12 legitimate side-jobs nigerians can do for extra cash

12 side-hustles you can run from Nigeria to generate extra income

If you’re looking for ways to earn extra money for the upcoming christmas period, you will probably come across a thousand strategies to make money – both real and fake. Once you have eliminated the fake strategies from the real ones, you will now need to select a legitimate one which fits into your skills and the resources that are available to you.

No matter where you’re from, or your employment status, as long as you have access to the internet, there are so many money-making opportunities available today, which did not exist 10 years ago. For some of them, you can earn a decent living in Naira, and for some you can earn in US Dollars or GB Pounds, and convert your funds to Naira at your convenience. Illegitimate 419 scams are getting harder and harder to perpetrate, and legitimate jobs are getting easier to access.

I decided to review a few of these legitimate jobs accessible to Nigerians for your benefit. Before you read any further, these jobs are posted on the premise that you have a device connected to the internet. Here they are:

1. Tutoring

Tutoring basically involves coaching young students in certain subject areas, and helping them achieve better grades at school. Students of all ages need tutors for maths, science, foreign languages, etc, so if you did well at a particular subject at school – or if you happen to speak a foreign language, this might be for you. With most tutors earning around an extra N30,000 monthly, tutoring is a great way to earn some extra money out-of-hours, and it is also a job that comes with a feel-good factor. If you’re skilled in a certain area, then why not help others succeed in school?

You can print out leaflets with your phone number and distribute at schools, and you can also join local online tutoring websites such as Tuteria, Prepclass and Simptutors to get matched to parents of students who need your services.

Skills/Resources required: Good subject knowledge/good teaching ability

2. AirBnB – Rent your spare room

AirBnB is an app that allows you to rent out your extra room to local or international visitors.  If you have an extra room in your house, you can earn money by renting it out to pre-screened local and international visitors using the website Airbnb.com. The site has a small community of consistent users, including hosts like Fola who rents out his spare bedroom in Somolu for £18 per night + £ per night service fee. This is a great way to make money while meeting interesting people from around the world. 

Skills/Resources required: Spare room

3. Drive an Uber taxi

If you live in Lagos or Abuja and can drive (or have access to a car) then you can make some extra money by being an Uber partner. As an Uber partner, you gain access to the Uber driver’s app which matches you with people close to you who need a taxi. You pick up and drop off the passengers, and get paid automatically from the passengers’ bank account direct to your bank account, minus a 25% Uber fee. If you don’t want to drive the car yourself, you can offer it to a driver to make money on your behalf when you’re not using it, and pay the driver a salary or a percentage. The registration process is outlined in-depth over here and you can register as a partner using this link.

Skills required: Driving

Resources: Access to a Year 2001 vehicle or newer.

Related: How to register as an Uber partner and earn up to N250,000 monthly 

4. Computer/Phone Repair Service.

If you’re good at fixing things you could start a phone and computer repair service. We now live in a world where everyone owns at least a phone or a computer (or both). This automatically means that these items are prone to damage, so there is always demand for the service. You could even offer a collection service to serve your customers a little better, and charge an extra N1,000 for the collection and return. If you get stuck with a certain problem, there are troubleshooting websites such as Youtube and iFixit.com.

Skills required: Repair experience

Resources required: Phone repair toolbox

5. Real Estate Brokerage

One weekend, my mum took time out of her busy schedule to drive 15 minutes to give ₦50,000 to a woman she hardly knew. She had met the lady at church a couple of weeks prior and told her about a flat she was trying to rent for ₦500,000. The lady had found a tenant for my mum, and automatically earned ₦50,000 for the referral!  You can make 10% of the price of renting or buying a property, just by connecting property owners with buyers or tenants. I was speaking to a guy who had a property for sale from a “distressed owner”. Things had been very difficult for him until he got into the business a year ago. He goes to estate agents (especially those stuck in the past, and have no idea about advertising online) and gets a list of their properties for sale and for rent. He then puts them on Lamudi.com.ng as well as a private WhatsApp group. When a sale is made, he gets a 10% cut, whether it’s rent on a ₦500,000 property, or sale of a ₦5m property. The only capital required is your data subscription and a bit of legwork to begin with.

Skills/Resources required: Marketing skills/Time

6. Wedding/Party MC

If you’re a social person who enjoys attending weddings and speaking in public, you can consider a side hustle as a wedding MC. In fact, weddings are one event which most people don’t compromise on, and an MC is a vital part of each wedding. If you charge ₦35,000 for each wedding, and officiate a wedding each weekend, that’s an extra ₦140,000 in your pocket each month – some people’s monthly salary! MyWeddingNigeria explains what the duties of a good wedding MC are, so check out this guide from their website.

Skills required: Public speaking

Resources required: A nice suit

7. Dropshipping

A dropshipper owns an online store and processes sales, but never actually touches the products. He/She forwards all orders to the wholesaler who directly ships the product to the customer anywhere in the world, bagging the difference between the wholesale and retail prices. So many millionaires have been made through this strategy, as all you do is research new products, advertise in your store, and fulfill orders. One of the easiest ways to set up an online store without forking out hundreds of thousands upfront is to use store building services like Shopify. Dropshipping is such an attractive hands-free venture that I have started doing it part-time, and I am learning a lot in the process.

Skills required: Research skills

Resources required: Time

8. Manage social media for small businesses:

There are a lot of small businesses who need a social media manager, but are unable to hire someone full-time to post regularly on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat or Twitter. You can take it upon yourself to contact local businesses and offer them your services for a contracted monthly fee. This is an easy way to make money no matter where you live.

Skills/Resources required: Social media scheduling tool such as Buffer.

9. Selling your art and designs to a global audience

If you’re artistic (or even know someone who is), you can sell T-shirts with your artwork printed on them, with little or no capital. All you need to do is sign up to print-on-demand websites, and they showcase your artwork to a global audience. In this guide, we explain how the whole process works, and also provide a list of international websites that offer this service.

Skills/Resources required: Photographic skills

Related: How to sell your designs internationally and earn $$$

10. Teaching Online

There is an online education platform called Udemy which basically enables anyone, anywhere to create an online course and sell it to anyone, anywhere in the world. For example, there is a Nigerian programmerwho sells his courses for £15 on Udemy, and so far, he has sold 5,399 courses. That’s right – Five thousand, three hundred and ninety-nine courses. I’ll leave you to do the math. But the site doesn’t only allow programming courses – you can create your own course around any topic at all, and you can also set your own tuition rate.

Skills required: Good knowledge of a subject, and the ability to teach

Resources required: Video recording equipment

11. Content Writing

If you love writing, you can very easily offer a content writing side hustle. Most businesses online need copywriters, and there are ALWAYS jobs available if you know where to look. Join content writing groups on Facebook, and you will be kept very busy.

Skills/Resources required: Writing skills

12. Sell services on Fiverr.

Fiverr is a website where people can buy all sorts of services starting from $5, as the name implies. But don’t be fooled by the name – many sellers routinely offer services for over $5, as $5 is just the starting point. The site accepts people from Nigeria, and there are so many people making a thousands of dollars monthly on the website.  You can sell services such as logo design, article writing, marketing, research etc, and charge in US $. Withdrawing your earnings won’t be a problem, as there are lots of exchangers (usually business people in need of US $ in electronic form) on Nairaland who would be happy to exchange your funds for the prevailing rate.

Skills/Resources required: A service to sell
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