How to Start Furniture Business in Nigeria

 Today, I want to discuss with you what it takes to start the sales of imported furniture in Nigeria and other African countries.

Standard Furniture Showroom | Photo credit: Briers.ca

You and I knows the value of furniture in our households, offices, restaurants, hotels, and other places like that. They are like the internal organs in every house. Without it, the housing could never be complete.

Furniture business is yet to develop in Nigeria as it is in other developed countries. Apart from the Alaba traders and some other few furniture dealers here and there in Nigeria, you can hardly see any serious furniture showrooms within the cities. This means great business opportunity exists in this sector.

Take a walk into Bedmate's showroom anywhere in Nigeria, you'd think the furniture there are custom made for them. You'd think that those furniture you see there are hard to find? Never! There are very easy to source for. Those furniture you see there are imported from China, Taiwan, Turkey, Indonesia, and other Asian countries. Majority is from China.

I was so surprised to see Bedmate tag N185,000 on the very same office chair I bought in Alaba for N75,000 -  the same quality, the same make! Now is the time to break the monopoly and take this business to the next level.

What It Takes to Start Imported Furniture Business in Nigeria.

Once you have the requirements, starting is not difficult at all. It's a straight forward business that you may never need any help or spacial knowledge to get started. Below are some of the things needed to get started. 

1. Big Showroom - Furniture is space consuming, you will need a very big showroom if you want start something substantial and attractive. Visit places like the Bedmate in Ikeja City Malls to see example of what I'm talking about.

Space is everything in this business and once you have it, you have everything. Make sure you get your showroom in a decent neighborhood, don't go for a slum. 

2. Experience Furniture Technician - I don't know another name to use for this. The furniture technicians do the setup. All the imported furniture comes in packages. Unpacking and setting it up the way it should be is not a small task. It takes someone who is experienced in this to do very well. 

A carpenter who tried to setup my imported wardrobe ended up leaving it in shamble and almost damaged completely. Send some guys to Alaba to learn how to setup the furniture and make sure they mastered it very well before putting them in use, else, they will help you incurs damages.

3. Logistic - I mean the means of transporting it to your customers and means of bringing from the market. You need to get a big truck for this purpose. But if you can't, then you make use of hired truck which will be more expensive in the long run.

To setup the furniture business of the magnitude I'm trying to explain, you will need good amount of money. Your start up capital must be reasonably high, not less than N50 million. Anything less than N50 million may not be able to do standard furniture business for a start. 

It's a pretty big business and I will be writing more articles on this in the coming weeks and months.
Credit: Omeh