Are you thinking of starting a bag making business,? This article will put you through the steps to start this business.
Considering the fashionable level of Nigerian women, it is also one of the small medium enterprise that has the capacity for wealth and job creation.
Bags have been used for many decades as a way by which people carry their money no matter the gender.
Bags are not only used to carry money but serve as an easier way for people to carry other personal items.
In the 24th century, bags have turned out not to be only used to carry money or personal items but serves as a must have fashion gear, especially for women.
For men fashion mainly is all about clothes and shoes they wear but for women, it goes beyond that.
Women fashion includes clothes, shoes, accessories, makeups and bags or purse.
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All over the world, it is difficult for you to see a lady going out without carrying a bag or a purse. Everyone can testify to that.
Also very rare do you see a lady that just have only one bag. Just as they spend money to buy clothes and shoes they also spend lots of money on bags.
Bags comes in different styles, sizes, colors to meet different occasions.
The fashion industry is set to be worth billions of dollars and top brands in fashion has also gone ahead to dive into bag making.
Since the involvement of these top brands into bag making this business has kept on growing rapidly
Since Nigeria is not lacking behind when it comes to fashion lots of people has also done into the bag making business and are using their creativity to manufacture colorful designs and styles of bags using different materials.
Starting a bag making business in Nigeria can be very profitable if you know what you are doing.
Women bags in Nigeria are not that cheap, 1 bag can cost ₦5,000 and imagine women having more than 3 and are still ready to buy more.
The good thing about this business is that if you are just starting out, you can start from the comfort of your home.
Depending on how you intend to start the business, You can operate either on part-time or full-time bases.
Without wasting much time, let us discuss the steps to start a bag making business in Nigeria
Decide On The Type Of Bag To Make
Since bag making goes beyond handbags for women you will have to decide on the type of bag to make. Who would your bag be made for, would it be for only women, men, kids and so on.
You have to pick the one that is convenient for you.
Most times doing market research on the different bag making ideas is important as it will help aid your decision.
These bag ideas may include tote bags, school bags, messenger bags for men, clutch, hobo bags and so on.
Do a Research
Once you have been able to decide on the kind of bag you would be making then it is time to do market research to know if it would be a lucrative idea.
This research will also help you know who your targeted audience are.
Depending on the type of bag you have decided to make your audience might be younger people in their 20s or those in their 40s and beyond.
Write A Business Plan
A lot of things will come to your mind when you intend to start a new business but a business plan helps you keep your idea in perfect shape.
Your business plan will include your goals for the business, the research on you taken to know the market size of the business, how much you are willing to invest in the business and other relevant information’s.
Learn How To Make Bag
No one is born with the gift of making bag so you will have to learn the art of bag making.
You can attend skill acquisition seminars where they teach people how to make bags or simply serve as an apprentice in a bag making company.
With this, you will learn the trade first hand and gain experience before you launch your own business.
Depending on how far you are in learning it should not take you up to 6 months to 1 year to learn the trade completely.
Choose A Business Location
Once you are through learning how to make bag then you can start your very own bag making business.
For this to happen you will need a place where you would store your equipment and start manufacturing.
The good thing about this business is that you can start it anywhere. If you are unable to rent a shop you can as well start right from the comfort of your home.
Register Your Business
If you are thinking of doing this business long term and create your unique brand, You have to register a business name.
All you need is an attractive business name as it is what most people will be seeing not you.
You can register a business name with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) for less than ₦50,000.
Get The Necessary Equipment’s
The first thing to consider before getting any equipment of any sort would be where you would be getting your raw materials from.
If you are into making leather bags, then getting high-quality raw material should be your top goal. This would involve you doing some more research as to where to source your materials.
after this,you can go ahead to start getting the various equipment’s. These include:
Sewing machine
Finger presser
Walking machine foot
Thick treads
Scissors
Machine needles
Tape measurement
Travel iron with steam function
Ironing board
Fabric glue
Rotary cutter
1/4in basting tapes
Sewing clips
Marker
And so on.
Start Manufacturing
Once everything has been put in place then it’s time to start manufacturing your bags. This is where the creative side of you will be brought to life. You can mix materials so as to get a perfect design.
Get A Fixed Price
Having to fix price for your products can sometimes be difficult as you won’t want to fix a price that will be too expensive for people to buy or cheap that you will make little or no profit.
For you to get a fixed price, you will have to first figure out the total amount used in producing one bag and decide how much profit you intend to make.
For example, if it costs you ₦10,000 to manufacture one bag you can put your profit at ₦3,000 making the fixed price ₦13,000.
One other thing you should know about pricing is that if you are new to the market it would be very difficult to sell your products at a high price.
Open A Store
Once everything has been put in place and you are ready to enter the market you can then think of various ways you can promote your products to get customers to buy from you.
If you decide to use the traditional means of opening a shop and displaying your items for people to purchase which is good or you can decide to go online and open an e-commerce website where people can buy your products online.
Read Why Nigerian Youths Needs Digital Skills.
For me, the best route to take would be to open an e-commerce website where you are able to market your products to a larger audience.
If you find it difficult to open an e-commerce website, you can sign up as a merchant for top e-commerce websites in Nigeria such as jumia.com.ng, konga.com, Jiji.ng and so. You will be able to display your items and get people to buy from you.
If you are able to run both an offline and online store for your item that would be better.
Marketing
People are not just going to start coming to your store immediately you open up which is why you will have to advertise your business.
There are various ways you can promote your products and they include: word of mouth, advertising on newspaper, radio, TV, social media and so on.
