Booking train, bus, airline seats were earlier the privilege of travel agents. Anyone equipped with a smartphone or computer connected to the Internet can now offer this service.
Apps provided by Most Railways in African countries,,
various state owned road transport corporations and airlines make it easy to book from anywhere.
Migrant workers, reluctant to enter plush travel agency offices or wait in long queues to reserve a ticket
willingly pay a few hundred rupees for a confirmed seat.
The business can be handled from home or if needed, any space such as a park. You are required to pay
with your credit/ debit card or net banking facility.
There are many travel agents who have become rich in no time so this is what you can do if you want to get rich quickly.
3- Walking tours operator:
Walking tours is a concept gaining ground in South Africa. They involve taking a group of foreign tourists on a walk
in a specific area that has high concentration of tourist attractions. Walking tours are fun and generally patronized by foreign tourists.
Such trips allow foreigners to get a first-hand feel of the place, indulge in bargain shopping, take in tastes, sights
and sounds of the area. Walking tours are offered through travel agencies or booked through portals offering entertainment services.
4- Food Trucks:
A couple of years ago, Nigerians would have balked at the concept of food trucks. Popular in the US since over 200
For years, food trucks in Nigeria involved relatively smaller investment- between $1,000 to $2,000.
They fork in huge profits. Food trucks are usually self-operated. They are parked at specific venues such as beaches,
business districts, during the day and evenings. Food trucks require fewer licenses compared with restaurants.
Running a legit food truck needs permits and licenses from local authorities and strict compliance to Food Safety
and Standards organization of Nigeria. You can read this food truck guide on MoneyConnexion if you want to start this.
5- Taxi fleet owner:
The boom in cab aggregators in Nigeria has made it profitable for people to own cars and lease as taxis. Major operators
in most Africans metros are on the lookout for people who can offer one or more passenger vehicles and a driver, for use as taxis.
These aggregators offer a fixed amount per day plus share profits. In any case, your returns are guaranteed. Vehicle
finance is relatively easier to procure since it involves direct mortgage.
6-Collection agent:
This is also one of the best ways to become rich fast in Nigeria. Almost every service provider, bank, corporate house looks
for people to collect their cheques and payments from clients and business associates. The job also involves timely delivery
of bank instruments to customers and companies.
The service is offered free of cost to customers by telecom service providers, utility companies, financial institutions and
banks, among others. Working as a collection agent for these organizations is lucrative. It is worth nothing that collection
agents are different from debt recovery agents.
7- Address verification services:
Telecom service providers, credit card issuers and several other companies require physical verification of a customer or business associate’s address.
They outsource the work to individuals or small enterprises willing to exert that extra effort. This work involves visiting the
person’s address or inquiring with neighbors whether the person dwells or does business from that premises.
Geographical relocation have surged in India thanks to the economic boom the country is witnessing. Millions of fresh
graduates, experienced professionals, skilled and unskilled workers migrate daily to various parts of the country in search of
greener pastures.
Converting an apartment or house into a mini-hostel or labor camp assures you of sizable, fixed monthly income. Deposits
taken from tenants can be invested in banks to earn interest.
9- Psychological counselor:
Mental health continues to take a backseat in India. Taboos over visiting a psychiatrist continue to rule high. To overcome this
self-imagined block, graduates in psychology are offering counselling services to everyone from students to elderly. Fees are
charged per session, which usually spans 30 minutes to an hour.
The service can be offered from home, a small office or from a medical clinic/ hospital. Please note that psychological counselling
is different from psychiatric counselling.
The former can be done by persons who have passed Bachelor of Science with psychology as major. Psychiatry, on the other
hand, is a very specialized medical branch that requires a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree.
10- Herbal beauty products:
Indubitably, this is a very competitive sector, with corporate giants battling for a slice of the market. Despite, a sizable
portion of the market is available for entrepreneurs who can offer fresh, home-made traditional beauty products.
Such herbal beauty products cannot be stored for large scale commercial marketing. They are prepared and delivered based
on orders only.
11- Tiffing service:
This is a good option specially for women to become rich. India has one of the largest consumer-driven economies. Meaning,
people crave, strive for and buy superior consumer products during their life-span. Rising living costs have rendered it imperative for couples to work.
Small families with both working spouses and single workers seldom have time and inclination for cooking meals.
They subscribe to what is commonly called ‘tiffin service’ in large cities. Providing a full, packed lunch or dinner with home
delivery service is a great money spinner to begin from home or a small kitchen.
12- Photo/ artifact restoration:
Tropical climate in Nigeria plays havoc on old pictures and precious artifacts. Modern technology combined with artistic skills
render it possible to restore memorable pictures that have fallen victim to vagaries of the weather.
Artifacts and family heirlooms also require restoration or face lift such as polishing. These services, though available, are rare
in Nigeria and can be offered with ease.
13- Public relations agency:
The boom in new businesses has spurred breakneck competition in almost every sector. Copycat business models rule the
South African and Nigerian market.
Companies wishing to retain their position or consolidate their brand look for public relations firms.
PR firms are tasked with creating a proper presence in the mass media, hosting events for promoting the company or its
brands, interacting with journalists and other stakeholders. Not all businesses can afford services of giant PR firms.
Offering these services to smaller firms can be done from home or a small office.
14- Government liaison:
Despite best efforts of the government to reduce red-tape in Nigeria, bureaucracy continues to reign supreme.
Getting fresh licenses and permits or renewing existing ones can be done online, but with limited agencies only.
Helping businesses to procure and renew these licenses is very profitable. You will require some effort to develop contacts
with the right person in various government departments.
Everyone has seen the ubiquitous ‘kabadiwala’ or rag picker, make rounds of garbage kilts and gutters to collect discarded
plastic bottles, soft drink cans and myriad scrap. A typical rag picker playing on major streets for
12 hours earns a tidy
Make a reasonable sum of money everyday.
The reason: The scrap fetches high value in the recycling industry of India. With some skill, opening a scrap recycling business
is a very profitable and sure way to become rich in India. Recycled metal, plastic and paper are commonly used and in high
demand in India’s manufacturing sector. Government loans, technical know-how and subsidies are offered to recycle rs.
16- Chronicler:
A profitable venture for creative folk who possess extraordinary linguistic and writing abilities. Companies, large families,
educational institutes and various other organizations look for chroniclers who are able to write their detailed history.
Chronicler is
“a person who writes descriptions of historical events as they happen: He was a photographer and chronicler of life in the poorest neighborhoods at the end of the 19th century”.
The work is very lucrative and assignments can often last several months. It involves digging into the organization or family’s
history, tracing roots, documenting various landmarks and presenting in a reader friendly, interesting manner.
17- Labour services:
This is not the same as a recruitment agency which requires a plethora of licenses. Providing labour services involves giving
semi-skilled or unskilled workers on temporary or full-time basis on
extremely short notice- less than three hours- to small
businesses that have very high attrition rates.
Such companies include construction firms, security agencies, restaurants, pest control providers and motley others. You get
paid the equivalent of a day’s wages as commission per worker provided. Profits can be well imagined considering casual
laborers in cities such as Johannesburg earn a reasonable amount as daily wage
Get your check-list first Before embarking on any get-rich-soon venture, it is advisable to prepare a check-list of what you require.
Some of these businesses may require bank account, tax and other registrations and permits. Without these, your enterprise can be termed illegitimate and you may be subjected to stiff cash fines. Serious breaches of law can end you in jail, despite innocuous nature of the business.
With proper documentation, limited resources and a fair degree of enthusiasm, you too can strike it rich in any developing countries of the world.