Exploring the Sex Therapy as a business in Nigeria

Sex Therapy is such a huge market in Nigeria. But it's also hugely underexplored and if you've got 5mins, i'd like to show you a business opportunity here, particularly those with a background in Psychology.

It's another episode of #ideaswithrich & you know how we do.

Let me start by asking you how many Sex Therapists you know in Nigeria, professional and credible, not people that sell aphrodisiacs or sex accessories. Do a simple google search. On the other hand, you'd be amazed by the number of people in Nigeria that need theraphy with sex. Issues like abuse, tradition (genital mutilation, etc), lack of sex education, etc are some of the common causes of sexual problems faced by people in Nigeria today. Many relationships are suffering because of this. This is where Therapists come in.

What do sex therapists do? They can help people with various sexual problems, including:

lack of desire, difficulty having an orgasm, pain during sex or inability to have penetrative sex, difficulty getting or keeping an erection (erectile dysfunction), premature ejaculation , etc.

Most Nigerian self acclaimed therapists have no formal training in therapy, they mostly sell sex enhancement drugs, there are lots of these. A real therapist first has a background in Psychology, Healthcare, Therapy or Counseling related field. In addition to this, they should also have specific sex therapy related training. He or she must study the history of sexology, medical problems that affect sexuality, consultation techniques, etc.

I'd like to also talk about Perception of the industry at this point. The way Nigerians perceive the sex services industry, no thanks to those tradomedical guys that sell drugs with megaphones from their car trunks, and the ones that post only erotic content online in the name of sex therapy & the conversaviteness of Nigerians as a whole. This is your hurdle - a credible brand that will rewrite this narrative. So, let's examine the steps involved.

Step 1 - Get formal training. I talked about this briefly above. Even if your background is not related to the ones listed, research on how you can get trained formally. Training gives you credibility.

Step 2 - Build a Community. Social media can help a lot with this. Unique original sexual related (not erotic) content will always attract people and gain traction swiftly. Given that this takes time, you can do this simultaneously with training.

Step 3 - Practice and help people for free. You're relatively new, you don't know the business yet, no one knows you, so you can't start out charging people. A lot of the issues people will bring to you will be reoccuring, so you're practice what you learned providing free help. As you do this, you'd grow in knowledge and skill, so will your community, especially if you're good at the help you provide.

Step 4 - Register a LTD - This is for liability sake, in case you're sued. Search & obtain any necessary permissions there may be.

Step 5 - Consult for a fee. At this point, your community online has grown a bit, you have grown in skill, you're gradually becoming a voice in the area.

Selah.