HOW TO START FOOD BUSINESS IN NIGERIA
No one expected all this mess, I tell you. No one. My friend Emma just got married in December, and he moved into a new apartment in January in preparation for his growing family. 2020 was supposed to be a good year for all of us. Then April came, and hell blew over. It started in March, but, it was a slow march, and we were all optimistic that it would blow over. In April Emma's wife got pregnant, in April, Emma lost his job and in April, the good year ended.

Emma has been searching for a job and battling depression since April. The few jobs he has seen so far are beneath him, and his transport fare is even more than the salaries they are offering. His wife cannot help much because she was working with a private school before the lockdown started, which means that she has been without a job for over some time now. Both of them decided to turn into food business and the results have been tremendous.

Before going into how to start food business with little capital, let's explore the kinds of food businesses available.

TYPES OF FOOD BUSINESS

Let's break it down to the kinds of food businesses so that you will fall into at least one of the categories. But whichever category your business falls into, whether raw or processed, I can guarantee that as long as you know what you are doing you can get more than 300% return on investment in a short time. Ready? Let's explore.

1. Food kiosk : if you are a baker and you can make the common confectioneries with your personal touch then a food shop is a great and affordable idea. You may not necessarily have a kiosk; a shaded area will do just fine. Fast food like puff-puff, doughnut, chin-chin, meat pie, cupcakes, and so on sell like hotcakes (pun intended) especially, when they are located at junctions where people and kids in particular pass all the time.

You can also decide to make and sell Akara, Moin-Moin, fried yam and potato, roasted corn, and roasted plantain (boli). Sell the pastries and confectionery in the morning, sell fried yam and potato, roasted corn and plantain in the afternoon, and sell Akara and moin-moin in the night. Your versatility will even impress people and turn them into loyal customers.

2. Drinks: selling all kinds of drinks is also a marketable business idea though this may require more capital investment. You can sell beers, wines, soft drinks, gins, bottled water, food drinks, energy drinks, and even beverages in retail quantities to grocery shops and for events.

3. Meal-to-go: Some people do not have the time or skill to cook good food but are willing to pay you to deliver cooked food to their houses. They will pay for the food and the delivery. If you can make excellent Nigerian soups and dishes, you can market this skill to the right people. You can also offer catering services for events and home deliveries.

4. Fish and meat: You will agree with me that these are two of the most sought for in the food market. Almost every household in Nigeria consumes either meat or fish daily. If you could market neatly packaged fish (fresh or roasted), beef, chicken, and turkey to unmarried employed men and women, you will make money in no time.

You do not even need to have a shop, just form a team of contract butchers who will deliver meat to you on-demand or, you could get the animals killed and carved up yourself. For the fish, you can become a distributor for a fishing company, and also roast them yourself. All you need is a deep freezer with a constant power supply and a good marketing strategy.

What if you don't have a deep freezer? Well there are other preservative methods that could work. Besides, you could strike a deal with your neighbour who always has light and a deep freezer, and pay the neighbour a token to preserve your meet at their freezer.

5. Egg: You can either produce the eggs yourself or buy in bulk from a dealer. It is cheaper to buy in bulk and resell though. You can market it to households by word-of-mouth and social media marketing at little or no cost. You can also submit proposals to restaurants and eateries to supply eggs weekly. The point is that you can sell anything today with a good marketing strategy and quality service. A marketing strategy will bring the customers, and quality service will keep them increasing.
6. Fruits and vegetables: Study your market very well until you find the easiest means to get your products supplied to you. Sometimes, these vegetables waste because sellers are not well positioned to buy it. Locate them and buy from them at reasonable rates (please do not cheat them).

People pay more for the packaging more than they do for the good or service. Know your target consumers, market your fresh fruits and neatly packaged vegetables to them, and make a profit without stress.

If you consistently deliver quality goods, your customers will promote your products for you free. Also, we all know how cheap fruits and vegetables are in Nigeria so you can start with little capital. You can always ask those who are already in the business.

7. Oils: there is no Nigerian food that does not require the use of oils (whether palm oil or vegetable oils) either as the main item or as a side condiment. There is, therefore, a large market for edible oils. If you focus on selling palm oil and vegetable oil, you may need a personal banker in no time.

From my findings, the best type of palm oil comes from the east. You can get them in bulk cheaply from local women who are the major producers and you can get them delivered to any part of the country.

8. Grocery store: a grocery store typically sells retail foodstuffs and other household supplies. I am sure that if you stand in front of your house you can count at least five grocery stores in your sight line selling the same items using the same method. Therefore, if you are going to open a grocery store, you had better know how to attract your customers. The profit rate here is quite low; however, it is consistent and spreads over a long period.

While you will need refrigerators, a dependable power supply, and a big shop, you can rest assured that it is highly profitable and can provide you with a steady source of income all year round.

9. Cafeteria: if you can get an official permit to sell cooked food in a canteen, in parks, schools, hospitals, government office complexes, etc., all you need is excellent cooking skills, some furniture, and good customer relations. You can also offer catering services as a side gig.

10. Farming: If you are thinking this is not for you because you don't have a farm, then your fear might make you to miss big financial opportunities. Firstly, there are different kinds of farming, and to be successful in the business of farming, you have to focus on one particular product - crop farming or livestock farming - if you want to be the best in it.

How to go about it? Well, I would advise modern mechanization and farming methods. Niche farming is more profitable that way Some of the low-cost options for niche farming are:

Poultry farm
Fish farm
Apiary (honey farm)
Snail farm
Plantain
Oil palm
Maize/cassava
Vegetables (leaves)
Tomato
Pepper
Cucumber
Onion
For the crops, you do not need to own a large piece of land to start; with the knowledge of soilless farming, you can produce commercial quantities of products on a relatively smaller piece of land. All you need to do is acquire the necessary skills (which are readily available online from credible sources) and find a market for your products.

Note: The types of food business are not limited to these, but the principles guiding the food business is applicable to any kind of food business.

HOW TO START FOOD BUSINESS WITH LITTLE CAPITAL
Having listed all the possible options you can choose from in the food business, the next important question is, how exactly do you start a food business or any business for that matter? I hope the following help:

1. Understand The Business

Being very good at what you do is good, but not enough. Learn everything you can about the product or service you want to sell to maximize profit and minimize risk. Seek sufficient knowledge about the market dynamics of the product you want to sell. How do you do this? Ask questions, meet people who are already in the business, and learn directly from them.

2. Understand Your Market
I understand that you are so passionate about food, talented and skillful in some kinds of food. But dear, it is one thing to learn how to bake, it is another thing to understand who to bake for, when to bake for them or even why.

Understanding your market helps you get result within a short period of starting the business. Here is how to understand your market. Ask yourself the following questions:

What is the size of my market? (Is it the street, the town, the city, the region, the country or the global market?)
What age range am I rendering my service to?
What level income are the customers/client?
Where do they likely stay at?
Where can they always be found? etc.


3. Write a Business plan

A business plan is a summary of how a business owner, manager, or entrepreneur intends to organize an entrepreneurial endeavour and implement activities necessary and sufficient for the venture to succeed (Wiktionary). In simple English, a business plan is a written document showing;

What business idea you want to pursue
Your goals based on consumer needs and research
A systematic breakdown on how you intend to achieve your goals
Who your target audience is; and
Wow you intend to reach them.

The sole aim of any business enterprise is to make a profit for which need a business plan. Business plan shows that you are serious about your intentions. Moreover, it helps you to measure your progress and to keep a balanced financial sheet.

4. Follow Your Business Plan
Most people go ahead to write a business plan with the sole aim of obtaining loan, grants, etc. This is good and a very good reason for writing a business plan. However, it is not the only reason. Part of your business plan is a detailed explanation of the marketing strategies, market research, target market, etc.

In other words, it is like a map, an architectural design of how your business will...Click on https://manicle..com/2020/07/how-to-start-food-business-in-nigeria.html to continue reading.

raw truth, thanks for sharing