It's very easy for us to blame to government for whatever misfortunes befall our businesses in Nigeria. Although the government is culpable in a lot of cases, perhaps the bulk of the blame is actually on the business owner. Below we’ll be outlining 10 things that could make your business fail in Nigeria.

1. Forgetting there’s a Nigerian Factor
There are actually so many Nigerian factors which can hurt businesses, one is forgetting the fact that there are always foreign products to compete against. These foreign products come from better climes and are a lot of times, cheaper. Also forgetting that Nigerians love foreign products or even foreigners themselves. Like the habit of Nigeria firms, especially those in engineering employing expatriates because of their skin colour.

2. Difficulty in Accessing Capital/Credit
Nigeria is a capitalist economy with no capital. So sometimes some brave entrepreneurs take a plunge without enough oxygen, hoping that along the way more oxygen will come. However more oxygen doesn’t come and business drowns. Bank interest rates are high, in the double figures, not like 10 percent double figure but like 15 – 25% double figure. Ever wondered how it is that a broke guy could raise over 1 million for his wedding, of course from family and friends, but the same family and friends would decline to give him money if he has a business idea. Yeah, this is another Nigeria factor.

3. Starting Big
Due to the state of the country, everyone wants to “blow”, so instead of starting small and scaling up later, everyone wants to join the big leagues from day one. However being in the big league is not cheap. What happens at the end is that the charade is not sustainable, very few times does the business scale up to the pedestal it has been placed on. It’s better to start small and then scale up.

4. Wanting to Have the Whole Business to Themselves
The biggest businesses in the world today have loads of shareholders and board of directors and a CEO who’s accountable to the investors. However such is not easily obtainable in Nigeria. The average Nigerian businesses man wants to have his business all to himself, so that he’s not accountable to anyone and so that he shares the profits with no one. Not knowing that it’s better to have 20 percent of a large corporation than to have 100 percent of a small business. This is very popular amongst the Igbo business men in this country. When they run into financial problems or when the business owner dies, there’s no continuity, the business dies with him.

5. Close Family Ties/Religiosity
Close family ties and being religious are not so bad, at least they have helped Nigerians stay sane in this chaotic country. However, due to family pressures sometimes a business owner employs a relative who has not the skill needed for the job because his uncle who paid his fees said he must employ him. How about Nigerians always attributing every set back in business to their “village people” and then firing thunder and brimstone on them instead of actually thinking and researching to find a solution to the problem.

6. Corruption
We are always fighting this endless battle, at least that what each successive government wants us to believe. You’re wondering how it affects business right? Okay how about this, a small company that is competent is unable to get a government contract because it can’t afford to give kickbacks. Then a bigger company most likely a foreign gets the contract, but because they have bribed their way to the contract, they are wont make enough profits from the contract. So they use substandard materials in building the road or even leave it half finished. Few months later the rains come, the roads are ruined and a farmer, another business man cannot take his produce to the city because of the poor road network. So you see, from corruption everyone loses.

7. Poor Financial Planning
Truth be told, it is not very easy to plan certain things in Nigeria, especially as we don’t have the exact information needed. Like the population of certain states are said to have been inflated, so that they can get more money from the government and so on. So truly there are not enough statistic to plan with. So when you have the wrong statistics, your planning can just go to waste or be misleading. So leave lots of room for adjustment when planning in Nigeria. This might not be your strong point but using free tools like semilimes, you can track your business finances easily.

8. Starting a Business for the Wrong Reasons
A lot of people start businesses, not because they’ve seen a need that can be met, but because they are probably tired or where they work or just for the ego boost that owning your own business can give. If you start for the wrong reasons, it is most likely that when the going gets tough, you’ll jump ship.

9. Poor Marketing
Every business will fail without the right marketing. If your product is excellent but no one knows about it, or the right people don’t know about it, it is doomed to fail. Online marketing has made advertising so cheap that you can reach out to thousands of people with less than 10k! Take advantage of that.

10. Government Policies
Lack of Infrastructures, lack of adequate power supply, lending rates, unavailability of Forex for small and medium scale enterprises amongst others. These are some of the government policies which hurt businesses in Nigeria.

Conclusion
It’s not easy to run a profitable business in Nigeria, true. Some businesses however have passed the test of time, such businesses can be modelled. For example the Indian business men in Nigeria seem to know how to do business, maybe its high time Nigerian business men in Nigeria learnt one or two from them.

Brought to you by semilimes free business growing software.
https://semilimes.com/

These are valid points. Thanks OP for this great information.

Also see 16 REASONS WHY MANY BUSINESSES FAIL AND HOW YOU CAN AVOID THEM.

Very correct, another is govt fluctuating policies and multiple taxation.

My only problem is number 9
Poor marketing...
I'm yet to learn how to push my products out there

NnamdiN:
My only problem is number 9
Poor marketing...
I'm yet to learn how to push my products out there

You are right bro. Marketing is the most difficult aspect of business. Any body can start a business or produce a product, but to market and sell the product successfully is the wahala.

See 16 MARKETING TIPS EVERY ENTREPRENEUR MUST KNOW TO SUCCEED.

True...

NnamdiN:
My only problem is number 9
Poor marketing...
I'm yet to learn how to push my products out there

Yes, marketing is a problem but with digital channels, it shouldn't be! In fact, you can set up a business website for as little as 5k (as long as you're hosting with a Nigerian webhost and using free website builders like semilimes), once this is done, you can easily run targeted ads for as low as 10k on Facebook or Instagram and you're good to go!