How to make money selling stuff to rich people

Posted by Felix Okoli on Wednesday December 23, 2015 at 10:50:37:

Rich people may want the same goods and services poor people also want but they may want it through a different channel or different platform or even packaging. A rich Nigerian may want to buy akara just like a poor Nigerian does but the rich man could rather prefer it to be sold inside a clean and air conditioned restaurant and won't mind paying a bit higher for it but a poor man would like to save money and won't mind buying it on the road side. If you know how to sell goods and services to rich people, you can make good money doing so.

One may wonder why a plate of food at Mama Ebuka restaurant sells for N200 while the same type of food at Calabar restaurant goes for N1000. Well, it's because the latter targets more of the rich people than the poor. They are produced and served in different environments and they are also packaged differently.

When you start up a product or service oriented business in Nigeria with the goal of targeting rich people, it can be a profitable business just like someone who also starts up a business with the goal of targeting the masses. Rich Nigerians don't always bother about the cost of your product or service but may care about other things such as the personal service, the care, quality and the environment through which it is provided.

A rich Nigerian would not want to visit Yaba or Lagos okrika market to buy used clothes and bend down doing so when they can equally visit a shopping mall that has a car parking space and they can test the new clothes they want in an air conditioned boutique before paying for them. When it comes to providing a service or marketing a product to rich Nigerians, it's not really the price you have to consider but you have to consider other things such as a comfortable business environment.

Let's assume you want to start up a food restaurant business for instance and want your choice customers to be rich people, you can decide that a plate of food for instance would be at least N500 instead of the N100 poor people can get from local food sellers. You can decide that people would be able to eat in an air conditioned environment and with comfortable chairs and tables while they also watch cable tv. You can include the cost of those other complementary services to the price of the food you are selling. You can even have them equally pay for a seat first so as to eliminate poor people who may want to visit your restaurant and enjoy those free services without ordering for a seat. So, rich people may not mind spending N500 to N1000 for a plate of food at your restaurant as long as you treat them nicely and they'll keep coming back as long as they are satisfied.

Rich people want things like good quality, physical security, parking space, VIP sections, home delivery options, gratitude, personal touch and so on when they are doing business with you. If you can provide them with an atmosphere that makes it convenient for them to do business with you, they are more likely to patronize you.

A Nigerian lawyer for instance can decide to offer his services full time to 1 or 2 rich billionaires rather than offering it to the masses because the 2 clients are more than enough to pay him a good income for his services and because he is always available and willing to assist them in their legal needs, they are more likely to keep him as their legal representative.

If you are running a school for instance, if you decide to increase the school fees so as to train high quality students rather than reduce it, you are still going to have students who will keep coming to your school because they are from rich families who can afford it and who want the best for their children. You may not have a lot of students because of the high school fees but the few you have will make you proud because you provide them with good teachers and a good quality environment for learning. You'd see that rich people will always send their children to rich private schools no matter how high the school fees keep rising because they can afford it and their kids averagely perform better than others who go to cheaper schools where the school fee is free or so cheap. Nowadays, some people wonder why some Nigerian students who just finished primary school can use computers while students in some secondary schools still don't know how to use computers. You just need to do your marketing right to a rich audience if you are running an expensive school and you'd see them coming.

Rich people prefer doing business with people they can trust such as people who make promises and keep them. If you are marketing to a rich person, don't lie to them about what they'd gain from buying from you since they are intelligent and can know when you are lying. Just be honest and respectful. Be timely if you have agreed on a meeting time and don't use African time. They can judge you to be dishonest just because you are late for a meeting.

Rich Nigerians like doing business with people who reach out to them and not the other way round. You don't expect a rich person to come to you first but because they know you want their money, you should be the one doing the marketing first. If you have a flyer or business card, you should give it to them. Rich people like people who are organized and at least have a business card. Don't appear before them as if you are a beggar or just starting a struggling business and don't even have a business card or official phone number. Get those things right before meeting with a rich person you want to attract to your business.

Rich people like investing in things that can give them longer life. You'd notice that a good majority of rich Nigerians are people already above 40 years and many of them already have children. They are more likely to buy things that are related to health rather than things that can shorten their lifespan. You can get a lot of them invited to a gym or health shop you just opened. You can also offer them home delivery options.

Rich people like patronizing business that can show them gratitude or appreciation. At times, a rich Nigerian may just buy something from you not because he needs that stuff or service but because he knows you would thank him for it. If they feel you are not grateful to them for patronizing you, they are less likely to keep buying from you.

Rich people like buying from friendly and cheerful people. Rich Nigerians like visiting businesses where they see people smile and are happy. They like spending money where there is some form of personal touch to it such as a conversation about life's event by your or your staff with them. They like visiting places where they can talk with people rather than places where it's strictly just business and nothing else. So, you can ask after their kids, wives, husbands and religion when they are patronizing you and they are more likely to keep patronizing you.

Rich people like places with a good parking space and they don't mind paying an extra fee for it. Having a spacious parking space is good and if you run a business, you are more likely to attract rich people because they would be people who drive their cards about and like parking them in places that are a bit enclosed rather than on the road where. People who run a supermarket should have a car parking space if they want to attract rich customers.

Rich people like patronizing business that can deliver goods to them at their homes or offices. If you are selling stuff, you can also let your customers know that they can order online through the phone and you'd deliver to them at an extra cost depending on their location within the state. Rich people don't mind paying an extra free for having the things they want when they want it. If you care about having some of their money, then you should include this option in your business.

Also, rich people don't like paying with cash and I'm talking about the rich people who are educated and not criminal minded or hideous. They prefer paying for their stuff with traceable money if I may use that word. it's also more convenient for them to do so and it also helps protect them from being defrauded. You should include a P.O.S. machine to your business if you want to keep attracting rich people to it. You can also accept payments through bank transfers and cheques rather than just cash.

Whatever products (food, provisions, clothes, books, electronics) you are selling or services (car rentals, gym, hotel accommodation, event catering, nursing, home keeping, laundry, pest control) you are rendering, you can do it as a profitable business in Nigeria even if it's only rich people that are your customers.