Are you looking for a lucrative business in Nigeria you can start? Catfish farming business is one of the most sought after in Nigeria.

In this post I will discuss the top 10 tips on how to start a lucrative catfish business in Nigeria.

It will interest you to know that catfish business is the fastest growing enterprise in Nigeria because of it’s high demand and consumption.

If you are interested in starting a catfish business of your own you have come to the right Article.

Catfish farming is an agricultural branch of animal husbandry that deals with the rearing of catfish for subsistence or commercial purposes.

In the urban region catfish farming is a very scintillating business for those who are passionate about it.

The beauty about catfish is that they are a family of the ray-finned fishes that grows fast and can withstand the test of time and still thrive in harsh conditions.

I know a man who constructed his catfish pond business with ₦‎60,000 Naira.

Now, he has uncountable fish ponds where he deals in catfish.

Learning how to keep the fish and the right way to maintain their water habitat is paramount.

On the other hand, feeding them is as well very important.

Fingerlings are sold at very cheap prices and in less than 5 months, schools of catfishes have filled your pond.

A pond can be constructed with a broken tank, a large plastic bowl, a reservoir or a concrete tarpaulin.

So, you have to get the fingerlings into the pond, feed them correctly, change their water habitat regularly and keep them away from diseases.

These sound quite easy right? It really isn’t an easy endeavor but the following tips on how to start the business will give you upper hand against competitors.

Top 10 Tips On How To Start A Lucrative Catfish Business In Nigeria

Here are the top 10 tips on how to start a lucrative catfish business in Nigeria

1. Decide On The Size Of Your Farm

As I said earlier, that a pond can be made with a broken water tank.

So, you can cut it into a desirable shape, a large plastic bowl, a dug-pit reservoir or even a concrete tarpaulin construction.

Whichever way you choose will determine the size of pond you want to commence farming with.

I want to bring to your knowledge that in every business ordeal, it is always advisable to start small and continue to expand as the business grows.

On the other hand,  it is not wrong if you wishes to start big.

So, for a small pond, you can begin with the broken tank or large plastic bowl pond.

You may not need extra tweaking if you can change the water by yourself regularly but inviting a plumber can make the task easier to create an exit and entrance point for water in the pond.

For a larger sized pond, it is advisable to invite diggers to create a pond as wide as desired, pave it and ensure the channel of water through it.

It should be noted that the larger the size of your pond, the larger the expected sales.

It will interest you to know that the more the effort and expenditure apart from feeding and keeping the fishes off diseases, you may also need to employ extra hands.

However, when you run the large sized catfish farm, you might definitely diversify your business into manufacturing and selling fish feed, breeding fingerlings apart from selling the fishes at maturity.

2. Get More Knowledge About Catfish

I will like to draw your attention on the proverbs that says People perish because of lack of knowledge.

This general saying depicts the fact that knowing too little about something is not advisable.

On the other hands, knowing more is excellent.

It is important to find out all it takes and as well researched about how to grow catfish farming business.

I want you to note that the area where you want to carry out this business is important.

It is pertinent to make some investigations on the path of your catfish farming.

So, getting information about prospective customers such as hotels, market vendors, restaurants and eateries where you supply catfish is paramount.

It is also important to discover what breed of catfish is in high demand and which breeds to rear, after all, there are blue catfish, Flathead catfish, channel catfish and other hybrids.

It is important to have the best knowledge on what they feed on that brings about the fastest growth and how to easily acquire them.

I want to you to know that Knowledge is power and can defeat opponents no matter their influence and affluence.

3. Be In The Know Of Your Competitors

I want to bring to your knowledge that It is not correct for you to call your competitors rivals because it is not supposed to be a negative competition.

You have to know about the catfish businesses that are already in operation and how they do things.

This knowledge is very important because it will help you know where you stand and where to penetrate from in order to gain your own place in the market.

A ₦‎10 Naira difference between the cost of your fishes and theirs can pull the market to you and more strategic way of selling and distributing your fishes can win the heart of more customers.

The knowledge of competitors gives you the idea to bring about new strategies on how to do things in a different way that will be more appealing to the customers than what is already on ground.

4. Be Prepared To Expand

It will interest you to know that most successful catfish businesses are never stand alone.

Although, it is very important to start small and this is why you must prepare your mind to expand after a while in this business.

Catfish breeding, like any other animal husbandry business can get twice cheaper if the person who is rearing the animals can also manufacture their food.

For instance, a poultry owner will have things far cheaper if he also manufactures and sells poultry feeds.

On the other hand, poultry business is very lucrative. I want to bring to your knowledge that there are top 10 tips on starting a lucrative poultry business in Nigeria.

Now, Fish feeds are producible and this is why most renowned catfish business owners are also into manufacturing and selling fish feeds.

This will bring about very low or even no cost of feeding your own fishes while still making more money from selling fish food to other fish businesses.

The more you expand, the cheaper the whole catfish business works out for you.

5.  Regroup The Growing Fishes

This is also very important and consequent to a healthy school of catfishes in the pond.

When the fishes have grown to a particular extent, it is necessary to regroup them.

I want you to note that this grouping is gender-wise.

This is because the male fishes tend to act aggressively when there are females around in the same pond.

So, if you don’t separate them it can lead to mechanical injuries or eventual death to few or many of them.

Therefore, it is wiser to separate the male from the female fishes so as to effect a safer environment for all the fish in the pond.

6. Acquire Healthy Fingerlings

This is one of the major tips because it is the genesis of your business.

It determines what can make or mar your business at the long run.

It is the main factor that determines your motivation or frustration.

So, you must do all in your power to ensure that you acquire a good and healthy breed of fingerlings (o-4 weeks old) or juvenile (4-8 weeks old) catfishes.

This is because it can discourage you greatly if after spending so much to feed the catfishes and catering for them, you discover that they are dying gradually or are not growing well over a long period of time.

It is very cogent to know the condition of the young fishes before acquiring them.

Although, most acceptable advice is to go for the juvenile because they have surpassed the level of sudden death and irregularities but even they, can be affected by stunted growth if not well selected beforehand.

7. Well Channeled Watering And Drainage System

It has been confirmed that catfishes live in a fresh water habitat.

On the other hand, just as every other living organism cannot do without a well-balanced habitat, the catfishes too need a clean and oft-sanitized environment.

Regularly changing the water in the pond will ensure a healthy inhabiting of the fishes.

So, it is important to ensure that the pond has an appropriate drainage system and watering system.

Now, if the oxygen in the water are used up it should be replaced immediately.

In other words the water in the pond, has to be changed every three days, especially when the fishes are much in the pond.

When the water is drained or extracted, fresh water must be replenished immediately and this means that availability of water for catfish farming is a must.

8. Keep Records

I want to bring to your knowledge that keeping records are very important in business.

It is not a joke that one of the most prominent area of business studies is record keeping.

It is expedient to keep records for future references and as well track business transactions.

Financially, It is very pertinent to keep records such as the capital that was invested in the business, cost of running the ponds, cost of feeding the fishes, sales of fishes and other overhead costs.

Then biologically, it is vital to keep records of how many fishes have reached maturity.

On the other hand, how many are males and females, how many are juveniles or fingerlings.

It is important to know how long it took them to attain maturity.

All these records are very important because one can always make reference to them in taking delicate decisions that has to do with the future or continuity of the business.

For example, if your business has developed into hatching of eggs.

it will be a loss to sell the female fishes that have reached the point of laying eggs which can bred more school into the ponds.

So, this can’t be possible without record-keeping. It is only record-keeping that can make you analyze the return on investment.

It helps you to know when you are making profit or running at loss.

On the other hand, how much you can invest into your business to get the best of it.

9. Avoid Being Discouraged

I want you to know that every successful catfish business owner have to face a lot of challenges which they never allowed to put them down.

One of the reasons why most businesses fail is because their owners couldn’t stand the test of time and challenges.

You have to understand that it is possible to run losses once in a while.

So, there is no business that doesn’t run on losses at times.

The thing is that most businesses have reached a level where little losses are not felt in the business.

So, you may experience dying fishes, shortages and other challenges but you must be determined to move on.

All you need to do is to find out where the mistake is from so it won’t repeat itself again.

A great business mind does not get frustrated and never backs down unless it has become obvious that other factors such as environment is not making the business possible. Don’t be discouraged.

10. Don’t Be An Island

You have to understand that you cannot always be alone in catfish business.

Seek advice from other catfish business owners who have gained more experience and let them give you insight into the business.

It is better to act like a fool while someone is your master just to acquire some experience than feel too special to ask for help.

You need to involve well experienced people in your catfish business.

Learning never ends and even after you have spent so many years in it, you will always find new and better ways of doing things every time.

Do not go running at a loss first before learning your lessons.

Seek for help when things are not as they supposed to be.

Sometimes, internet does not always explain things the way an experienced person can lead you through.

So, ensure to make those who have in-depth knowledge about catfish business your first contact and let internet be your last resort or additional idea giver.

Conclusion

As you can see from the above tips with the right knowledge, training and finance you are good to start a lucrative catfish business in Nigeria.

One of the most beautiful thing about starting a lucrative catfish business is that it yields huge profit.

So, before you start a catfish business you need to visit other well established catfish farms to make adequate inquiry.

You can as well go to Google to make findings and interact with professionals.

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