An investment is like a seed planted with a hope of having multiple seeds in return or you can call it a sacrifice made for a better tomorrow.

Investments might not be not be the best choice topic right now, going by the situation of things in the country. Except you’ve been living under a rock, you must know that the country just got out of a recession and to be realistic, you probably have felt it too.

So yes, maybe it seems as though there’s little or no room for anything to be tucked away, let alone invest. However, with your little savings, you can invest in profitable venture that yield profits enough for you to even scale the business in less than a year.

Let’s break the ice here, it’s doesn’t have to be stock market shares, an investment could be anything from money, time and energy we put in a certain project/business with the hope of having good ROI (Return on Investment).  But first, know your why.

Establish Your Investment Goals

Why are you investing? Sounds like a simple enough question but many people can’t answer it because they haven’t fully articulated what they want their money to do for them. Are you putting money in that business venture towards rent? A car? Retirement? Building assets? The reason you are investing will determine what kind of asset classes you should invest in. but for starters, here are a few investment options and their key facts.

1.TRANSPORTATION

Uber

• You can attach a new car, or also you can easily connect your current used commercial car, but it must be in good condition and You can either hire a driver having a commercial license or you can drive the cab yourself.
• At the moment, Lagos is currently thriving with the Uber taxi business, as Ynaija reported in November 2016.
• A valid driver’s license  and a Lagos State Driver’s Institute (LASDRI) card
• For the onboarding process and more information click here.

Haulage

• Haulage is the transportation of goods from one part of the country to the other. Haulage services are rendered using vehicles that are capable of lifting large quantity of goods at a time.
• Such vehicles are: tankers, trailers, cranes, tippers, trucks, etc.
• Some of the products that can be transported through haulage services are: Petroleum products such as Kerosene, Liquefied natural gas, Premium motor spirit, Engine oil, Diesel, and any other related petroleum products. All consumable goods such as foods and drinks from the manufacturing plants to the distribution or retail destination. Also, sand and stones from the dredging sites and quarry sites to the construction sites too. There are thousands of other goods transported through haulage services that are not mentioned here.
• Haulage is best when you rent out your trucks to established firms that deal in transporting the aforementioned goods on a daily. This way, your returns can come in faster, however it can be a pain to find these big firms to register with but not impossible.

Motorcycles (Okada)

• Bikes are everywhere in Nigeria and thankfully, they are back on the streets of Lagos too.
• In this case,  it is better you buy a new one so both you and the rider can be at peace with each other and that way there’ll be no incessant complaints of damage or repair needs.
• Hired purchase approach is the best in most cases. You buy & do all documentation for about N130,000 then you give it out for N200k to be paid back in 10 months on a weekly basis 
  You may ask the rider to bring a deposit of N20k. 
• In a space of five months, you get your money back with profit. It’s a quick way of multiplying cash and almost hassle free if you can foster a good relationship with your rider.

2.FARMING

Fishery

• One of the most popular farming in Nigeria is fish farming and for good reasons. Gone are the days when the only means of getting fish is by catching it in the local rivers and ponds through trial and errors. Today, the modern farm practice has made it possible to grow fish in the farms and control the input.
• Setting up fish farm requires more careful planning and much capital input. A relatively small fish farm may take up to N500,000 to setup, while bigger ones takes millions of naira.
• Also, you can take a trip to waterlogged areas, where they deal in renting out fish ponds and feed your fishes for you for an agreed amount of money that still lets you make a considerable amount of money from the business. You get to come around and negotiate with buyers when the fishes mature. in other words your day job is secure as well as your business.

Rice Farming

• Rice remains the most consumed food staple in Nigeria and Billions of dollars goes into importation of this product yearly from China and Thailand because the local farmer are unable to meet up the demand due to poor funding and limited knowledge.
• However, you'd need a lot of money to invest in this one but if you have i quite stacked, you are good to go as rice is the most popular food in Nigeria. 
• You're guaranteed with 100% return. E.g If you put in N1,000,000, N2,000,000 is guaranteed.

Plantain plantation business

In states like Oyo and Ogun parts of Nigeria, plantains are constantly harvested in large numbers. They go to waste even, because there are not enough people maximizing this opportunity.

• You’d need a few hundreds of thousands for this one. This is consequent upon the fact you need to pay the trailers and trucks that transport them from those villages.
• Which leads me to the fact that you’d need to consult with people of the village to know which plantation to collaborate with or buy from if you like.
• You also need a ‘connect’ that’ll be your eyes in the village.

3.INTERNET COMPANIES

Bill Gates once said that: “if your business is not on the web, then your business will be out of business,” and i believe this statement is the truth in its entirety.

Stock photos

• If photography is your passion, then you can turn it into a source of passive income. Many websites on the internet need quality photos to make their content more appealing, causing a huge demand for stock photos. 
• You can receive paid royalties on your photos each time someone chooses to use them on his or her website.

 Develop a mobile application or game

• If you have a really good idea for a mobile application that would solve people’s problems or a game that people would really enjoy, then you might develop it and make good money from it.
• The mobile app and game industry is becoming more lucrative, thanks to the exponentially increasing number of mobile device users.         

4.FAST FOOD AND EATERY

• Eatery business is another goldmine though poor management can kill it  to death! If you wish to go into this business, be sure to get everything right.
• It is a bit capital intensive and requires good management skills.
• The most lucrative type of food business is the one where you get skilled indigenous women (Village women) to cook the meals for you and you put a trusted person who's usually a bit educated in charge of the money part. 
• You could also recruit young girls to help with distribution to offices and business places in your vincinity (You can actually do this part from your house, no shop)
• Cleanliness goes a long way in being distinctive with this business but if you get everything right, free money is yours.

5.EXPLORE THE TOKUNBO MARKET

• Used wears (clothes, shoes, accessories) otherwise known as Okrika is one of the few businesses you do not need an advert for and requires little capital.
• Also,  It has added advantage of a mobile market, that is one can move the goods from area to another (churches, schools, offices, roadsides, cars) to sell them faster.
• It requires little or no education but needs will to succeed, extra efforts and perseverance on the part of whoever you’re putting in charge.
•  Since it’s an alternative source of income and you intend to still keep your main job, take time to study fashion trends and customer’s buying patterns so you can determine future market needs.

6.FASHION BUSINESS

• Big cities like Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan, Port Harcourt are places where fashion retailing is on the rise. Lagos however, is saturated but the other places I mentioned aren’t and surprisingly they are fertile grounds for the fashion designers too. 
• Nigerians are probably some of the trendiest people in the world. Fashion designers are becoming millionaires on daily basis in Nigeria, thanks to the revolution in the Nigerian fashion business orchestrated by the boom in the entertainment industry in Nigeria.
• You either decide to be a maker or a seller, either ways have a clear cut niche, know if it's men, women, unisex or children fashion so that you can grow quickly and make money faster.

In the end, you have to be careful of where and what you put your hard earned money into. You must remember to be wary of the risks of your prospective business venture. That way you can decide which one best suits your lifestyle with regards to resources like time and money. 

Above all, please do an extensive research into any one of the businesses you intend to venture into. I personally have been thinking of the fish farming and Okada business because it doesn't exactly require so much money and attention but I haven't quite decided. I would like to know which one you'd try and why.