a topic that cannot be exhausted in a day. For more suggestions, you can visit my website Nigerian Entrepreneur. If you need further assistance, I am willing to hold your hand and guide you step by step until you have a blog you can proudly call your own. The service for now is free, maybe I may charge some consultancy fee in the future (just kidding) ;-).

If you have a question, I suggest you post it in the forum at www.naijaecash.com/forum. That way, the answers provided will be documented for other newbies that may have similar questions. This is better than writing emails to me. Wishing you a successful venture online. Cheers, Tony.