How to Start Puff Puff Business in Nigeria (Simple Guide)

Puff puff business in Nigeria is one of the most lucrative snack businesses in Nigeria yet it is still looked down upon not only by Nigerian men but also by Nigerian women. Many of them have the idea that all roadside businesses are for the poor – people that are trying to survive but this article you are about to read now will change your mind.

After reading this article today you will think twice and see beyond the 4 walls of a white-collar job. First off, do you know the average puff puff seller does not work as hard as you do? I am not saying the business does not have its labor part because it does. I am just telling you that they don’t work 8 – 4 pm every day, 5 – 7 days like you do.

In fact, I know one puff puff seller that only sells on Saturday mornings yet she makes thousands of naira before 12pm her closing time. I used to look down on her until I was told it was the same business she used to train all her children in school and she recently just finished her house in a low-brow area in Lagos (Ikorodu). This woman was a widow.

Many of these roadside sellers will not tell you they make good money from these small businesses because they do not want you to join them (crowd the business) so they live a low life just to make sure you are not paying attention to them.

Imagine all women and men knew about this they would have all started the business thus making the business over-crowdy just like the phone call business that started many years ago. So it’s a secret and you clicking this article today means it’s not a coincidence and maybe just maybe it’s the right time for you to start yours.

Today, I will be sharing with you how to can start your own puff puff business in Nigeria and do it successfully to create wealth for you and your family. If you get this right you will be able to go to bed every night thanking God for the revelation into this business.

Is Puff Puff Business Profitable?

Is puff puff business really lucrative? Puff puff business is profitable because at least 8 out of 10 Nigerians eat it. In fact, it is hard for you to find a Nigerian that doesn’t like perfectly made puff puff. It is eaten at birthday parties, weddings, burials, at home, and so on. Puff puff is eaten often to hold empty stomachs until it is time to eat the real foods.

I remember back then when I used to buy puff puff from the woman I talked about earlier. I used to buy it on Saturdays very early before breakfast. I loved filling my stomach with it before breakfast was ready and so it was for the rest of us in the compound. No Saturday morning goes by that we do not eat puff puff. It was a tradition for us.

Till today I still eat puff puff before breakfast sometimes if it is a workday. Many Nigerians leave home very early in the morning. Some before 5 am and some before 4 am and because of this early wake, they do not have time to cook. So, they go for puff puff first on their way to work and then eat breakfast or sometimes eat the next food till lunchtime at work.

Aside from this, Nigerian children also love puff puff. In fact, they force their parents to buy it for them all the time. So one thing is guaranteed you will have demand for your snacks from 2 kinds of people – adults and children. Now that we are done with knowing how profitable puff puff business can be in Nigeria let’s move on to the actual selling.

Equipment for Making Puff Puff

The equipment needed for making puff puff in puff puff business in Nigeria are:

1. Frying Pan

2. Gas cylinder

3. Gas Stove

4. Measuring Cups and Spoons

5. Spatula

6. Pastry Brush

7. Metal Turner

8. Whisk

9. Kitchen Scissors

10. Sieve

11. Knife

12. Large Umbrella

13. Stood

14. Dishing Counter

15. Large Umbrella

16. Apron

And so on.

Ingredients for Making Puff Puff

Below are the ingredients used in making puff puff. These ingredients can be used to make puff puff on a small scale. It can also be used to make puff puff on a large scale.

1. Flour

2. Sugar

3. Yeast

5. Vegetable Oil

6. Butter

7. Water

8. Eggs

9. Nutmeg

10. Salt

How to Start Puff Puff Business in Nigeria

Here are steps on how to start puff puff business in Nigeria.

1. Learn How to Make Puff Puff

In as much as puff puff is one of the easiest snacks in Nigeria to make it can be almost impossible to get the perfect taste for sale and public consumption. An example of this is the way you cook jollof rice at home and the way jollof rice at parties (Owanbe) is cooked.

Certainly, the jollof rice we eat at parties is always standing out from home-cooked because the sellers know it’s for public consumption therefore it must be perfect. In every process in the making of party jollof rice there’s a detail even down to how it looks unlike jollof rice cooked at home for the family.

So when it comes to puff puff for sale in Nigeria – your taste must stand out. Nigerians are very picky and once they realize that your snacks are not tasty there will no longer come to your stand to buy. You need to learn how to make puff puff if you are really serious about this.

First of all, you can learn from YouTube and after a few trials and errors, you will start to understand the process but to finish the learning perfectly you need to learn from someone one-on-one – have a real feel of how it looks like when it comes to mass production.

You can do this by visiting that puff puff seller in your area you’ve always admired telling him or her you are interested in learning how to make puff puff for sale. If possible you can tip this puff puff seller just to motivate him or her to teach you all they know.

Keep in mind that from the time he or she will tell you to start coming for practicals, you will have to be present all through in other not to miss any important process or methods. Learning how to make snacks generally take about 2 – 3 months but since you are learning only how to make puff puff you can spend 3 – 4 weeks.

You might be lucky enough to learn how other snacks are made if you’re also interested in them. “No knowledge is wasted.” Nothing you learn from the practical is wasted. Who knows you can add these other snacks later in the future to your puff puff business to spice it up and it might make a boom.

I have seen puff puff sellers who also sell donuts, egg rolls, and fish rolls alongside their puff-puff business and this has made them gain more customers patronize them. The variety they say is the spice of life. Also when learning, you might need to experiment.

There is no harm in trying. Who knows you might invent a new kind of puff puff that will change all Nigerian views about snacks. After all, it was someone who invented chocolate puff puff and pepper puff puff.

2. Do your Market Survey

Market survey also known as visibility studies is very important in any business so you need to do a market survey for your puff puff business. The first time coffee was discovered and was about to be sold there was a test run to get people’s opinions. With this, I can say for sure that this is the reason why the sales of coffee around the world have multiplied erroneously since its invention.

After learning how to make puff puff for sale the next giant step you can make is to do a test run and get feedback. Make a sizeable amount of puff puff in your kitchen and share it with family and friends. Do this on 2 or 3 different occasions and ask them how they see the snacks – basically their opinion on it.

After gathering this feedback, make adjustments where you need to make the adjustment and make it better. Read our article on how to conduct market research for new and old businesses for more details.

3. Buy your Equipment and Ingredients

Now is the time to buy the tools/equipment and ingredients for your puff puff business. You can either choose to buy the major ones for now (the ones you can not do without) or buy all you need at once. These are the main ingredients but you can add more to yours just to make it more delicious. 

Additional ingredients like pepper and chocolate go a long way too. It is very important to state here that when it comes to buying ingredients for puff puff business you must not go to the market with your eyes closed if not you will start making losses before you start frying and selling to customers.

When it comes to making money from a snacks business or any food business in Nigeria you must think of making profits right from the top and this is by buying your ingredients in bulk. This might take a lot of money from you but it will save you in the long run. I talked about this a bit in the article on how to start small chops business in Nigeria”.

Let us look at it from this angle – how much a bag of flour now costs in Nigeria? If you were to buy that same bag in bits meaning you buying it by paint plastic it is going to cost you more these also apply to sugar, butter, eggs, and almost every other ingredient. The more you buy in bulk the cheaper it will be for you.

No big snack dealer in Nigeria will tell you this because it’s a trade secret. This is why they can produce and sell at lesser prices and still make a huge profit.

4. Rent a Unique Spot or Shop

At this next stage, you need to rent a unique spot, not a shop because a shop might be too expensive and might take the largest share of your profits. Look for a unique spot a place where thousands of people pass every day. Remember you are selling to the everyday Nigerian.

So it is advisable here to choose a bus stop, T-junction, or roundabout as these are the roads that bring Nigerians together every day. Make sure you take your time when choosing your spot as it also plays a vital role in the success of the business. In fact, if it is possible to pay for the spot – that’s if the spot demands some kind of payment but however, do not let it tear your purse.

After getting this place go ahead and make sure it is clean enough – hygienic. Remember what you are doing has to do with food and you want to create a first impression. If it’s possible buy disinfectants and detergents to clean up the place. All this being said if you feel you need to rent a shop and you can afford it you can rent a shop for your puff puff business.

5. Start Selling your Puff Puff

Earlier, I talked about how lucrative is puff puff business in Nigeria in case you’re still having any doubts and if you are scared that people will not buy from you because your puff puff is not perfect. Well, let us face the truth you will not get everything right at first.

Especially on your first day no matter the previous experience you have gathered because starting a business and managing a business in Nigeria are 2 different things. But do not let this scare you. Just start! Yes, you heard me. And do not be pushy on yourself no matter the mistakes you make.

For instance, you might not get the perfect selling size for the puff puff, how to attend to customers, how to calculate your income and expenses, and so on but you need to continue anyways you will learn while on the business as long as you seek advice and further counsel.

I am here anytime on the blog if you need some from me just drop your comment and you’ll get an instant reply from me as soon as possible or send me an email.

6. Make Proper Accounts

It is very important you do not ignore this aspect. You really need to write down everything you are spending money on in your puff puff business. From how much you spend buying ingredients to transport to money for settlement to how much snacks you sold for each day and every other expense you need to write them down.

Doing this exposes different things in the business. To do this is not hard. All you have to do is prepare 3 columns 1 for expenses 2 for income and 3 for profit. After calculating all your expenses, calculating all your income, you minus your income from your expenses the amount you get is your profit for the day. You can get a book for this.

7. Give Discounts on Puff Puff

As regards how you can increase sales and attract more customers, you can give discounts. Make sure you’ve done your calculations and you are sure that it won’t hurt your profit before you start. After doing this, you can go ahead. I have a few in mind that I have seen some of my puff puff customers do so I’ll share them with you.

A. Buy two Get One Free

This is when you are given a free one for buying more. So let’s say a customer buys N60 puff puff and you sell one puff for N20 you can add one more to make it 4. This extra you give will always motivate the buyer to buy more and always patronize you.

B. Customer Appreciation Day

This is when you have a day set aside to appreciate your customers at least the ones that come to buy that day. You can make a souvenir as a gift – something cheap but still sends a powerful message of how much you appreciate them. All these send the right signal to your customers and even customers to be.

Conclusion

There’s no one-size-fits-all technique when it comes to starting a business in Nigeria, especially puff puff business. The most important thing is to be courageous and be able to take risks. Life itself is a risk. Just in case you are still scared and you want to be on the safe side you can start small.

However, I want you to know that the higher the investment the higher the profit, and the lower the investment the lower the profit. Best of luck!

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