How to Start Popcorn Business in Nigeria

If you really want to start your own popcorn business in Nigeria and make millions from it, this article is for you. When it comes to starting a popcorn business in Nigeria and making large sums of money from it there are a few things you need to put in mind. One of these is the fact that you cannot just start the business based on the fact that it is a daily income business.

Or because it’s a business that does not require much capital or with the fact that it is the easiest snacks to make as regards snacks business in Nigeria. You have to know your gut. You have to know how to increase the sales of the business and also increase the profits yearly. This and more I will be sharing with you today.

You see, everyone likes popcorn even I used to like it and overindulge in it. Especially in my early teens – I liked it so much that then I saved money to buy it every Sunday after service. I still eat it today but not as much as before. So with these facts alone, it shows that this business can be profitable if you go into it avoiding every mistake or most of the mistake an average popcorn seller on Nigerian roads will make.

Ingredients Used in Making Popcorn

Popcorn business is one of the snacks business in Nigeria that has the lowest number of ingredients used in its production.

These ingredients are:

1. Maize or corn

2. Sugar or salt

3. Butter or oil. But if you want to make flavored popcorn you will need to add other ingredients like:

4. Chocolate

5. Caramel

6. Honey

7. Chilli pepper

Equipment Needed to Start Popcorn Business

As I explained earlier, there are two types of popcorn equipment. The gas-powered and the electrical popcorn machine but you also need to decide on the one you want to go for depending on the kind of area you live in. If the area you live in usually has light you can go for the electrical popcorn machine but if the area you live in hardly gets power you can simply buy the gas-powered popcorn.

As far as I am concerned these types of popcorn machines produce the same type of popcorn as far as taste is concerned so you do not need to bother yourself much about what the popcorn will taste like. So proceed to the market, buy your popcorn machine, and take it home.

How to Start Popcorn Business in Nigeria

Here are steps needed on how to start a popcorn business in Nigeria.

1. Learn the Skill and Business

When it comes to the popcorn business in Nigeria learning how to do the business asides from learning how to make popcorn is very important. And this is one of the mistakes many youths that are going into business today make. They just learn how to pop the corns and they think they are good to start out on their own.

They do this and realize a few weeks after they have started that they are not making profits and decide to either close the business down or keep pushing and managing; hoping that one day a miracle will happen. Learning how to make popcorn is very easy and this is why it’s very deceiving to think that’s all you need as regards starting popcorn in Nigeria.

So let yours be different. Do not just learn how to pop the corn and make them tasty, learn everything you need to know about the business. These are how to manage ingredients and still be able to produce a large amount of popcorn in a day, branding: the way you package your popcorn and what your customers think of your popcorn taste, how to relate with customers, and many more.

Many of these you can learn from a skilled seller who makes and sell popcorn. You just need to look for one. If you are planning to start your popcorn business in Nigeria as a roadside business I will strongly advise you to look for a popcorn seller in your area that has a good reputation and learn from him or her.

And if you want to start your popcorn business in Nigeria as a wholesaler (producing on a large scale with machines and laborers. I will strongly advise that you learn this procedure from a reputable popcorn-producing company in your area at least to know the basics. Learning from either of these two might cost you some amount of money in registration but it’s worth it.

2. Get Capital Needed for your Business

To start a roadside popcorn business in Nigeria you will need a minimum amount of N200,000. This money will be used to buy many materials and tools for making popcorn like a popcorn machine (gas-powered), gas cylinder, a long spoon for stirring popped corn, an umbrella to protect you from the hot sun or rain, and so on.

However, the price of these popcorn equipment varies depending on where you are located in Nigeria whether you are in a city or village. So you need to get your capital to buy all these equipment. A good way to be proud of this business is to self-fund it but if you can not afford to do this you can approach people (friends and family) for help – if you have a good reputation with them.

3. Buy the Popcorn Equipment

There are different types of popcorn equipment in Nigeria. We have electrical popcorn equipment and we have the gas-powered popcorn equipment. These equipment can be bought new if you can afford it or can be bought tokunbo or fairly used. All these depend on the size of your pocket and how long you want these equipment to last for you.

You can buy these popcorn equipment from any electronic market in Nigeria as long as the sellers have a reputation to protect.

4. Buy your Popcorn Ingredients

The major ingredients in making popcorn business in Nigeria are the corn or maize used in producing the popcorn but the question is: where can we buy these corn for the business?

Where to Get Popcorn Maize in Nigeria

According to some findings, I made I discovered that the corn or maize used to make popcorn is different from the regular corn/maize used for cooking. Not all kinds of corn or maize in Nigeria pops so you need to be watchful as regards this. I made further findings on this and I discovered that there are actually agro-businesses in Nigeria that sell corn or maize you just need to look for one closer to you and buy one.

But you need to put one thing in mind. You need to buy these popcorn ingredients especially the maize used in making popcorn in bulk as this will be cheaper for you to buy and you can easily make more profit when you sell in small quantities. Buy all these ingredients and stock them at home.

Make sure the ingredients especially the sacks of corn or maize are not kept directly on the floor as this will make them spoil on time. You can place them on planks or wood to prevent spoilage in the short run.

5. Look for a Good Spot or Shop

Getting a shop is only important if you want to go into the wholesale aspect of the popcorn business in Nigeria – where you do proper branding and packaging before delivering to malls, shops, and retailers. If you are not doing this you do not need to rent a shop as this will be a total waste of money, time, and resources.

If you are not going into it as a wholesaler all you need is a spot at a crowded bus stop to produce and sell your popcorn to customers. A major bus stop that thousands of Nigeria pass through every day should be the kind of location you should be gunning for. If you get this location and you need to pay a certain amount of money to retain the location pay for it.

It is worth it! After getting this location you need to go ahead and make it hygienic. Buy some detergents and cleaning material then clean the place. Your to-be customers will love you for this and will draw closer to you if they realize that you and your business do not like dirt.

6. Start Selling your Popcorn

The worst thing you can do on the first day of your popcorn business is to expect big sales. I’m not saying you should not dream big – imagine thousands of people buying your popcorn. No! All I’m saying here is do not put it at heart so that when the sales do not come out big on the first day you will not be disappointed.

On the first day of business arrive on time at your location and set up. Pray and start making popcorn. Inform your friends and family about your popcorn business and where you are located so that they can also buy from you to encourage you. If it is nylon you want to use, use it, and if it is Packs you want to use, use it too.

Any of these packaging methods you choose depends on what you can afford as regards your packaging. You can also call people’s attention if you notice that they are not noticing you or your stand. Simple offers like buy 2 get one free is also a bonus method that can force people to buy from you although this might reduce how much you are supposed to make. Everyone loves freebies.

7. Open Business for Longer Hours

In any business that has to do with daily income business in Nigeria especially the popcorn business in Nigeria opening for a longer period of time will make you sell more and in turn increase profits. It might not make you sell faster but it will certainly make you more money.

For example, if other snacks businesses like doughnuts business, puff puff business, akara business close by 8 pm daily, you can close by 10 pm so that people who want to buy snacks at that time but can not find other snacks available will have no choice but to buy from you because you are still opened. I do not know if you understand this.

8. Open your Business on Weekends

Many snack businesses in Nigeria open majorly on Mondays – Fridays not knowing that weekends are times when sales increase the most. Sometimes the profits that can be made for whole weekdays can be made on Sunday alone if you properly position yourself and study your area well. It is all about knowing what works in your area.

9. Sell Popcorn on Sundays

Another way you can also increase sales in your popcorn business in Nigeria which will, in turn, increase your profit is by selling to churches on Sundays. If you check very well there are churches in your area that have thousands of members who come every Sunday for services.

You can meet pastors of these churches and beg them for a spot and start selling to their church members on Sundays. If the population is right and you sold your popcorn at 50 naira per pack to 3000 church members on a Sunday alone. That is N150,000 in one Sunday. Now imagine you were able to achieve this for 4 Sundays in a roll.

That is N600,000 excluding regular sales on Mondays to Fridays.

10. Supply Popcorn to Parties

Supplying popcorn to parties can also increase the profits of your popcorn business in Nigeria because in supplying parties you can increase how much you sell these popcorn (price) which will, in turn, increase your profits. For example, you can sell popcorn worth N50 on a regular day to parties for N100 or N200. This quantity shift will help you make more money.

Conclusion

As regards the popcorn business in Nigeria, it is all about being proactive and tactical in how you sell. It has almost nothing to do with the taste of the popcorn but almost everything to do with how you sell, where you sell, and where you buy your ingredients for the popcorn business.

If you are planning to go into the popcorn business in Nigeria at a wholesale level – doing proper packaging and adding preservatives, supplying to stores you should watch out for the article coming up on the blog soon.

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