Ankara is a household name in Nigeria and other part of Africa, so its profitability is not a thing to look into through the night. If you are considering going into the business but afraid.
I’m assuring you now that it is a business that will make you a lot of money but you have to put in the effort and also the money will not come big.
Ankara is also known as Dutch wax or Holland wax and it is manufacture across the continents. It is a common cloth that people wear mostly on Friday sometime as fashion or as remembrance of our culture which is a good thing, because Ankara business is not going where soon as long as people keep taking Ankara as symbol of culture and fashion.
If you are reading this article it means you want to go into Ankara business but you don’t know how or you want to broaden your knowledge, whatever the case, be rest assure that you will get every knowledge you need about Ankara business in this article, from the steps to cost and where to source for Ankara everything will be explain in details.
Before we go into the detail of starting Ankara business, I will like you to take note of the following
Other Ankara related business in Nigeria
Ready to wear Ankara
This is cloth like jean and other already make English dress but it is made up of Ankara such that the buyer does not need to sew the fabric again though sometimes they might have to adjust it but it cost little to do that.
The business is a good one and you can combine it with Ankara fabric business it will surely increase your revenue.
To start, you don’t need to have knowledge of sowing; you can outsource it to fashion designer or serve as a marketer for fashion designer.
Ankara bag and wear
What is the perfect outfit than a dress that matches with shoe and bag, what a good combination! People know this that is why theyve started requesting for bag and shoe that will match their outing outfits.
You can combine this business with your Ankara fabric business, it will not only made your revenue jump up, it will also lead more customer to you, a customer that come for only bag or shoe can be really convinced to buy Ankara fabrics.
Ankara bracelet
Who in the world wear bracelet?
People do, and its beautiful. If you don’t like it that does not mean you should not sale it remember you are in business to serve people’s need.
Combine it with your business and it will become a perfect match.
Advice: You will have a good business model if you take all the chain (niches) of Ankara business.
Major Ankara brand in Nigeria
- Daviva wax
- Vlisco wax
- Sunbelt wax
- English wax
Steps to starting Ankara business in Nigeria
1) Feasibility study
I’m always about feasibility study, because it is crucial Ankara business profitability in one location does not mean your own business will be in your proposed location.
Interview your potential customer in your proposed location, check the number of customer available and check the number of those that might actually patronize you, does it add up?
Will you be able to make kind of profit that you want? If yes you can continue if no that’s not the end of your business you just have to find a new location that.
2) Location
Location is part of feasibility study but we love to treat it deferent in all of our articles. This time I want you to check your location if it tick the following boxes
Is there a good road network?
How easy to source for raw material?
How easy to find workers?
What about security?
3) Write a business plan
Do not operate like a layman, write a good business plan that will show where you want to see your business in the future usually in five years and write how to get there.
Let your business plan be detail if you will be using it to obtain loan, include material, equipment, the need capital and staffing because this what investor and bank will look for in your business plan.
4)Register your business
If you are starting a medium or large scale business, please do well to register your business, you don’t want to lose money to government and moreover it will make your business stand out among your competitor.
For other business and customer to trust you, you need to register your business with agency like CAC (Corporate Affairs Commission)
5) Secure a shop
Use your finding from feasibility study to secure a good shop that will house your Ankara material.
Though depending on the scale of operation a starter should rent shop near other Ankara fabric shop or fashion designing shop so as to prevent the problem of newbie with no customer.
Once you start getting customer you can move to isolated place to avoid competition.
If you are starting large scale you can debunk this, since you will have enough money to throw at ads.
7) Stocking (Where to buy whole sale Ankara in Nigeria)
Let me ask you this where do you think Ankara fabrics comes from?
Ans: There are Ankara manufacturer here in Nigeria and Ghana na?
While there is Ankara manufacturer in Nigeria, most of the fabrics come from China; yes China that is where 90% Ankara sold in Nigeria comes from.
At this point these are options you have
1) Buy from importer in Lagos
2) Import it yourself from china. You can read our mini importation guide
3) Buy from local manufacturers
Below are the local companies/ manufacturers to buy from in Nigeria
- Da Viva Fashion Limited
- United Nigeria Textiles
- Afprint Nigeria
8) Marketing your Ankara fabrics
Marketing should not be a problem if you did your feasibility study well. Any way below are the marketing medium you can use to reach your customer
Social media
Do not underestimate the power of social media in selling your Ankara. Build follower with beautiful pictures of your Ankara and if you are combining the chains, post your bag, bracelet and shoe pictures, one of them will surely attract customer.
Best medium to use is Instagram, Facebook, twitter and WhatsApp
Create a Website
Every business is now online, you should not be left out build an ecommerce site that will show your product with clearly written description and SEO optimized content that will lead people to the site.
Though it might not increase sale overnight but trust me it will surely do and when it does you will sale like never before.
To create ecommerce website and content that will lead people to your website, you can contact us.
Create a sign post
Erect a sign post to a junction in your locality, it will not only serve a s marketing medium it will also serve as direction.
Flyers and business card
This is one of the reason to register your business, you cant give out a card of unregister business, so try to register your business.
Flyers and card are like bird that can fly to many places, so treat it as such make the design beautiful such that people will want to look at it.
Radio and T.V
If you are starting large scale you should go for it, you will surely see a return on your investment.
Target a Radio or T.V program that deals with your audience (Your potential customer), if the slot is not available please go to another station.
Cost of starting Ankara business in Nigeria
To start the medium scale of Ankara business in Nigeria, you will need about #300,000 to #1,000,000, it depends on location and how you source your Ankara fabrics.
For large scale you will need more than that because you only have one way to source your Ankara which is importing and it can be costly.
You will need between #1m to #3m.
Whatever scale please make sure you trust your suppliers by conducting a due diligence on them, money is hard to combine these days.
Challenges of Ankara business in Nigeria
1) Poor storage
Hmm, this one is funny Rat can eat your Ankara, so prepare a good storage, also when putting them in warehouse move them a way form the wall and put pellet on the floor.
2) Melting
Your Ankara design can melt, if you stock a poor quality Ankara in an air tight place.
3)Marketing
As a starter it might be hard to get high paying customers, so start with low cost fabrics that you can sale to low paying customers and move up from there.
Conclusion
Ankara fabric business like other business require patient so give it time it will surely yield a result. To increase your chances, move close to people that are doing the business , they will surely help.
