Skip to content 
When you think of business, you can easily get overwhelmed by the many ideas you can think of. When it comes to business ideas in Botswana, creativity, and novelty aren’t the only things you need to succeed. Other, less attractive aspects play huge roles in a business’s success. This includes accounting, feasibility studies, money management, and research, among many others. Thus, you simply can’t go into the field without the proper knowledge and skills.
It’s essential to consider all the possible business ideas you want to get into.
From there, you can easily narrow these down.
Then, you can land on the perfect business for you.
Here some of the most promising business ideas in Botswana you can use on your next business venture.
When you’re choosing a business opportunity, make sure you are willing to teach yourself more about it.
Furthermore, make sure you have enough resources and support to open the business.
Business ideas for youth in Botswana:
Running a business isn’t only for adults.
In actuality, it’s ideal for the youth to start a business as early as possible.
This will teach them the necessary skills and knowledge that could be highly valuable in the future.
Unfortunately, the youth’s choices are a bit limited because of some constraints.
These could be age limitations, time available, skills, and location.
In Botswana, the legal minimum age of employment is 14 years old.
Babysitting business
Babysitting isn’t as big in Botswana as in the US and other Western countries.
However, you can always find people looking for babysitters.
This may not be a regular job.
But it’s great for youth who are looking for side-hustles.
Tutoring
Tutoring is one of the most suitable business opportunities for youth.
You can do it in your free time and charge per hour.
Moreover, you can be selective about the subjects you can teach.
It can be English, Science, Math, etc.
Apart from academics, you can also teach younger kids to play musical instruments, dancing, sports, and other activities.
Clothing and accessory business
The youth are more likely to be interested in clothing, accessories, and fashion in general.
Thus, putting up a small-scale clothing business is one of the best business ideas in Botswana.
You don’t need a large capital to start.
You can certainly work with how much money you have.
Furthermore, you can sell them solely online to save you costs.
Selling on a pre-order basis is also excellent to cut costs.
This allows you only to order the items you will sell and profit from.
Small scale business ideas in Botswana:
Businesses don’t always have to start big.
Financial advisors always tell people to start small.
This way, you are minimizing losing a huge chunk of your money.
This also gives you a leeway in case your business slows down or doesn’t pick up.
A small business in Botswana is good for those who have no prior experience in the business.
Furthermore, it’s also suitable if you don’t have a large capital.
However, don’t think that because your business is small that you get to experiment heavily.
If you want your business to succeed, then you need to weigh the risks against the benefits.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Selling online courses
Are you an expert in anything?
Do you have a knack for speaking in public or teaching?
Then you could go into the online course selling business.
Bringing value to your customers and clients is the most important aspect of this business.
Almost everyone has a special and unique talent or skill he or she can share.
You can help others and earn money in the process.
All you need is a good quality camera, microphone, and a laptop to edit your video on.
Of course, you need to come up with quality content to sell to your clients.
What’s good about online courses is you can sell them to anyone.
Furthermore, it doesn’t require capital, if at all.
Thus, it’s ideal if you have little money to start a business.
Become a freelancer
If you’re looking for a business that requires zero capital, you have found it.
Becoming a freelancer is one of the easiest businesses to start.
It may not sound like a business, but you could certainly turn it into one later on.
Furthermore, you can even expand your business by hiring other freelancers and serving as the middleman.
RELATED: TOP 15 SITES LIKE FIVERR FOR FREELANCERS
If you’ve got tons of work, you can delegate them and earn a large commission.
This is how most freelancers earn thousands monthly without doing the work themselves.
Freelancing encompasses many fields.
This includes graphic design, copywriting, programming, video editing, and so many more.
You can look at various freelance sites online to know the fields you can get into.
Renting business
You might think that real estate and renting are large-scale businesses.
However, you can certainly start small when it comes to this.
If you have a spare room in your house, you can rent it out to people.
You can do it on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
It all depends on your preference.
You can sign-up your spare room on Airbnb, post it on social media platforms, or simply advertise it to friends.
Furthermore, if you have other properties, you can certainly apply this model.
It’s not advisable to leave your properties stagnant.
Rent them out so you can make money off of them.
Homemade food business
Botswana’s cuisine is one of the most unique in Africa.
Food is a necessity, and people always buy them.
Thus, it’s one of the most lucrative business ideas in Botswana right now.
If you have a fully-functioning kitchen, you won’t have to buy much.
Start with easy-to-cook recipes and survey which meals people prefer buying.
Advertising your food business in Botswana online is the best way to boost your sales.
You can simply post it on your Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Ask your family and friends to share it with their friends.
Keep word of mouth going to generate more potential customers.
Viable businesses in Botswana
Viable businesses are those that are capable of generating a high income.
They are tired and true business opportunities you can launch in Botswana.
Some of these ideas may require a higher capital than other smaller ventures.
If you’re looking for viable business ideas in Botswana, keep on reading.
Supermarket or grocery business
People in Botswana are always shopping for food and other household items.
Thus, it’s a good idea to put up a business that sells wet and dry food, necessities, and other knick-knacks.
Over the years, the demand for grocery stores is increasing in Botswana.
You can start small if your initial capital isn’t too big.
Start by selling cheap basic goods.
Once you start earning, you can then expand into selling more expensive items.
Laundry business
Laundry business may be common in other countries.
In Botswana, it’s just beginning to gain popularity.
Thus, it’s a perfect time to put up yours.
You don’t have to rent out a big space for your laundry business in Botswana.
You can start in your village.
Cleaning business
When people are becoming busier and busier, people tend to hire other people to do simple tasks.
This includes cleaning.
Many people prefer hiring people to clean their homes once in a while.
Furthermore, they can also seek car cleaning services.
Some even go out of their way to hire others to clean their carpets, mattresses, etc.
There is certainly a growing demand for cleaners in Botswana.
You can work independently or set up a recruitment business where you hire cleaners.
Depending on your capital and skills, you can do either of the two.
Car rental business
Apps like Hello Cabs or Uber are becoming more popular in Botswana.
If you’re a driver and have a well-maintained car, you could work as a driver.
However, you can always delve into the other side of the business.
If you have a car, you can certainly rent them out to people for a price.
You might think that a car rental business requires you to own many vehicles.
However, you can start with just one or two cars.
It’s a good fool-proof business if you are running out of ideas.
Many people are looking for cars to rent for occasions, special events, and other reasons.
Salon or barbershop business
Men and women always have their hair cut, styled, etc.
It is a necessity in most places, including Botswana.
You don’t have to know how to do haircuts and hair treatments yourself.
You can hire people who are experts in the field to work for you.
If your budget is limited, you can either put up a salon or a barbershop.
It doesn’t have to be both.
Either of the two is profitable.
Although a barbershop would be easier to put up.
This is because it requires less equipment and tools.
Apart from hair services, you can always expand it to a bigger business.
You can venture into selling beauty and haircare products.
This is a good way to maximize your rent for your shop.
Furthermore, you can always expand your services online to get more customers.
Meat business
Over the years, Botswana has seen a growing demand for local meat.
It’s time to hop on the bandwagon and put up a meat business.
You can go about this business in plenty of ways.
Meanwhile, if you prefer a small business, it’s still possible to go into the meat business.
You can certainly just solely sell meat.
You can open up a mini stall outside your home or at a local market.
This is the easiest path to joining the growing meat business in Botswana.
Payment solutions business
Millions of cash are circulating all around the country every day.
Credit cards and online wallets or banks are not so big yet in Botswana.
Thus, cash is the main means for people to transact.
This allows for plenty of business opportunities for the people in the country.
Money transfer services and payment solutions are booming in Africa.
This includes businesses like Paga, DPO Group, Bis, and Realpay are among similar businesses.
Franchise opportunities in Botswana
Putting up a franchise of any business may be one of the easiest ways to go into business.
Franchising involves the business owner selling products to distributors or franchisees.
Typically, businesses that open for franchising are already well-established.
Furthermore, they also have a loyal customer base.
That’s why it’s understandable to think about franchising as one of your business opportunities.
Fast food franchise business
Fast food businesses are good business opportunities you can look into.
They are indeed profitable and have a huge potential to grow.
However, note that fast food restaurants, especially big ones, require high capital investment.
Thus, if you’re looking for a small business, it might not be the best choice.
However, if you have plenty of starting capital, this could be a great business idea.
Foodcart franchise business
Food carts are a much cheaper alternative to fast food franchise businesses.
These carts are great because you don’t need to rent a big space.
A small area in an establishment is enough when you’re just starting your food cart business.
Furthermore, you don’t have to hire many employees.
You can even sell your products without help as it is a small-scale business.
One of the most lucrative food products you can sell is snacks.
This includes fries, crisps, dumplings, ice cream, pizza, etc.
You can also venture on selling drinks.
This can be coffee, milk tea, fruit shakes, etc.
Coffee shop franchise
If neither of the above ideas tickles your fancy, look into putting up your coffee shop franchise.
It’s less laborious and tricky than a full-blown restaurant.
People of all ages go to coffee shops all the time.
Whether it is for school, work, or meetings, you won’t run out of customers.
IT services franchise
If your background is in Information Technology and other similar fields, you should think about franchising IT services.
The world is now going online, and it’s inevitable.
You can make a lot of money in this type of venture.
IT services are considered in demand nowadays.
Providing IT solutions for various companies and individuals is a lucrative field you can get into.
However, if you don’t have a background in this field, you should look somewhere else.
Business for sale in Botswana
There are plenty of valid reasons why most people opt to buy businesses for sale.
Firstly, it’s a much easier process compared to starting from scratch.
Secondly, your business is already established and hopefully have loyal paying customers.
Moreover, the hassle of hiring employees and staff are already eliminate.
Most importantly, your cash flow is a lot more secure than if you’re starting a brand new business.
However, buying a business isn’t without its disadvantages and risks.
If you are buying a business, you’re also absorbing everything bad about it.
This includes unproductive employees, poor location, possible outdated equipment, and materials, etc.
Most importantly, buying a business for sale in Botswana could be an expensive process.
Thus, it’s up to you to weigh the pros and cons of these business opportunities.
If you have a substantial amount of money and don’t want to deal with the stress of building a business from scratch, then this is a perfect deal for you.
There are plenty of businesses for sale in Botswana.
You can look them up online or scout around your area for any business owners who want to sell.
Here are some of the business opportunities for sale in Botswana.
Steel fabrication business
Steel fabrication is indeed a large-scale business.
If you have no prior experience in the industry, this isn’t the right one for you.
However, if you are knowledgeable in this area, it’s such a profitable venture.
Moreover, you should have excellent managerial and leadership skills in this business.
This is because you’re going to have employees working for you.
General engineering company
Just like the previous example, this venture requires you to know the field.
Ideally, you should also be an engineer to run this company smoothly.
However, it’s certainly not impossible if you have prior experience working in this area.
Game farm business
Game farms are among the many great business ideas in Botswana.
This is because it has great potential to expand.
Furthermore, eco-tourism in Botswana has been booming in the past years.
You could take advantage of this.
Conclusion
These business ideas in Botswana are among the most lucrative.
However, always remember that your business’ success depends on your skills and competence.
It isn’t only about whether your idea is profitable or not.
A lot of factors play in a business’ success.
Make sure to explore your options first before settling on a business idea.
Don’t pursue business opportunities that are too good to be true.
Slow but steady growth is the key to success.
