How to Start Building Materials Business in Nigeria

Are you thinking of starting a building materials business in Nigeria? You are passionate about the sale of building materials and you like the idea of real estate in Nigeria? Read this article to the end. In this article, I am going to be informing you of everything you need to know about the building materials business in Nigeria.

I will be informing you of the capital needed to start a building materials business in Nigeria, a list of building materials that are commonly used, how to grow your building materials business, construction materials business ideas, and more. We all know the real estate business in Nigeria is a lucrative business.

In fact, billions are made from the business yearly whether from the skilled labour, buying, and selling of building materials, buying, and selling of properties, or as a real estate developer in Nigeria. When many people hear about real estate and how to make money from it they think the only way you can make money from it is to buy and sell lands or houses but this is not true.

You can make money from the real estate business in Nigeria in other ways and one of these ways is through buying and selling building materials.

Is Building Materials Business Profitable?

Building materials business is a very profitable business for many reasons. The business is highly profitable because like I said earlier the real estate business in Nigeria is a multi-million naira industry. There is no day people or real estate companies are not building houses or estates in Nigeria.

Every day every part of the real estate is needed. From the bricklayers, roofers, and building materials business, all these people and things are needed every day. So with your building materials business, you will always make sales daily because developers, bricklayers, real estate agents, or other workers related to real estate will patronise you.

Asides from this, the building materials business is also profitable because those who want to renovate their houses will also patronise you.

How to Start Building Materials Business in Nigeria

Here are steps to start building materials business in Nigeria.

1. Do Your Market Survey

When it comes to selling building materials in Nigeria the first step you need to consider is to do your market survey. The market survey of your building materials business lets you know the kind of building materials business you should go into. The market survey will determine whether you can go into all the building materials business you will just specify the kind of building materials you want to be selling.

From my little finding on the building materials business, I have noticed that most people that are into building materials do sell 1 – 3 building materials instead of selling all. Read our article on how to conduct market research for new and old businesses.

2. Write a Business Plan

Except you are selling your building materials for limited years like 0 – 4 years you need to write a building material business plan.  The business plan helps you to understand the building materials business and it helps you to know how to grow the business within a short while. To write your building materials business plan you can use some business plan templates.

You can find online or simply hire a professional business plan writer to write it for you. Your building materials business plan will also guide you on the kind of construction materials business ideas you can go into in Nigeria. You should contact us through our email address [email protected] if you want us to write for you.

3. Get the Capital Needed

Depending on the construction materials business idea in Nigeria that you are going into you will need either a huge capital or a small capital. Whichever capital you need you need to get the money either by saving up for the business or by getting family and friends to invest in the business.

The capital will be used to lease or rent land and buy the building materials that you will be selling at least the first batch. Read our article on how to get funding for your business in Nigeria.

4. Rent or Lease an Available Land

After getting the capital needed for your building materials business the next step will be to rent or Lease the land needed for the business. Yes, you need free land that is close to the express road where you can locate your customers or your customers locating you. A shop will be too small as building materials occupy a large space.

When you are considering the land for your building materials business do not consider availability or any other cheap offers you need to also secure your safety, the safety of your customers, and the safety of your goods is important. You do not want to be selling your building materials in an area where armed robbers rob or where cultists fight every day.

5. Buy your Materials Wholesale

When you are ready to buy your building materials it is either you buy them at the building materials market close to you or simply buy them from the building materials producers or distributors. It all depends on your choice and which of these options is closer to you.

But I want to know that buying from the building materials producers or distributors pays more than buying from other building materials sellers. After buying your building materials from any of these choices, you can have them delivered to your place of sale. The moment it is delivered you can then take stock or do the inventory of the building materials to be sure it is complete and the goods are in good condition.

6. Selling Products to Customers

Selling your building materials should not be stressful if your location is easy to spot. Remember I said you should make sure your place of selling is close to a major road. After making sure you are properly located the next step will be to go and attract customers that will come to buy from you. 

To do this, you need to visit all the real estate companies and real estate developers in your area. Informing them about your newfound business and how well you will treat them if they come to buy from you. Convincing them will not be easy but once they start buying from you it will be hard for them to stop patronizing you.

7. Increasing Profit of your Building Materials Business

There are different ways or methods you can grow your building materials business in Nigeria. These are: 

A. Continuous Advertising

It is one thing to attract customers it’s another thing to retain them. Try as much as possible not to lose any customers, especially at the beginning of the business. You can give them discounts regularly and support them in any way you can to make sure they are loyal to you.

B. Online Advertising

Online advertising (internet) is now one of the largest platforms at which you meet interested buyers that will buy your construction materials. You just need to spend money to run ads either on social media or on blogs. And with that, you will start getting customers from there.

C. Sell all Building Materials

Another way you can grow a building materials business is to sell all the materials. Yes, let your shop be a one-stop for anyone that wants to buy building materials. Once customers know that they can get anything related to building materials in your shop they will always come in to buy building materials from you.

Construction Materials Business Ideas in Nigeria

There are different construction materials business ideas in Nigeria for people that want to go into different construction materials businesses. These are:

A. Construction Equipment Business

You can actually sell construction equipment alongside your construction materials business or only sell construction materials alone. The choice is up to you.

B. House Paint Business

Another construction materials business idea is house painting. You can be buying and selling paintings to customers and if you know how to paint, do painting services for real estate, developers, or individual house households.

C. Steel or Iron Doors Business

Steel or iron doors business is another business under construction materials business ideas in Nigeria. If you do not want to sell common building materials and you want to stand out you can sell steel or iron doors.

D. Building Materials Delivery Business

Building materials delivery business is another construction materials business idea in Nigeria. In the building materials delivery business, all you need to do is get paid to deliver already-bought construction materials to sites. To start a building material delivery business you need to get or buy vehicles like lorries or tippers that will be used to deliver building materials.

Building Materials in Nigeria

There are different building materials in Nigeria. These are ranging from the most important or most common to the least common or least important. Here is the list of building materials and their uses in the real estate industry.

1. Blocks/Bricks: Blocks or bricks are used to build demarcations, fences, and houses. All houses in Nigeria currently are built with bricks.

2. Cement: Cements are used to hold the bricks or blocks together to make them firm. There are different types of cement used for different purposes.

3. Sand: Sand is mixed with cement to plaster buildings and give them a fine look.

4. Granite: Granites are mostly used to build concrete or pillars. Pillars usually hold structures together to make the firm and to avoid collapse.

5. Sharp sand: Sharp sands are used for different reasons when it comes to building structures in Nigeria. 

6. Iron rods: Iron rods are used alongside granites, cement, and sand to hold decking and pillars together. There are different types of iron rods used for construction in Nigeria and these irons have different qualities.

7. Roofing sheets: Roofing sheets are used for the top of the building to cover building roofs. These roofing sheets can be made of different materials from ceramics to iron to aluminum.

8. Woods: Woods are also used for different reasons in the construction industry. They can be used to connect and hold the roof of a building together and they can be used to hold concrete till it dries.

9. Paving stones: Paving stones are used in the construction industry to build roads, especially in estates in Nigeria. There are other building materials but these are the popular ones sold by building material sellers.

Biggest Building Material Market in Nigeria

Based on my findings so far the biggest building material market in Nigeria is in Anambra, precisely in Onitsha or Ogidi.  There are other building materials material markets in Nigeria however, the most common you will see are individuals selling in different areas in different states in Nigeria.

Building Materials Market in Lagos

There are many building materials markets in Lagos. Depending on the area you are in Lagos you should be able to locate the closest building materials market close to you and if you cannot find you should be able to find individual sellers around you.

Conclusion

 Building materials business in Nigeria is lucrative because the real estate business is rapidly growing. All you need to make the business successful is the right connection and proper management of your accounts.

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