_The Market Is Waiting. Over 250 Million People. What Are You Doing?_
Every Nigerian wants money. But most are waiting for government jobs, praying for miracle alerts, or blaming village people for their empty pockets. Meanwhile, wealth is created daily by ordinary people who understand three simple tools.
This is not motivation. This is mechanics. Forget “law of attraction” if you don’t have “law of action.” Here’s what actually puts money in the bank:
*TOOL 1: PICK WHAT THE MARKET IS BEGGING FOR – DEMAND BEFORE SUPPLY*
Wealth starts with demand, not your dream. If nobody needs your product, skill, or talent, you will suffer selling it. Passion without market is poverty with excitement.
*The biggest mistake:* Copying your neighbor’s business. Because Tunde sells data, you sell data. Because Ada opened a boutique, you open a boutique. Then you all sit down and complain “market is bad.” Market is not bad. Your thinking is bad.
*How to find what the market is begging for:*
Look around with new eyes. What problem makes people angry, frustrated, or desperate every day? Solve that, and they will throw money at you.
Is it food? Nigerians must eat three times a day. Transport? Lagos alone has 20 million people moving daily. Power solutions? NEPA is not your helper—inverters, solar, generators are selling. Data? Young people would rather stay hungry than stay offline. Affordable housing? 28 million housing deficit. Childcare? Working mothers are desperate. Tech repair? One cracked phone screen is ₦15,000. Fashion? People will borrow to look good at owambe.
Go deeper. Market women need faster payment systems because cash is risky. Students need simplified tutorials for JAMB and WAEC. Parents need safe schools they can trust. Landlords need vetted tenants who won’t turn their house to Yahoo headquarters. Mechanics need genuine spare parts. Farmers need buyers before harvest.
*The Alaba Test:* If you took your product to Alaba Market by 6am, would traders drag it from your hand? If the answer is no, don’t start.
*Rule:* If your product or service doesn’t solve a problem, ease pain, or feed a need, the market will ignore you. You can’t beg people to buy what they don’t want. They have bills. They don’t have pity.
*Case Study – The Pure Water Principle:*
No one wakes up dreaming to sell pure water. But pure water solves thirst. It’s cheap, needed, and repeatable. The man with a pure water factory in heat season is not praying for money. Money is chasing him. Find your “pure water.” What is the basic, desperate, daily need you can meet?
*TOOL 2: MARKET LIKE A MAD PERSON, WITHOUT SHAME – VISIBILITY PAYS BILLS*
You’ve found what people need. Good. Now tell the world—loudly, daily, shamelessly. A hidden product is a dead product.
*Shame is the most expensive thing you own.* The man with no shame eats first. The woman who posts her market daily gets paid before the “classy” woman waiting for referrals.
If you believe in what you’re selling, why whisper? If you don’t believe in it, why are you selling it?
*How to market like a mad person in 2026:*
1. *Digital Noise:* Post on WhatsApp Status every 6 hours. Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, LinkedIn—wherever your buyers are, be there. Enter DMs with offers, not “Hi.” Run small ads. Use short videos. Show your face. Show the product working. Show testimonials.
2. *Physical Noise:* Print flyers and give them at bus stops. Brand your car. Brand your keke. Speak at churches and mosques—“I solve this problem, talk to me after service.” Tell your barber, your tailor, your child’s teacher, your estate gateman. Everybody is a marketer if you activate them.
3. *Consistency Noise:* Market until people know your name before they meet you. Until your product becomes the answer when someone mentions the problem. “Data? Call Chinedu.” “Small chops? Ask Mama T.”
*Why this works:* Amazon, Dangote, and Aliexpress didn’t get rich by being quiet. Dangote Cement is on every billboard from Sokoto to Port Harcourt. Jeff Bezos put his face everywhere before people trusted online buying. If billion-dollar companies still advertise daily, who are you to be tired?
*The Ant and Sugar Principle:* If you keep sugar on the floor, ants will find it. But only if you expose it. Package it, hide it in your room, and complain “no customer”—that’s village people? No, that’s you.
*Rejection is not death:* You will hear “no” 99 times. The 100th person will say “yes” and pay for the 99. Market through the no. Every “no” is market research. Every “I don’t have money” means “I don’t see value yet.” So market better.
*TOOL 3: TALK WELL, TREAT CUSTOMERS WELL, PRICE RIGHT – RETENTION IS THE NEW SELLING*
You’ve gotten attention. Now don’t lose it. Getting a customer is expensive. Keeping a customer is profit.
*A. Good Communication Closes Deals*
Money responds to clarity. Speak clearly. No big grammar. “This shoe is size 42, leather, ₦25,000, delivery in Lagos is ₦2,000.” End.
Follow up fast. A customer who says “I’ll get back to you” is still a customer. The fortune is in the follow-up. Call them. Text them. “Sir, should I keep one for you?”
Explain benefits, not just features. Don’t say “This phone has 8GB RAM.” Say “This phone won’t hang when you’re on TikTok and 10 other apps.” People buy results, not specs.
*B. Customer Care Keeps Money Coming*
The product brings them once. How you treat them brings them forever.
Deliver when you say you will. If you say “tomorrow,” don’t say “network” next tomorrow. Pick calls. Reply messages within 1 hour. In 2026, slow response = lost money.
Say sorry when you mess up and fix it fast. A customer you offend but recover will defend you more than one you never offended.
*The Law of Referral:* A happy customer brings 10 more. An angry one chases 100 away with one Facebook post. Your best marketer is not paid ads. It’s a satisfied buyer.
*The Mama Put Principle:* Why do people queue for one mama put under sun? Food is good, yes. But she remembers your name, adds extra meat when you’re broke, and asks about your children. That’s customer care. Duplicate that in your business.
*C. Right Pricing Makes Profit Possible*
Don’t be the cheapest—be the most valuable. People who buy only on price will leave you for 50 kobo cheaper. People who buy on value stay.
But understand your market. Price too high and 250 million people walk past you. Price too low and you work hard to stay broke.
*How to price:* Cost + Profit + Value. If it costs you ₦7,000 to deliver, and your value saves the customer ₦50,000 headache, ₦15,000 is not expensive. It’s a bargain.
Test prices. Start mid-range. If everyone buys with no complaint, you’re too cheap. If nobody buys, you’re too high or your marketing is weak. Adjust.
*BONUS KEY: TRADING IS WEALTH TOO – YOU DON’T NEED A FACTORY*
You don’t need to manufacture to be rich. You don’t need to invent anything. You don’t need a PhD in production.
*Be the middle man. Buy low, sell high. That’s business.*
China has opened its doors wider in 2026. You can order from Alibaba, 1688, Pinduoduo, or direct suppliers on WeChat. Sell to Nigerians who can’t or won’t import themselves. The gap between “I want it” and “I can get it” is your profit.
Clothes, phones, hair, solar panels, car parts, factory equipment, medical supplies, school bags—someone in Nigeria needs it today and doesn’t know where to buy it.
*You don’t produce rice to sell rice.* The richest rice sellers in Daleko Market don’t own farms. *You don’t make phones to sell phones.* Computer Village kings don’t have factories in Shenzhen.
Connect the maker to the buyer and take your cut. That cut, repeated 1,000 times monthly, is wealth.
*Historical receipts:* Trading built Dubai. They have no oil like us, but they became the world’s market. Trading built the Igbo apprenticeship system—_Igba Boi_—that created more millionaires than any university. Trading will build you too.
*The 2026 Advantage:* With phones, you can run a global import business from your bedroom. Payment gateways, logistics like DHL and local dispatch, and escrow services have removed the old risks. Ignorance is now the only barrier.
*THE REALITY: 250 MILLION BUYERS ARE WAITING*
Nigeria has over 250 million people. That’s 250 million mouths, bodies, problems, and desires.
Even if only 1% of Nigerians buys from you once a year, that’s 2.5 million customers. If each gives you ₦1,000 profit, that’s ₦2.5 billion. From 1%.
*So stop saying “there’s no money in this country.”* There’s no money in your approach. Money is circulating. It’s just not circulating to you yet.
The Dangotes, Innosons, and new fintech founders are not using different air. They used these same three tools, just at scale.
*THE EXECUTION PLAN: START NOW, START SMALL, START UGLY*
1. *Find the need* – Spend 7 days just listening to complaints. What do people around you curse about daily? That’s your business idea.
2. *Market madly* – From day one, tell 50 people daily. Online and offline. No day without marketing.
3. *Serve well* – Under-promise, over-deliver. Make your first 10 customers so happy they become billboards.
4. *Price smart* – Know your numbers. Profit is not evil. Profit is oxygen.
5. *Trade globally* – Open a tab. Check http://1688.com. Find one product. Import one carton. Sell. Repeat.
With these three tools, you won’t be looking for jobs. You’ll be creating them. You won’t be waiting for alerts. You’ll be sending alerts. And you will smile to the bank, not because of luck, but because of laws.
*The future isn’t waiting. The market isn’t sleeping. Your competitors aren’t resting.*
*Start now.* About the Author
Olubunmi Oluwadare is a renowned expert in entrepreneurship development, a National Business Development Service Provider (NBDSP), and business growth strategies. As the founder of www.uni-preneur.com and www.getajob.ng, he has empowered thousands of entrepreneurs and job seekers across Nigeria and Africa. As Chairman of BEEXO GROUP www.beexogroup.com, he continues to drive business growth and innovation in the region. His book, “I SEE MONEY IN AFRICA”, highlights the vast opportunities for entrepreneurs in Africa.
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