Adopted by many as a means to fritter away time, social media platforms are gradually being converted to a more useful means for business transactions. Beyong posting to catch fun many young ladies in northern Nigeria are taking the opportunity to promote their businesses and reach customers.
Women entrepreneurs are leveraging Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and TikTok to market their businesses.
Some ladies share their stories with WikkiTimes and explained how they took advantage of social media through engaging in economic activities.
Rahama Umar
Rahama Umar is a budding entrepreneur from Kano. She exemplified an online businesswoman who has harnessed the power of social media.
She told WikkiTimes that her business, Rahzeez Global Enterprises, which she registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) deals in real estate, household equipment, kitchen utensils, and automobile sales.
Despite her busy life as a wife and mother, she has amassed a dedicated following on Instagram and WhatsApp group. Having started during the COVID-19 lockdown, she expanded to other platforms. “I use WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, sometimes I go on Tik-Tok and Telegram,” Rahama says.
“I prefer WhatsApp because you can’t do without it as a business owner. Any traffic you pull, you nurture on WhatsApp before closing sales. You cannot just depend on one platform,” Rahama explains.
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Amelia Safinat Kuh
Another entrepreneur, Amelia Safinat Kuh from Kaduna, started Amelia Groceries in 2023. She offers a variety of products, including palm oil, crayfish, foodstuffs, and food processing services. Through Facebook and WhatsApp, Amelia markets her goods from the comfort of her home. She said she is exploring other platforms like Instagram to get in more customers and increase her sales.
Aisha Sani
Mrs. Aisha Sani, based in Lagos, started her online business in 2019 as a source to augment her income and to reduce boredom. Originally from the North, she sells various clothing materials using her WhatsApp, Instagram, and TikTok accounts. With followers on WhatsApp, Instagram, and TikTok, she has leveraged on these platforms to reach a wide audience.
Zahra Sani
Fatima Zahra Sani, based in Kano, runs an online business on Instagram @modish_togs. She sells veils, scrunches, inner caps, and ready-made abayas. Fatima started her business in 2020 during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and has garnered followers on Instagram.
Exploring the opportunities
Mrs. Aisha, who started in 2019 with little capital, is now proud of her significant progress. She narrated that social media has provided her financial gains. “It started with just N250k. The first day I made my own 3,000 naira profit I was overjoyed. Now, getting 100,000 in a day feels normal.”
For Mrs. Rahama, social media began as a means to stay in touch with family and friends but later discovered its business potential. She told WikkiTimes that she realized she could make money while catching up with friends.
“The social media has impacted me in many ways. I realized I could make money while still catching up with friends,” Rahama shared.
Similarly, Amelia has experienced significant business growth through social media, despite some challenges. She said “I struggle with financial challenges as I don’t have investors or access to loans to purchase essential machinery like a dehydrator or food processor that will help ease my business.”
Like Rahama, Fatima said she started her business with a budget of 10,000 naira, selling inner caps and gradually adding more items. Although she faced difficulties initially but remained dedicated. “With N4000 from my mom and my N6000, that’s a total of N10,000 I started my business. It wasn’t easy at first with the COVID-19 pandemic but with dedication I have come this far.”
The Challenges
As every other endeavour, challenges are bound to occur, Mrs. Aisha explained the stress of gaining customers’ trust at the beginning with few buyers initially and had to promote her page using influencers at a fee was one of them.
She added that she beyond using clear, unedited pictures to attract customers, she had to use use trending music or sermons in reels for wider reach. “The clarity of my picture attracts customers. For me what you order is what you get. I also use sermons from clerics or trending music as an under voice on reels which help in reaching more audience,” Aisha noted.
Mrs. Rahama said dealing with fraudsters when interacting with customers and vendors on social media is a challenge. She shared an experience of being scammed out of 15 million naira in 2021, which severely impacted her business.
Resiliently, despite the setbacks, she remains committed to build trust, “A WhatsApp group of more than 600 members who can now vouch for our business based on their experience with us has helped us overcome one of the biggest challenges of online business which is trust.”
For Amelia, customers sometimes refuse products at the last minute which often causes her to waste resources. “Customers sometimes refuse the products at the last minute when dispatchers are already sent out with items,” she said. She deploys a flexible return policy to maintain customer satisfaction while minimizing cancellations.
“They will DM you that they need an item and later ghost you or refuse to pay you for the item. There was once a customer that refused to pay till date,” Fatima said as she now opted for a pay-before-service policy.
Expert Counsels
According to Amina Ibrahim Idris, a digital media expert, online business has come to stay and provides ample opportunities for women especially fulltime housewives.
She argued that “Firstly, focus on building relationships with your audience by engaging authentically and sharing valuable content to foster trust. Understanding your target audience is crucial; research their needs and desires to tailor your offerings effectively.”
She noted that creating visually appealing and attention-grabbing content is essential on social media platforms, adding that “so invest in high-quality images, videos, and compelling captions.”
Mrs idris added that experimenting with different strategies, such as running promotions, collaborating with influencers, or varying your content types, can also help boost sales while they remain consistent to build trust and provide value, which are fundamental to successful social media selling.
“Social media marketing can significantly improve the lives, income, and standard of living of full-time housewives by offering a flexible and sustainable career option that allows them to balance work and family commitments.
“Promoting products or services on social media platforms enables housewives to generate additional income, contributing to their family’s finances and enhancing their household’s overall standard of living.”
She contended that with the right strategy, dedication, and effort, social media sales can be a lucrative and fulfilling business opportunity.
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Thanks so much for sharing my story I am beyond grateful . May Allah elevate wikki times beyond imagination and it’s humbles workers too