Christmas!
The season of ornamented conifer trees, fireworks, fried rice and chicken. That time of the year, in which the noise of cities retreats to pleasure centres, and the villages swell with returnees and reunited families. The days in which the markets swarm with hordes of humans seeking bargains, and merchants looking to make bumper sales. It’s love and lucrative
deals, merriment and money making.
Christmas means business!
But what if you’re losing out on the commercial side of things? Maybe your pocket’s empty, and you’re wondering how you’ll get through a joy-filled season that punishes the less well-off with ‘happy prices.’ How about getting on the other side of the shop desk- the side that rakes in the cash?
If you are keen on keeping your bank account healthy this
Christmas (or having something to celebrate the precious season), this article is for you. Here, we’ll let you into seven businesses you can start right now that’ll fetch you real profit. Take a look.
1.Christmas trees and decorations
You can sell artificial Christmas tres and decorations to people, who want to give their homes a look in tune with the season. Christmas trees and lights are becoming more popular with Nigerians, as the western tradition of wintery Christmas catches on in these parts. And it’s not just in homes; businesses use them too, as do streets and public gathering spaces.
We might not manage to reproduce the snow and Santa’s sledge and reindeer as effectively as we’ve done for the conifers and ‘Father Christmas’ himself. But at least, we have the trees and shiny decorations to go with. They help us evoke the Christmas feeling, and they could bring us some good money as well.
- Clothing
‘Christmas clothes’ are an integral part of the Nigerian Christmas tradition. And, as is the case with every other big seasonal tradition, there’s money to be made from it.
Children’s wears are particularly saleable in the final month or two of the year, so you might want to get going with kids’ clothing. You might run this as a retail business or make the clothes on order if you’re skilled enough to do the design and tailor it yourself.
Adults aren’t left out. They too want to add to their wardrobe collection (or to those of people they know), or completely change them, if they have the money to do so. Whatever the age group, there’s usually a spike in demand for clothing in the yuletide season. You could find a wholesale supplier or producer, take a portion of their wares, and do brisk business with those this Christmas.
- Cupcakes
While grandiose flour-and-sugar constructs appear to dominate festive tables this season, the smaller cupcakes actually guarantee greater revenues in comparison. Not everyone will be able to buy the large cake from the big food franchise in the high brow part of town. Cupcakes fill the space of their bigger, more expensive cousins for many Nigerians, so selling them for quick profit this Christmas won’t be a bad idea.
The cupcake business isn’t just for short seasons of sugary joy. Perhaps you could take the chance presented by Christmas to found a cupcake enterprise, and build it up from there. If your customers like your treats, they’ll keep coming back for more, long after the holidays are over.
It’ll be a good thing if you can make the cakes yourself. But if you can’t, you may join up with someone who can, and starts selling sweet bakes to a public seeking sweet joys.
- Poultry meat and beef
Christmas isn’t great for chickens, but it’s the time for everyone in the poultry product supply chain to jack up their profits. The good news is, starting the poultry meat retail business doesn’t have to be painfully capital intensive. If you want to cut costs, you should consider sourcing your chickens and turkeys directly from the farms. A good deep freezer can keep your products in fine condition even with a few power cuts.
Beef and chevon (goat’s meat) also sell pretty well, when it’s Christmas.
- Catering
When many people think of Christmas, they think of food. Lots of food. The one, who makes the Christmas food dreams of Nigerians come alive, will be rewarded handsomely.
The big selling points for catering services at
Christmas are festive events. Because such occassions are frequently organized at the end of the year, caterers record a big jump in orders and revenues at this time. You can help fill the bellies of many this season- for a good price. Just start off from your home, with one or a few assistants; put yourself out there (using social media and word of mouth), and watch people happily pay for your culinary services.
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Gift baskets
‘Hampers’ as they are more widely known here, are a big part of
Christmas. They are handed out at working places and by individuals to their friends and loved ones. Traditionally, gift baskets contain food (including fruits), wine and small edible treats. But you don’t have to follow this convention. The common sense rule is to gather goodies into a basket or pack, and hand (or in this case, sell) to someone who needs it.
Find suppliers, who can sell you the items you need in your gift basket at a relatively low cost. There could be room for customer-specific hampers too, for people who might want particular items in their tailor-made gift packages.
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Gift wraps
There’s a special sort of excitement evoked by gifts wrapped in shiny, attractive material; this feeling is what makes the gift wraps valuable. The wraps could be for a single gift package, or for several- as in gift baskets. Whatever purpose they’re used for, the connection of gift wraps to Christmas appears immovable, so you’ll always have a good chance of selling a lot of them if you decide to become a vendor.
Conclusion
There you go. Seven real ways to smile to the bank this Christmas.
For more Christmas business tips, read our article,
5 Tips To Make Big Sales This Festive Season.
Featured Image Credit: Fthmb.tqn.com
