Ankara Business in Nigeria: Guide on How To Start (2024)

Starting Ankara business in Nigeria is very profitable, especially if you are in the fashion industry. Of course, this kind of clothing is the most sought after due to the fact that this fabric is worn on occasions, and as such, the design, prestige and class it bestows on its wearer is unique.

Ankara is a well known wax in Africa and they are referred to as African wax. This set of wax prints are attributed to Holland’s wax style and this makes them to also be known as Dutch wax. Ankara materials are popular due to its beautiful appearance which attracts more to the textile. It is also very versatile in that many clothing product can be made from it; such as hats, earrings, blazers, and shoes, etc.

Extending to the fashion cloths, Ankara are seen in most sophisticated clothing; fashion brands and fabric suppliers have manufactured Ankara prints on fabrics like chiffon, silk, spandex for clothing such as kaftans, iro and bubas, bathing suits, sports bars, not excluding leggings and socks.

Ankara fabrics are mostly produced as 12 yards while make up a bundle of Ankara, but you would find lengths of 6 yards, sold at retail markets. Finding a professional tailor can ensure that your material can be cut and sewn into various styles. There are some original quality Ankara fabrics that are made in Nigeria and even Ghana due to the culture of these countries. History has it that the origin of Ankara started in Europe as it was known as “Dutch wax print” during the textile industry boom.

WHAT ANKARA’S ARE USED FOR

With the broad specification of Ankara clothing, their uses cannot be underestimated. It is specially in different wide application, from the creation of caps where it is a major texture; applicable on wears either native or cooperate; blazers and shoes, the list will be on to include its usage on some bags, etc,. Ankara’s nature has made them to be used more by Africans. It is a fully cotton texture and a brilliant fabric and is essentially matching with all the clothing patterns and styles which Africans most like.

Ankara is mostly worn for Nigerian parties and occasions. Popularly called “Aso Ebi”, it serves as a fitting option when worn with any trousers, matching clothing with whatever accessories you add. Ankara fabric are durable, easy to wear casually and is even worn by some corporately irrespective of the season.

THE ANKARA BUSINESS

With the vast usefulness of Ankaras, it have attracted more eye to the business. As seen, the business of textile is extensive and has room for many, such as the sewers, planners, style creators, craftsman and so forth who are in the business. How this business works is that, if you are close to where there is much of the fabric’s work, you could turn into a strong client to these producers, sewers. By this, you can give them your texture or material and go similarly as getting the chance to supply them with different selling sewing designs and so forth. With an augmented pattern, the retailing role you played will yield in another profit as you resale them.

WHAT’S INVOLVED IN STARTING THE ANKARA BUSINESS

Before you start any textile business with Ankara, you should have the specific fabrics or texture you need to be sold in your shop.

Just as the normal business which generates profit, dealing in Ankaras is just same, but they are some nitty-gritty you should know before venturing in. Beginning Ankara business from all sign is viewed as beneficial and to assist you with how to get on, we have illustrated the means you’re to take and they are well elaborated as the following:

STEP 1: GET INFORMATION ABOUT THE BUSINESS

There is a well known adage that says, ‘if you’re not informed, then you will be deformed.’ Though the later is absurd, but to make it in this business you should know what is involved, marketing and the techniques to succeed in the field.

It is important that you secure all the abilities that you would need to effectively complete the prerequisites of the Ankara business before venturing into it. It doesn’t take long to get acquainted with this business as in only a space of a couple of months, you have a great idea to go.

Also, the work here is not much cumbersome, just get the needed information, make some examination and find out additional strategies and business plan to help you ignite your Ankara business.

STEP 2: HAVE A NICHE

Before commencing your Ankara business, it’s important to have a niche in it. A business niche here is the oppurtunity to sell your clothings to a particular group of people. With this kind of business strategy, you will know your targeted market and how to increase productivity. In this modern market, with lots of designs, there are various utilizations for Ankara material, so much that they are used in shaping shoes, packs, frill, and other textile products. Thus, to be on the high in this business, you need to pick a specialty that you need to concentrate on.

STEP 3: START THE BUSINESS

In this step, you should start the business after taking into cognizance the aforementioned guidelines. Various steps need to be done in order, so as to get in the business of Ankara, that’s why we took time in numbering them serially for you to follow. With this, we imply that you should begin the business.

A lot of people make mistake as they start the Ankara business, in which they wrongly wait for quite a while before they start the business, and they lay blame to these constraints: insufficient capital, unavailability of materials and equipment’s, etc. for that. If you have a little affordable capital to start the business, then do and watch your textile products develop from the little stage to the collosal.

STEP 4: PROMOTION – MAKE YOUR BUSINESS KNOWN

The most ideal approach to get your business active is to make plans or strategy to publicize the business. To do this, you should have a promoter, client and the means to make this your Ankara business known to the public. With this you will build your market and know who is your target.
There are many ways to promote your Ankara business, but lets let you know the best strategy.

First get a female model (because they are mostly women) wears the variety of your fabric stock and snap a photo of it and put it via web-based networking media. Let your target market remark on your product and in a matter of a short while, you would have more people wearing your Ankara products. With the market set, you have everything set up for you to excel in the business.

HOW TO SPOT FAKE ANKARA

We know that Ankara looks very colorful, with various multi-patterned fabric designs. Due to the influx of various brands in the market, it become difficult to spot the original due to the excessive fake fabrics being sold at the market.

To know original Ankara, you should feel the texture as it must be pure cotton, soft and mustn’t feel like a dyed material. The fake Ankara texture feels like silk or nylon. Always buy from trusted dealers to avoid purchasing fake Ankara materials.

WHOLESALE PRICES OF ANKARA BRANDS IN NIGERIA (2024)

There are various brands of Ankara sold at the textile market. These brands vary in design, texture, make and even quality. Buying at a wholesale price is better especially when you want to buy in bulk to start off your Ankara selling business online or offline. We have provided some of these brands and their current prices below:

VLISCO BRAND

Vlisco still remains the most popular Ankara brand sold and worn in Nigeria. The highest grade Vlisco Ankara fabric is expensive but is of high quality.

Here is the cost of the types and wholesale prices for Vlisco Ankara per 6-yards:

• Holland high-quality cost between ₦9,000 – ₦11,500
• Holland unisex lovely cost between ₦5,500 – ₦6,000
• Unique quality cost between ₦5,000 – ₦8,000
• Java hollandais vlisco print cost between ₦6,000 – 9,500
• Exclusive embellish cost between ₦1,200 – 4,000
• Vlisco holland multi-colour cost between ₦15,000 -₦16,000
• Vlisco Ankara cost between ₦5,500 – ₦7,500
• Limited edition Vlisco cost between ₦6,000 – ₦7,000
• Supreme Holland Vlisco gold cost between ₦10,000 – ₦12,000
• Special edition Vlisco Ankara cost between ₦5,500 – 6,000
• Holland Vlisco cost between ₦7,000 – ₦8,000
• Dutch wax vlisco cost between ₦10,000 – ₦12,000
• Big Vlisco cost between ₦7,500 – ₦8,000

ABC WAX PRINT AFRICAN WAX FABRIC

This is a made in Ghana fabric with alphabet prints on them. You can buy them in wholesale at Aswani market or even at Lagos Island.

Wholesale Price of ABC WAX Print length of 6 yards costs ₦6,500 – ₦7,000.

DA VIVA ANKARA

This is another made in Nigeria Ankara fabric that is popular and you can see its wholesale price at the textile market.

Here are the wholesale prices of lengths of Da Viva Ankara 6-yards:

Da viva plain costs ₦6,000 – ₦7,000
Da viva ultimate costs ₦ 8,000 – ₦10, 000
Da viva ultimate plain costs ₦9,000 – ₦9,500
Da Viva expression costs ₦11,000 – ₦11,500
Da viva pattern fabric costs ₦8,200 – ₦9,200

CONCLUSION

This is our take on how to start the Ankara business. We outlined what is required, the pros and cons, and how to market your stocks and increase the profit of the business. With this, it’s enough for someone to venture into the Ankara business in Nigeria.