How to Start Rubber Slippers Business in Nigeria

In one of our articles, we talked about how to start a shoe business in Nigeria. In that article, we talked about different types of shoe businesses you can start as a Nigerian and how you can make profits from the business. In today’s article, I will be talking about how you can start a rubber Slippers business in Nigeria and how you can start making profits from the business as soon as possible.

So if you want to know details about this business how and where you can buy these slippers and sell them online, I’ll strongly advise you to read this article to the end. Rubber slipper is a lucrative business in Nigeria because it has gone beyond wearing it rain purposes. It is now worn for fashion purposes too.

Asides from this, footwear is not just worn by women alone men also wear it for different reasons. In fact, in Nigeria today you will see the old, young, and children wear rubber slippers but the type they wear depends on the class and how much they can afford. This is because unlike before rubber slippers are now fashionable and they come in different colours, shapes, and designs.

Whether you are coming into the business as a wholesaler or a retailer you can be rest assured that you will make big profits from the business because the footwear business in Nigeria is a large and multi-million naira industry.

Just like not having enough clothes even though we have a full wardrobe Nigerians never have enough footwear in their closet even though they have enough shoes, especially Nigerian women. If you will be starting this business you will be selling your rubber slippers to everyone mostly to women and teens as these two sets of people are the ones that wear rubber slippers more.

Is Rubber Slippers Business Profitable?

Rubber Slippers Business is profitable because many Nigerians wear slippers for comfort and fashion and the sales increase during the rainy season because Nigerians wear them to prevent spoilage of their leather shoes (footwear). Because rubber slippers are waterproof Nigerians often use them to move around during the rainy season.

Asides from this, it is profitable because they can now be worn anywhere just like the leather ones. They can be won for an outing, to church, to the beach, and more.

Capital Needed to Start Slippers Business

The capital needed to start a rubber slippers business depends on how much you can afford to start the business and how big you want to start. Do you want to start by just selling to your friends, family, neighbors, and the like or you want to rent a shop and establish a proper footwear shop?

All this depends on how much you have as capital. However, you can start a rubber slippers business with a minimum capital of #50,000 if you do not have much. If you can also spare money for a container that will cost an extra capital of #100,000 making a total of #150,000 that’s good.

But if you cannot you can simply sell your rubber slippers from home. All you need to do is a proper advertisement to attract buyers.

How to Start Rubber Slippers Business in Nigeria

Here is how to start a profitable rubber slippers business in Nigeria.

1. Get the Required Capital

This is the first step to start a rubber slippers business in Nigeria as you need capital to buy the slippers. It is only when you buy the rubber slippers you can sell them and make money. The only situation where you do not need capital to start a rubber slippers business or rubber sandals business is if you have where you can get the rubber slippers or rubber sandals on credit and pay after you have sold them.

If you do not have this kind of opportunity on the ground you will need to get capital to start the rubber slippers business. Here are some ideas you can use to get capital for your rubber slippers business. You can save up to start the business. This is when you save some money from your regular 9 – 5 for a while then use the money to start.

Or you can simply ask for support from your family and friends in terms of funding and use this money to start.

2. Do your Findings

To really make profits from the rubber slippers business it is not about just getting your capital going to the market and buying your rubber slippers and selling. You need to do your proper findings before starting. You need to know the kind of rubber slippers people buy the most. You need to ones that sell the most; you need to know the ones that also last in terms of durability and more.

All these are important as they let you how to make profits from the rubber slippers business shortly after starting.

3. Proceed to Clothing Market 

When it is time to buy your rubber slippers in the market still do your due process (seeking advice) before buying. Trust me; the sellers’ advice cannot be taken for granted because they have been in the business before you. They know the designer rubber slippers that people buy the most.

They know the ones that make more profits. So ask them all questions necessary. Any seller that is not willing to share all these information with you is showing you a red flag that they are not honest sellers and sellers that are not honest can never sell good products so be watchful. When it is time to choose the rubber slippers at the wholesaler store you can choose more primary colours than secondary colours.

As for the big clothing markets in Nigeria where you can buy your rubber slippers wholesale – the cheapest prices, the 2 major markets in Nigeria you can get them is CMS in Lagos State and Aba market in Abia State. There are also rubber slipper manufacturers in Aba just in case you want to buy straight from the manufacturers not wanting to import.

4. How to Sell Your Rubber Slippers

There are different ways to sell your slippers despite the fact that you are a newbie in the rubber slippers business. Earlier I mentioned that you can sell them online and offline. Yes, you can sell them online by selling the slippers on Jumia, Konga, and other e-commerce platforms in Nigeria.

And you can sell your slippers offline by selling them to your family and friends and also your neighbors all you need to do is to show them what you sell and many of them will patronize you easily. A good way of increasing your sales in this business is to sell your rubber slippers first at cheaper prices.

This will encourage them to patronize you easily. What I mean is let us say you bought each rubber slippers for #1,700 (cost price) you can sell them for #2,500 (selling price) instead of #3,500.

5. Increasing Profits in Business

One of the problems people usually have in a business like this is the ability to increase profits as time goes by in the business. Below are some sales techniques you can use to increase profits in this business.

A. Sell Slippers Online and Offline

Gone are the days when you start a business in Nigeria and you advertise and only sell your goods to people you know. Today you can increase profits and sell fast by selling your rubber slippers online too. You can advertise your rubber slippers on social media websites like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram and then do deliveries for your online buyers.

Selling your slippers both online and offline will increase your sales in this business thus increasing your profits.

B. Go for Faster Sales Offline

Going for faster sales offline by reducing your prices increases sales in your rubber slippers business rather than increasing your prices and having slow sales. I talked about this earlier.

C. Go for Slower Sales Online

By this, I mean selling your rubber slippers at much higher prices online. Let’s say you buy your rubber slippers #1,700 per one and you sell at #2,300 to your friends and neighbors you can sell the same slippers online at #3,300 or more. Yes, this is because people would rather spend more when shopping online than when they come to buy from you directly.

Many businesses do this, their prices online are more expensive than when you come to their shop.

D. Sell to your Co-workers

Who says selling has to be limited to your house alone? You can also sell your rubber slippers to your church members or co-workers at work. They will buy from you especially if you sell to them during raining season. So take some of your rubber slippers to church anytime you are going to church and also take some anytime you are going to work.

If you cannot take them along because of the load you can snap them on your phone and simply show them.

6. Risk in Rubber Slippers Business

There is no risk in the rubber slippers business because the business does not need electricity and the good does not spoil. The only risk I see in the business is you have likely been duped of your money. So be careful when you are ready to buy.

Conclusion

Rubber slippers business in Nigeria can be a small-scale business or a large-scale business. It can also be a home business or a business where you open a proper shop. Everything all depends on the capital disposable to you. And if you ask me I will say you should go for it no matter the capital you have and grow the business gradually using its profit.

Recommended:

• How to Start Ready-to-Wear Business in Nigeria
• How to Become a Celebrity in Nigeria
• How to Start Coconut Farming in Nigeria
• How to Start Handkerchief Business in Nigeria
• Top 10 Loans for Non-Salary Earners in Nigeria