Business Ideas Hiding Inside the Education Industry: 20 Opportunities to Explore

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In business ideas

Most of the time, we see education as something that happens inside a classroom. A teacher teaches, a student learns, a school collects fees, and everybody goes home. But recently, there have been tons of profitable business ideas in the education industry that you might not even think of. 

Educational products, services, technology, content, logistics, training and information. Someone has to create textbooks, design worksheets, train teachers, build the software schools use to record attendance, help parents understand what their children should be learning, create educational games, and produce revision materials.

And that is where some of the most interesting business ideas in the education industry are hiding.

The beautiful thing is that you do not necessarily need to open a school to build an education business. You may not even need to be a teacher.  Skill-based learning is one of the fastest routes to financial stability. 

1. Create learning products instead of teaching

One of the easiest mistakes to make when stepping into the education sector is assuming you have to sell your time. You don’t. Instead of trading hours for dollars in a traditional classroom, you can create a digital or physical asset once and sell it repeatedly. Think about printable worksheets, flashcards, phonics packs, revision guides, activity books, and classroom games.

While a teacher might spend hours creating a single revision worksheet for 30 students, a product-focused business can turn that exact need into a professionally designed resource that thousands of teachers or parents can purchase globally. The best part? The product doesn’t need to be complex or overly sophisticated. A beautifully designed multiplication game for children struggling with times tables, or a literacy card game for early readers, solves an existing learning problem without requiring a revolutionary invention. 

If you want to see how creators do this successfully, take a look at marketplaces like Teachers Pay Teachers or explore digital storefront guides on platforms like Etsy Creator Hub to see what top sellers are offering. 

2. Build an education business around parents

Parents aren’t just paying school fees; they are buying peace of mind. Behind every student is a parent wondering if their child is actually learning, why they are struggling with math, how to help with reading at home, or how to prepare for upcoming examinations. This deep emotional and logistical investment creates major opportunities for businesses that educate and support the people around the learner.

You could start a practical parent newsletter, run weekend workshops, sell home-learning kits, or offer specialised consulting. Imagine a boutique service that helps parents map out a step-by-step game plan for a child falling behind in reading. The product isn’t tutoring; it’s a clear roadmap for the parent. You can  how to market directly to family niches with  resources like the HubSpot Marketing Blog on building community-driven newsletters. 

3. Sell teacher resources

Teachers carry a massive workload entirely outside of teaching. Lesson planning, grading, managing the classroom, and putting together materials eat up hours of their personal time. That time crunch makes teacher-focused products a very profitable market.

Examples include:

  • lesson-plan templates
  • assessment templates
  • classroom management tools
  • teacher planners
  • digital gradebooks
  • educational presentation templates
  • classroom decoration kits
  • teaching aids
  • professional development courses
  • teacher communities

A busy teacher won’t have time to design 50 engaging worksheets from scratch, but if you do it for them and sell it online, you’ve solved a major problem.

4. Build a business around tutoring without becoming the tutor

Tutoring is one of the most obvious education businesses, but it comes with a hard ceiling: your own time is limited. A more scalable, profitable route is to build a marketplace instead of teaching yourself.

Instead of tutoring math students personally, you create a platform that connects parents with vetted, trusted mathematics tutors. Your job becomes handling the marketing, scheduling, payments, and quality control.

This model can work for languages, music, coding, exam preparation and university subjects. The person who owns the marketplace doesn’t necessarily have to deliver the service. You own the infrastructure, and other people deliver the service. For inspiration on structuring digital learning modules, check out open course libraries like Khan Academy to see how complex subjects are broken down into bite-sized practice units. 

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Why isn’t he rich having invested $1,000 in stocks 20 years ago?

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In Finance, Investment

Putting $1,000 into the stock market and leaving it for 20 years might sound like an easy way to get rich. But is simply buying a stock enough? Imagine you’re 18, starting college in 2006, and instead of spending your $1,000, you invest it in the stock market.

Life moves on. You graduate, start your first job, move, get married, maybe buy a house and have kids. You hardly remember that first investment. Twenty years later, you check your account and think, “Wait. That’s all?”

You might wonder if you should have spent that $1,000 on vacations, dinners, or gadgets. But the real question is: What actually happens when you invest $1,000 in stocks and leave it for 20 years? The answer reveals a key lesson in personal finance:

Buying a stock is not the same as having an investment strategy.

What happens when you invest $1,000 in stocks?

When you buy shares of a publicly traded company, you become a partial owner of that business.

Your investment can generally generate returns in two ways:

  • Capital appreciation: Your shares increase in value.
  • Dividends: The company distributes part of its earnings to shareholders.

But many investors miss something: how much money you actually put in over time. Say you invest $1,000 and get 20 shares. Twenty years later, you still have 20 shares. The company might have grown, with higher revenue, profits, and stock price. But you don’t get more shares just because the company did well. Your investment might grow a lot, but it may not change your life. That’s an important difference.

Why $1,000 isn’t necessarily enough to make you rich

Let’s say two college students, Alex and Jordan, each have $1,000 to invest. Alex invests the entire $1,000 and never contributes another dollar. Jordan also invests $1,000, then adds another $100 every month. After 20 years, Jordan has contributed:

1,000+\(100 × 240 months) = $25,000

That’s $25,000 of contributions before accounting for investment gains or losses. Alex has contributed $1,000. That’s $25,000 put in before any gains or losses. Alex only added $1,000, while Jordan put in 25 times more. So, comparing their final account balances doesn’t just show who picked the better stock. They used different strategies. This is a common mistake for new investors. How long they will stay invested.

The power of investing every month

This is why regular investing matters. Imagine you put in $500 every month. You don’t try to guess if the market will rise next week or wait for the perfect crash. You just stick to your plan. Some months, prices are high. Other months, they’re lower. When prices drop, your $500 buys more shares.

When prices are higher, you get fewer shares. This method is called dollar-cost averaging. FINRA says dollar-cost averaging means investing the same amount at regular times, no matter what the market is doing. It helps you stay disciplined, but it doesn’t guarantee profits or protect against losses.

And there’s an important caveat:

Dollar-cost averaging is not a magic formula.

It doesn’t guarantee your investments will make money or protect you from losses if a stock drops. If you already have a lot of cash to invest, spreading it out over time could mean lower returns if the market rises while some of your money waits. The main benefit is building discipline and staying liquid enough to take advantage of the market’s volatility.

What about dividends?

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He Invested ₦9,000 in Shares 20 Years Ago. Why Didn’t He Become Rich?

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In Investment, Stock Market

Imagine buying shares in a Nigerian company as a university student, forgetting about the investment for almost 20 years, then checking your account only to find your ₦9,000 investment is now worth around ₦9,900. You would probably feel cheated, right?

That is exactly the kind of story that can make someone question the entire idea of investing in shares.

A woman recently shared on X about how her husband bought Transcorp shares with ₦9,000 when he was a first-year university student about 20 years ago. When he checked the investment years later, he reportedly found that it was worth only about ₦9,900.

His reaction was understandable: he wished he had used the money to buy beer instead. But this story hides a much bigger financial lesson. The question is not simply, “Why didn’t the shares make him rich?”

The better question is:

What actually happens when you buy shares in a company, hold them for decades, and do nothing else?

To answer this lady’s ponderings, we will use Transnational Corporation Plc, commonly known as Transcorp Group, as an interesting case study.

What happened to Transcorp over the past 20 years?

Transcorp was listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in November 2006. According to contemporary reporting, the company listed 18.553 billion shares at ₦6 per share. On its first day of trading, strong demand pushed the closing price to ₦6.30.

Read the contemporary report on Transcorp’s 2006 listing.

The great news is that as of  September 21, 2026, Transcorp trades at about ₦36.15 per share. Its recent 52-week range has been ₦33 to ₦55.05.

View Transcorp’s current and historical share-price data.

At first glance, this seems impressive. A share that traded around ₦6 in 2006 is now around ₦36. That is almost a sixfold increase in the quoted share price. I know you have started calculating what it would have cost to buy ₦10 million worth of shares; that would be about ₦60 million today, right?

But this is where the story gets more complicated, and your excitement might suddenly plummet. You cannot simply compare the ₦6 price from 2006 with today’s ₦36 price and calculate an investor’s actual return.

Why? Because Transcorp has changed its share structure over the years.

The number of shares changed too.

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What Can ₦10,000 Really Do for Your Financial Future in Nigeria?

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In Finance, Investment

You might feel like ₦10,000 is too little to start investing. In today’s Nigeria, it doesn’t go far and can be gone after just a few market trips. Sometimes, you might spend it without even noticing where it went.

But there’s another way to see ₦10,000. It can start an investment habit, which is often more important than the amount itself. Many beginners wait until they have a lot of money before learning about investing, but you don’t need millions to build good financial habits. What matters is having a clear goal, choosing the right investment, and staying disciplined about adding more money over time.

So, if you have ₦10,000 right now, what can you do with it? Here’s a simple breakdown.

Is ₦10,000 Enough to Start Investing?

Yes, ₦10,000 is enough to get started. But don’t expect to turn it into ₦1,000,000 overnight. Hoping for quick gains can push you into risky situations or lead you to scams and unrealistic promises.

Instead, see your first ₦10,000 as seed money. Use it to learn how investing works and to build the habit of making your money work for you. The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission points to options like equities, fixed-income investments, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, and real estate investment trusts. The best choice depends on your goals, how long you want to invest, and how much risk you’re comfortable with.

Before Investing Your ₦10,000, Ask Yourself One Question

What do I want this money to achieve?

This question matters more than picking an investment app. Before you invest, know why you’re setting the money aside. Maybe you want to build wealth over time, save for a business, avoid spending it on little things, learn about investing, build an emergency fund, or prepare for a big expense later.

Your answer will help you decide where to put the money. If you need the money next month, you’ll invest differently than someone saving for ten years. Always match your investment choice to your goal and how long you can leave the money invested.

Option 1: Start With a Money Market Fund

If you want a safer place to start, look into money market funds. These funds usually invest in short-term options, and the SEC says they focus on keeping your money safe, earning some income, and letting you access your cash easily. This differs from leaving your money in a regular account.

But remember, not all money market funds are the same. Before you invest, check what the fund aims to do, its fees, risks, minimum amount needed, and how you can withdraw your money. Also, make sure the provider is registered. The SEC has tools to help you check if an investment company is properly registered.

Option 2: Explore Fixed-Income Investments

Another option is fixed income. These investments include government or corporate bonds. Basically, you lend your money and get paid back with some interest, based on the terms of the investment.

The SEC says fixed-income investments usually have less risk than stocks, but the real risk depends on the specific investment. For beginners, the key is this: don’t invest just because someone calls it “safe.”

Make sure you know what you’re buying, who will pay you back, when you can get your money, and what could go wrong. Don’t let the word “safe” take the place of doing your own research.

Option 3: Invest Through a Diversified Fund

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How to Develop a New Product: 9 Steps Every Entrepreneur Must Follow (MBA LEVEL KNOWLEDGE)

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In business ideas

How to Develop a New Product: 9 Steps Every Entrepreneur Must Follow

Have you ever had a product idea and wondered whether people would actually buy it? Many entrepreneurs rush from an exciting idea straight into production. They spend money on materials, packaging, branding and marketing before finding out whether the product is worth developing in the first place.

A great product idea is only the start. Turning that idea into something customers will buy requires careful planning, testing, and smart choices. You need to know your customers, research the competition, consider costs, develop the product, and see how people react before fully committing.

This is where product planning matters. Product planning means coming up with new product ideas, evaluating them, turning the best ones into real products, and then bringing them to market. It also means improving current products and stopping products that no longer make money.

If you are an entrepreneur planning to develop a new product, these 9 steps can help you move from an idea to a market-ready product.

1. Start With More Than One Product Idea

The first step is coming up with ideas. Instead of putting all your time and money into the first idea you think of, gather a list of possible product ideas.

Your ideas can come from many places. You might spot an opportunity through your own experience, customer complaints, conversations with current customers, competitors, workers, suppliers, or industry groups. Research groups and other experts can also give ideas.

The goal is to generate options, not make a final choice. An entrepreneur with several ideas has more choices to consider before picking the product worth serious investment.

For example, imagine you want to build a business around healthy snacks. You could consider producing granola, dried fruit packs, protein snacks or a local healthy snack alternative. Rather than immediately producing thousands of units, you can first consider which opportunity has the strongest potential.

Don’t spend money making the product before you have taken time to study the idea.



Also Read: The Importance of Branding for Small Businesses

2. Decide Which Idea Is Actually Worth Pursuing

Having several ideas is helpful, but you can’t work on all of them. The next step is to filter your ideas and keep only those that deserve more focus. Ask practical business questions. How much demand could the product have? Who are the competitors? Can you obtain the raw materials needed to produce it? Is the expected sales volume attractive enough to justify the investment?

The goal is to avoid making an expensive decision just because you are excited. Some ideas may seem great but turn out to be hard or costly when you look at the market and needed resources. 

At this stage, you are not trying to prove that your idea is perfect. You are trying to determine whether it deserves the time, money and resources required for further development.

Also Read: Maximising Business Decision-Making Using AI

3. Turn the Idea Into Something Customers Can Understand

Once an idea survives screening, it needs to become more specific. This is the concept development and testing stage.

There is an important difference between having a product idea and having a clear product concept. An idea is a possible product, while a concept makes it more detailed and easier for the business and customers to understand. At this point, you are building a product image, which refers to the personal impression customers have of the product.

You should also be able to explain what the product is, what it does and why someone would want it. You can then test the concept using descriptions, pictures or other ways of presenting the proposed product to potential consumers.

The goal is to see how people respond to the concept and if the idea needs changes. You also want to find out who is most likely to buy the product.

This can help an entrepreneur avoid a common mistake: making a product based only on personal guesses about what customers want.

4. Find Out If the Product Makes Business Sense

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Employees Missing Deadlines? 5 Ways Managers Can Fix Poor Communication

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In business tips, entrepreneurship

Are your employees constantly missing deadlines? The problem may not be laziness. Poor communication and a lack of trust could be affecting your team’s performance.

A business can have talented employees and still struggle to get work done on time. Projects get delayed. Customers become frustrated. Managers spend more time following up. Employees blame one another, and the same problems keep happening.

One common reason is poor communication in the workplace.

This issue was a major assignment in one of my MBA classes: how do we fix communication issues as a manager?  The question was simple:

Imagine you are a manager, and your team is missing deadlines because employees are not communicating well with each other. What is the main problem, and what steps would you take to solve it?

At first, the obvious answer might be poor communication. However, poor communication can be a symptom of a deeper problem and in many teams, that deeper problem is a lack of trust.

Why Are Employees Missing Deadlines?

Missing a deadline does not always indicate that an employee is irresponsible. Often, an employee may lack the necessary information to complete the task, misunderstand another team member’s expectations, notice a problem but hesitate to report it, or assume someone else is handling part of the work. Therefore, managers should look beyond the missed deadline and ask the right questions to understand the underlying reasons.

The big question a manager should ask is this: Why did the communication fail?

Several factors can contribute to poor communication within a team, and in today’s article, I will help you identify 5 major causes of poor communication in the workplace and how to address each one. 


5 Major Causes of Poor Communication in the Workplace


1. Lack of Clarity

Employees need to understand what they are expected to do. Without clarity, communication is ineffective. Clarity is not what you think you said; it is rather what the person understands you to have said. That means you might need to be more specific about what you are trying to communicate, especially when you are working with a team that is not used to seeing your work. 

If a manager says, “Get this done quickly,” different employees may interpret “quickly” differently.

A good manager should clearly communicate:

  • What needs to be done
  • Who is responsible
  • When it should be completed
  • What standard is expected
  • What resources are available

Clear expectations reduce unnecessary confusion.

2. Poor Listening Skills

Communication is not only about speaking; it is also about listening. An employee may receive instructions but fail to understand them because they were distracted or did not ask questions. That is why every manager must be patient enough to troubleshoot conversations with their staff. Encourage them to give instant feedback on what they heard you say. 

A simple question such as “Can you repeat what you understand the task to be?” can prevent major mistakes.


3. Lack of confidence.

This is where the situation worsens. Employees who do not trust their management or coworkers may be more reluctant to speak out or share information. For example, an employee may see that a project will miss its deadline.

Instead of informing the management, the employee may remain silent because they are terrified of being chastised.

By the time the manager finds out, it may be too late to solve the situation. Trust allows workers to say things like:

“I have difficulty with this work. “I need help.” This type of talk may rescue a project. 

4. Inappropriate Communication Channels

Not every message should be communicated through the same channel.

Some businesses depend heavily on WhatsApp groups. Others use email, Slack, Microsoft Teams, project-management software, or face-to-face meetings.

The problem is not necessarily the platform. What matters is that businesses establish clear communication channels for different types of information.

For example:

  • Urgent issues → phone call or direct message
  • Formal instructions → email or documented platform
  • Team updates → team communication channel
  • Complex issues → meeting or video call

Also, I see some businesses with a mandatory rule that staff must communicate only through certain platforms. While this is necessary in many sensitive departments, for most day-to-day work, managers should encourage direct communication to reduce the bureaucratic feel. 

5. Different Communication Styles

Individuals communicate differently. One employee may prefer direct teaching. Another may require further explanation. Some staff talk openly in meetings, while others prefer to share their views discreetly.

Managers must comprehend these distinctions. Good leadership doesn’t require everyone to communicate the same way. It means creating a setting where everyone can communicate successfully.

How to Build a Startup in 2026: 6 Lessons Every Founder Should Know


The Real Problem May Be Trust

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How to Build a Startup in 2026: 6 Lessons Every Founder Should Know

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In entrepreneurship, Investment, startups

How to Build a Startup in 2026

Every year, thousands of founders launch startups believing that a great idea is all they need, even the news of how much startups founders are raising is always shocking and people often wonder how to build a Startup in 2026? Yet research consistently shows that most startups don’t fail because founders lack passion. 

Over the past few weeks, I’ve found myself spending a lot of time studying successful startup founders and how to build a Startup in 2026. After writing about the business lessons from Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, co-founder of Andela and Flutterwave, I kept noticing the same patterns. The six lessons below appeared repeatedly, whether I was reading about Airbnb, Canva, Stripe, Andela, or listening to startup investors explain why they back one company instead of another. 

If you’re wondering how to build a startup in 2026, the first thing you need to understand is this: not every new business is a startup.

A startup is built for rapid growth. Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator, famously described a startup as “a company designed to grow fast.” Growth isn’t just something that happens later; it’s built into the company’s vision from the very beginning.

Whether you’re developing a technology platform, launching an online marketplace, building a fintech company, or creating a new software product, the principles are the same. Before you think about funding, marketing, or scaling, you need to understand what makes a startup capable of growing quickly.

If you’re serious about learning how to build a startup in 2026, these are the principles worth paying attention to. 

Table of Contents

  • What Makes a Startup Different From a Small Business?
  • Lesson 1: Solve a Problem Worth Paying For
  • Lesson 2: Build for Scale from Day One
  • Lesson 3: Stop Building AI Products Nobody Needs
  • Lesson 4: Build a Team That Can Grow Without You
  • Lesson 5: Your First Customers Matter More Than Investors
  • Lesson 6: Never Stop Learning
  • Frequently Asked Questions

1. How to Build a Startup in 2026 Starts with Solving the Right Problem

Imagery from Canva geralt 

If there’s one lesson every aspiring founder should understand before building a startup in 2026, it’s this “great startups don’t begin with products, they begin with identifying problems.”

One of the biggest misconceptions about startups is that all you need is a brilliant idea. In reality, investors, accelerators, and successful founders rarely get excited about ideas alone. They’re interested in businesses that solve meaningful problems for a large number of people.

Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator, famously summed it up in just four words: “Make something people want.” It sounds simple, but those four words have shaped thousands of successful startups around the world.

As I was writing my previous article on the business lessons from Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, one thing became obvious. Whether you’re looking at Flutterwave, Andela, Airbnb, Canva, or Stripe, these companies didn’t become successful because they had clever ideas. They succeeded because they identified problems that millions of people were already experiencing.

Before you think about building an app or designing a product, ask yourself a few important questions.

  • What problem am I solving?
  • Who experiences this problem?
  • How are they solving it today?
  • Why would they choose my solution instead?

These questions may seem basic, but they form the foundation of every successful startup. A framework could look like this  Problem to Solution and Strategy.

First, clearly define the problem and understand who is affected by it. Then explain how your solution improves on what’s already available. Finally, think about your strategy. 

  • How will customers discover your product? 
  • What makes your solution different? 
  • Why should they trust you?

The truth is, a startup without demand is simply a project. That’s why successful founders spend time talking to potential customers before spending months building products. They validate demand, collect feedback, and improve their ideas based on real conversations rather than assumptions.

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8 Powerful Business Lessons from Iyinoluwa Aboyeji

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In business tips, entrepreneurship

When people talk about African entrepreneurship, names like Aliko Dangote and Tony Elumelu often dominate the conversation. However, as a young person, one would also love to hear some of the most valuable business lessons from Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, which may be just as important for today’s entrepreneurs. 

Over the past decade, Aboyeji has quietly helped change how the world views African innovation, becoming one of the most influential startup founders on the continent. 

Before the age of 30, he had already co-founded Andela and Flutterwave, two startups that later achieved unicorn status, a term used for privately held companies valued at more than $1 billion. Today, through Future Africa, he continues to invest in and mentor founders building the next generation of African businesses.

Recently, while watching his interview on The School of Hard Knocks, one thing stood out.

He didn’t spend time talking about becoming rich or about himself or his worth. Instead, he spoke about systems.

  • People.
  • Trust.
  • Service.
  • Long-term thinking.

The more I listened, the more I realised these weren’t just lessons for startup founders looking to build unicorns. They’re lessons every entrepreneur can apply, whether you own a restaurant, run a fashion brand, manage a farm, freelance online, or are building your first business.

So, I did my diligent research, read articles, books, and almost everything I could learn and hear from him too. Below are the biggest business lessons I believe every entrepreneur can learn from Iyinoluwa Aboyeji.

1. Solve Big Problems, Not Small Opportunities

One thing I admire about Iyinoluwa Aboyeji is that he never talks about building unicorns as though that should be the goal.

In several interviews, he has said entrepreneurs should focus on building great businesses and solving real problems. The valuation comes later.

That mindset helps explain the success of companies like Andela and Flutterwave. Andela addressed the challenge of connecting African software talent with global opportunities, while Flutterwave simplified payments across Africa. Both companies focused on problems affecting millions of people.

Many entrepreneurs start with the question “What business can make me money?”

But successful founders often ask “What problem needs solving?” The difference may seem small, but it changes everything.

If you’re still searching for a profitable business idea, you may enjoy our guide How to Validate a Business Idea Before Investing Your Money. 

2. Businesses Scale Through Systems, Not Hustle

One of the most interesting moments from the interview came when Iyinoluwa Aboyeji was asked about the secret to building billion-dollar companies.

Many people expect successful founders to talk about working longer hours, sacrificing sleep, or grinding harder than everyone else.

Instead, he pointed to something much more important: “Systems.” This stood out because we live in a culture that glorifies hustle. Everywhere you look, entrepreneurs are being told to wake up earlier, work harder, and keep pushing.

Hard work matters, but hard work alone doesn’t create a scalable business.

Think about it this way. If your business cannot function without you answering every call, approving every payment, solving every problem, and making every decision, then your business is not really growing. It is simply becoming more dependent on you.

That’s why many entrepreneurs end up trapped in the businesses they created.

Successful companies grow because they build systems that allow work to happen consistently. They create processes for customer service, sales, operations, hiring, and communication so the business can continue to run even when the founder steps away.

This is one of the reasons franchises like McDonald’s can operate thousands of locations around the world. Their success isn’t built on finding extraordinary people in every city. It’s built on systems that produce consistent results.

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How to Calculate True Business Profit: 9 Costs Most Entrepreneurs Forget

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In entrepreneurship, Finance

Calculate True Business Profit

How do you know if your business is truly profitable? Let’s put it another way: Do you know how to calculate your true business profit?

Many entrepreneurs assume that if money is coming in, the business must be making a profit. A freelancer lands a $1,000 project and immediately starts planning how to spend the money. A retailer records $5,000 in sales and celebrates a successful month. A Catfish farmer sells an entire harvest and assumes the business is thriving.

But revenue and profit are not the same thing.

Revenue is the total amount of money your business generates. Profit is what remains after all business expenses have been paid. The challenge is that many entrepreneurs forget to include certain costs when calculating profitability. As a result, they often believe they are making more money than they actually are.

This is why some businesses appear successful on the surface yet struggle financially behind the scenes. Sales may be growing, customers may be buying, and money may be flowing into the business, but hidden expenses can quietly erode profits.

As Warren Buffett famously said, “Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity, but cash is king.“

If you want to calculate your true business profit, there are several important costs you need to account for first. In this blog, we’ll explore nine commonly overlooked expenses that can significantly affect your bottom line and help you determine whether your business is genuinely profitable.

1. The Actual Cost of Producing Your Product or Service 

Many entrepreneurs underestimate the true cost of producing and delivering their products or services. When calculating business profit, production costs are one of the first expenses you must account for because they directly affect your bottom line.

If you bake cakes, your costs are not limited to flour and sugar. You also need to consider eggs, butter, packaging, electricity, gas, delivery materials, and even the wear and tear on your equipment.

If you’re a freelance writer, your costs are not zero simply because you work from home. Internet subscriptions, writing tools, AI software, electricity, and professional development courses are all part of the cost of delivering your service.

If you’re a catfish farmer, your expenses go far beyond purchasing fingerlings. Feed, medication, pond maintenance, water management, labour, transportation, and mortality rates all contribute to your overall production cost.

The problem is that many entrepreneurs only count the obvious expenses while overlooking the smaller ones. Unfortunately, these seemingly insignificant costs accumulate over time and quietly eat into profit margins.

As management expert Peter Drucker famously said, “What gets measured gets managed.”

Meaning that if you don’t know your true production cost, you don’t know your true profit. Before you can confidently determine whether your business is profitable, you must first know exactly what it costs to create and deliver your product or service.

What Is Profit in Business? The Number That Tells You If Your Business Is Actually Working

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How Nigerians in Diaspora Can Invest in Oil Palm Business in Nigeria (Without Farming Themselves).

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In Agri Investment, entrepreneurship

How Nigerians in Diaspora Can Invest in Oil Palm Business in Nigeria

Nigeria consumes about 2.7 million metric tonnes of palm oil annually but produces only about 1.5 million metric tonnes. This leaves a supply gap of more than one million tonnes annually, requiring over $290 million in palm oil imports in 2024 alone.

Think about this for a moment: A country historically known for palm oil is now spending hundreds of millions of dollars to import a product it can produce itself. In the 1960s, Nigeria controlled almost 40% of the global palm oil market. Today, that figure has dropped to less than 2%, even as local demand from households, food processors, manufacturers, and export markets rises.

The Oil Palm opportunity has not disappeared

Nigeria’s fertile Palm Belt remains naturally suited for oil palm cultivation. The challenge has not been whether the land can produce, but rather issues such as poor seedlings, fragmented farming systems, underinvestment, and limited commercial-scale execution.

For investors, this raises an interesting question:

If Nigeria already has demand, suitable land, and a market that depends heavily on imports, could oil palm become one of the overlooked long-term investment opportunities of this decade?

Whether you live in Nigeria, the UK, Canada, the USA, or elsewhere in the diaspora, there are several ways to gain exposure to the oil palm value chain, from plantations and processing to partnerships and structured agricultural investments.

In this guide, we’ll explore the opportunities, startup costs, timelines, risks, and practical ways to enter Nigeria’s oil palm business wisely.

How to Start Investing in Oil Palm Production

For someone in the UK, Canada, or the United States saying, “I want to invest in oil palm. I have seen the market gap and think I can fill my share of the demand. But where do I start planting?” The answer may be simpler than many imagine.

In fact, it may be simple enough that you do not need to leave your location to participate in oil palm farming in Nigeria.

The standard path many take is to secure land, then hire a local manager to run the farm and send monthly reports. While this can work, it often leads to a steeper path to profitability and sustainability than expected. Managing an agricultural business remotely adds complexity: land verification, staffing, supervision, report quality, operational delays, and decision-making across locations and time zones.

For many diaspora investors, the challenge is not always access to capital; it is access to trusted execution.

That is why another route has increasingly gained attention: rather than building entirely from scratch, some investors choose to work with experienced, government-registered oil palm businesses and operators who already understand cultivation cycles, have existing systems, and know what it takes to run productive operations on the ground.

This does not remove the need for due diligence or eliminate risk, but it can reduce some of the early operational hurdles that discourage people from participating in agriculture from abroad.

How Towers Palm is Changing the Oil Palm Investment Space

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