Starting a business isn’t as tough as people would always claim, The thought of starting your own business can be quite exciting, I remember nursing the idea of kicking off with my own business, I had this butterfly in my tummy, the thought of making my own decisions and implementing them, whether or not they come out fruitful, I knew I would be held accountable for my actions and bear the consequences for such decision, this changed my mindset and way of thinking, I had to consciously remind myself that I am the boss of my business and the death or survival of the business was in my hands.
So I kicked of with it, not giving listening ears to the thoughts of fear and failure and today, even though am still growing, I’m grateful to God because am way beyond my peers.
My topic for today is to educate you on How to start an outdoor advertising agency Business In Nigeria, trust me you can do it, though it involves some money, just like every other businesses,
Firstly, advertising in Nigeria is very lucrative, if you have an idea of the budget companies set aside for advertising alone, then you would understand the key role advertising play on the sustenance of an organization’s products and services. I remember getting my first job in an advertising agency at ikeja, Lagos permit me to exclude the name of the ads agency, until I worked there, I didn’t have a clue on how to start or run an outdoor advertising agency business In Nigeria.
Now am going to take you through on the steps needed and how to go about in starting an outdoor advertising business with little money.
I believe the reader of the post most likely would not own an outdoor ads agency, and would most likely be a learner,
Step 1: Usually for you to run an advertising agency in Nigeria, you need to be certified to run this kind of business, you need to be APCON (Advertisers Practitioners Council Of Nigeria) certified, this certificate gives you the leverage, legal and professional capacity to run the business without hitches, nevertheless, this should not be a hindrance, as there are better ways to boycott this hurdle.

1. Start the lecture and get the diploma cert or
2. Get someone who has a diploma in this certification and formally include him or her as a board of director in the shares of the company and you are good to go.

Using the second option is usually easier as it is stipulated in the legal procedures in starting an outdoor advertising agency business in Nigeria.

Getting a company name is very important; cost of registering a business name is quite minimal, you are going to be dealing with professionals, so a company name is needed in order to properly identify your company and what you do, don’t forget that you need to include the name of the person with APCON certificate as a board of director in your company even though he or she has no financial obligation or stake with your business, you are simply just following due process.

Step 3: Register With The Appropriate Body

This is another important step to adhere to when starting up an outdoor advertising agency business in Nigeria, in order to avoid embarrassments and destruction of your billboard(s). See below , the various bodies managing Adverts and Signage placements in different states.

1. LASAA – Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency
2. OGSAA – Ogun State Signage and Advertisement Agency
3. OYSAA – Oyo State Signage and Advertisement Agency
4. CRSSAA – Cross River State Signage and Advertisement Agency
5. DLSAA – Delta State River State Signage and Advertisement Agency

The list goes on and on.. and this applies to all states in Nigeria.
I remember as in 2012 when I tried registering with LASAA, I visited their office, made my intention known, I was given a form to fill and return, which I never returned because you will be asked to register with LASAA with a non refundable amount of 100,000 naira, this is not an automatic registration, you will have to produce relevant documents to LASAA and site where you want to place your billboard for proper investigation, which includes, testing of the soil, certifying the area free of environmental hazards should the billboard fall down and the likes.
Things To Note When Setting Up An Outdoor Advertising Agency Business

1. LASAA jurisdiction Area (Areas In Lagos state controlled by the Lagos state government) here on any billboard mounted, a certain percentage goes to the lagos state government body (LASAA)
2. Non-LASAA jurisdiction Areas (Areas in Lagos State not controlled by the Lagos state government, examples are FAAN, Customs Services, Immigration Services, The Nigerian Police, The Nigerian Army, The Nigerian Air force, Federal University UNILAG), maritime and the likes. Royalties are paid to the respective body, this depends on the Federal government body in question.

You could fix a board in the non-LASAA jurisdiction areas of Lagos state; in that case you do not need to through the LASAA process.
My candid advice is for you to go to either Ibadan or Ogun state, you do not need to go through the office process, even if you do, their procedures are quite lenient, or simply settle the local guys or youths in the area and then fix your board, that was exactly what I did then after sealing up an advert placement deal, with Viju milk, I paid royalties to Ogun State Signage and Advert Agency. There are various sizes of billboards,

1. Super 48 sheet size
2. 16 sheet Size
3. 96 Sheet Size
4. Unipole, (double face and 3faces)
5. Gantry
6. Streetlight Posts and so on
7. The advert rate is quite enticing; advertising is quite juicy but could be sometimes frustrating, though it is normal with all businesses.

As for the cost of starting an outdoor advertising agency business in Nigeria, you will be needing about 300,000 to 400,000 naira.
This covers costs of buying and building the frames where the ads campaign will be placed, in my case, I paid shagamu youths 25,000 naira and I had them at my beck and call until my job was done. It takes less than 1 month to complete the frame work and fix the board. After that is done, you will have to buy a white flex or used ads campaign (the thick banner the advert was painted on), write on it “VACANT SPACE OR PLACE ADS HERE’ CALL (Your personal number).
Do yourself good by going to check on it once in a while to avoid some unscrupulous individuals tearing it off and placing their own client’s advert or campaign on it and reap you off.
Do you have any more questions? Drop it on the comment session and you will get a prompt response from me.