…Selling to Banks, Companies, Churches & Individuals!

If you have been thinking of starting your own short code business, I have here for  you  a  simple guide  that  will  help  you  get started  even  now  on  a  shoe- string budget. Starting a short code rental business is simple and easy to begin, but you need to get some knowledge that will help you as a beginner.  Note that there are two ways to get started in this business.

The first one is getting short codes assigned  to  you  by  Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). This  takes  a  lot of processes  and  time,  and  can cost a lot too if you are a small entrepreneur. You will need to be registered with NCC as a Value- Added Service (VAS) provider. Getting this license first is what qualifies you to apply for short code  numbers.  You  will  also need  to  meet  some  technical requirements as provided in the application for VAS provider. You can  get  full  details  on  NCC website. However, I will not be talking about this in this article.

But  for  a  beginner  I  will introduce you to the fast way of setting up your own short code company. Here you don’t need NCC  approvals  or  meet  any technical requirements. All you need  is  knowledge  of  how  to check email on the Internet. If you qualify then read on. First, I will advise that you have money set aside for this. You will need money  to  rent  a  short  code number at least, setup a simple website for your publicity and do some publicity, it will give you a lot  of  good  image.  You  don’t need  technical  knowledge  as you won’t need it here. Your work will just be to get new customers and  rent out  keywords and collect  money  while  the  VAS provider does all the technical work for you. This is probably the easiest business you can start now with small capital.

Understanding Short Code Business: Short code is a rental service.  You  don’t  buy  short code to own out-rightly. You rent it from short code providers and renew when your rental fee is about to expire. Short code is shared using keywords. Keyword  helps  the  operators know who to pay in a shared short code. What you actually buy in a short code service is the keyword. Keywords are  just words that represent your short code  service,  like  “PROMO”, etc.

The most popular short code rates are N100 and N50 short codes. You can rent a short code number for either N50 or N100 rate  or  rent  two  short  code numbers for N50 and N100. You can sell N100 or N50 keywords or sell both. But you will need to buy reseller plan for each rate. If you buy reseller plan for N100 it means you can only sell N100 keywords. If you buy both N100 and N50 short code then you can sell both keywords. If you need a short code promotional website, you can get one for just N25,000 with  one year  hosting,  free domain name and personalized email.  The  website  will  show your short code services, plan and rental fees and durations.

You can direct your target customers here for details and that makes it easy to convince potential clients and big corporate customers to patronize you. The website makes it easy too for potential customers to find you via Google search.  Having  a  short  code website gives you huge marketing advantage.

Short Code Reseller Plan: For a beginner short code rental business you will need a short code reseller plan. The reseller plans come cheap and easy to manage.  Setup  takes four (4) to seven (7) working   days   to setup   a   reseller login account and each   plan   cost N15,000   per annum to setup. Their two reseller plans, the N100 keyword reseller plan and the N50 reseller plan.

The reseller  setup  is to give you access to view records of your keywords  so  that you can calculate your text in revenue of your keywords. With each keyword you setup you pay N5,500 per month and you pay minimum of three months rental per keyword. But you can resell the keyword for as much as you want, from N7,500 upwards, as you deem fit. As a reseller you can sell as many keywords possible.

To  run  a  successful  short code reseller business you need to buy the two reseller plans. That will cost you N30,000 per annum.  Once  you  have  your reseller plans setup, you have started your business. Also, the VAS company is doing a promo that will give you test keyword.

This keyword is for you to test the reseller plan for each of the reseller plan. You will   get   one   test keyword for the N100 plan and as well for the N50 plan. This test  keywords  is what you can use to do sample for your customers and give them to test  to  be  sure the  billing  they want is available.

However, you don’t earn the revenue that comes from the test keywords. But if you want to earn the revenue from the test  keyword  you  will have to subscribe for the keyword by paying monthly rental for it and you will earn all the revenue from it. If you want to be a reseller, this is the right time to get started before others get in before you.

Short Code Keyword Guide: Keyword  is  the  most important element of short code service.  The  keyword  is  what makes it possible for you to get paid by the operators – because they check your text-ins based on  keyword.

Customers  can request or rent keywords of their choice based on the availability of the keyword name. Customers can also request for access to login and view the text in on their keywords. But this attracts N5,500 fee for setup. If a customer chooses not to setup login account for their keyword, they will get monthly statement of the text in, which will include messages, numbers, time and date of text in. you can make all your  customers  pay  for  login setup  so  that  you  can  have peace of mind throughout the duration  of  the rental.  That means you can just add additional N5,500 to your cost of keyword rental for 3 months.

Also, to run a successful short code company you need to have good publicity. People are not going to buy what they don’t know exist. So you are going to promote your short code services. If you’re smart you can become popular with radio and TV hosts. You should utilize all possible avenues to promote your short code service. Good publicity can only result to good profit. Promote your short code business starting first from your immediate environment. Those businesses and organizations around you and then take it to potential markets across the country via newspaper and online ads.