In Nigeria today, everyone needs a source of income to make ends meet. There are many options but most of the businesses require an insane amount of capital to start. VTU business is one of the most popular side businesses in Nigeria to earn extra income. In this article, we would be telling you all about VTU business and how to make profit from VTU in Nigeria.
What is VTU?
We believe you already know what VTU means; you only want to find out how you can be more successful in the business. This explanation is for those who do not know, or are not so sure what it is.
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VTU simply means “virtual top-up“. The entire concept of VTU was not so popular in Nigeria until a few years ago. In the not too distant past, users could not buy airtime or data from banks. But right now, so many Nigerians have gotten used to VTU, that they do not even remember that such an era existed. That was the era when paper “recharge cards” was so prevalent. If you ever needed to make a call or browse the internet, you would have to buy recharge cards from a designated shop or outlet. Thereafter, you had to load the airtime value onto your SIM card; then optionally buy data as needed.
VTU does not only consist of Data and Airtime. Basically any service or utility you can pay for via the internet is a virtual top-up. This includes your cable TV bill, your electricity bill, and even your betting accounts – the range is pretty wide.
Now, VTU has made life easier and more efficient for an average Nigerian. For instance, think back to when you touched recharge cards compared to how many times you load from banks?
Also Read – How To Create and Own a VTU Website in Nigeria
So What Exactly is VTU Business All About?
Now you know what VTU means; but what then is VTU business? Nigerians are very enterprising citizens, we know how to monetize and make the most of virtually anything. From the moment VTU came to existence, Nigerians have made a solid business out of it – and of course we would! Nigerians spend billions – and yes, you heard me – BILLIONS of Naira on data and airtime usage every month!
VTU business is all about selling (or vending as we love to put it) everything VTU has to offer. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Data
- Airtime
- Recharge Card PINs
- Cable TV Subscription
- Electricity Bills
- Exam Scratch cards (WAEC, NECO, NABTEB etc.)
- Bulk SMS
- Sports Betting account top-up
These are normal services an average VTU vendor can render to you. Although there are lots more; but from research and experience, I can say these are the most profitable and the most in demand services.
How Do I Earn Money From VTU in Nigeria?
This is one of the most important aspects of VTU business that confuses a lot of people. How exactly do I make money from the business? Well, the answer is quite simple.
You handle VTU business the same way you handle literally any other business. Look for, and buy service top-up units at an affordable rate. Add your desired profit, find many customers to patronize you, and enjoy your profit.
For instance, let us say you have a place or VTU website where you buy MTN SME data at ₦230/GB. You can choose to add a profit of ₦100 and sell it at ₦330/GB to your customers. Now imagine you are able to sell just 10GB every day, that’s an effortless ₦1000 profit every single day. I am sure you can do the math and check how much you will make, if you are able to sell 50 to 100GB every day. Meanwhile, this calculation covers just MTN data alone.
Just as I suggested earlier, VTU business is very lucrative if you play your cards correctly.
There are Two Major Ways of Making Sales in VTU Business:
- Fixed Profit (or Commission-based) Sales
- Dynamic Profit-based Sales
Let me explain what each of them entails. While vending services such as Cable TV subscription and payment of electricity bills to customers, you work with commission-based sales. For instance, a user or customer might want to subscribe to DStv Premium for a month. You can make your profit by adding a fixed charge on every subscription or bill payment. This could be a commission of ₦50 to ₦100. If the cost of DStv subscription is ₦21000, you can charge the customer ₦21050 or ₦21100 and make an easy profit.
Most platforms like Cyber Data Hub offer 0.5% to 2% discount on their cable TV subscriptions and electricity bill payments. So you may choose to handle the subscription for your customers at flat rate and still make a profit.
Dynamic Profit Sales can easily be increased or reduced at anytime for whatever reason you have as a seller. You can add as much profit as you want, while selling data bundles for all telecom networks. But do not forget to compare your prices with other vendors, so you will not be kicked out by competition. Dynamic profit sales mostly covers data bundles, which you can get at a certain price and thereafter add your desired profit.
Fixed profit sales covers exam PINs, cable TV, electricity bills, and even airtime. But let us be frank here, you cannot add just any profit you want when selling these services. If you do not add a small commission or sell at flat rate, no one will patronize you.
How Do I Maximize Profit in VTU Business?
This happens to be a tricky question; and a crucial aspect you must always be on the lookout for. How do you maximize your profit? Here are a few steps you must take:
Know your Competition – The number of data sellers and individuals in the VTU business in Nigeria continues to grow larger at a fast pace. So you must always keep a close eye on what your competitors are up to. And by competitors, I mean other people in the VTU business.
Online or Offline? – This is also very important. Some vendors target customers online; others target customers offline. Both options have their advantages and disadvantages. However, it is now a common practice to provide both online and offline top-up services for maximum profit. You have to analyze yourself and know which would be a better option for you as a seller. Would you succeed more if you had a shop where you can sell physically to people and collect cash? Or would you be more successful if you sold to people online through WhatsApp, Facebook etc., and collect payments through bank transfers? Or better still – can you handle both?
Avoid Mistakes and Keep Your Eyes Out For Fraudulent People – There are many scammers posing as VTU dealers. There are also people out there who intend to cheat you by ordering for data or any service without paying you. Always be on the lookout for them, and plan ahead to block such people. Also avoid making costly mistakes like vending to a wrong number, vending more than once per order, etc.
Also Read – How to minimize MTN/Glo/Airtel/9mobile data usage on your smartphone
How Do I Make More Sales and Get More Customers in the VTU Business?
This part is all about growth. Once you are set up and have already started making sales, you definitely want to grow your business. How do you enlarge your customer base? How can you make more sales? Here are a few tips you can put in place to achieve just that.
Always Keep in Touch – Never forget your already established customers while searching for new ones. Ensure that after each sale, your customer saves your number, and you save his/hers too. Make this a habit so that at any other time they are in need of your services, they can contact you easily. Send broadcast messages once in a while; greet them during holidays or special events; and ask them to refer you to others.
Advertise – Spend some money on advertisements. Use Facebook, blogs, and WhatsApp groups if you sell online. And use detailed, beautiful banners and fliers if you sell offline. This is one of the fastest ways to grow customers and increase sales.
Take Your Sales Offline – You will have an insane advantage if you have a physical shop where you can take cash and sell to people one on one. Some people are not really tech savvy and may have trust issues paying for a service online. Having a physical location boosts sales massively.
Check Your Competition – Sometimes, it is easy to become lost and uninformed when you do not know what others are doing. Compare your prices with others. And do not sell so low that you do not make a profit; or too high that you do not make any sales.
Promos and Giveaways – This part is hard to achieve if your are new in the business, and have not really started making much profit yet. But while you can, try running promos from time to time. Slash your price(s) for a few days, or even just a day to attract customers. Do giveaways to create awareness and get more contacts. After all, we all know “Naija loves awoof“.
Conclusion
You are invited to Sign Up on Cyber Data Hub and login to your dashboard. Fund your wallet and be ready for any customer demands, to begin selling data at retail price. Assuming 1GB on cyberdata.ng is N230, you can sell the same to customers at N350. That is a whooping N120 profit per GB sold. Remember to always adjust your prices, watch out for competition, and keep your customers close to you. Dedication matters a lot, and you will need to continuously search for new customers. If you follow these steps, you could earn a lot of money daily from VTU business in Nigeria.
VTU business, Data business or whatever you personally call it still remains a profitable business in Nigeria. You can use it as a side hustle or main hustle and earn big. You can visit www.cyberdata.ng to dive into the VTU business, as they are trusted and we endorse them. Thank you very much for reading. Any questions? Please let us know using the comment section below.
