donpata: Like really, most of the people talking here have no experience in baking things. Evryone is running his mouth based on the Nigerian thing we know - Dishonesty. But to the question; Yes, u can run dat bakery even without coming over yourself. Some businesses however require that the owner has a significant idea of how the business operates. I mean, like the bakery, u shouldnt just be a novice in bread production, u must know a bit of wat nd wat 2 mix to get diz or dat. Then all u need to do is to direct ur sister based on the information u are recieving from her. U would only suspect foul play if u dnt trust her in the first place or if she's not acting to ur dictates.

that said, I also run a bakery and i must tell u dat in recent times, bread business profits have deminishd due to the serious hike in price of commodities. I also suffer by making abt 1.5k per bag which is not mearnt to be. Take for instance, a bag of flour sold for 5200 as at early last year; but now, it goes for 7200 (since GEJ hike d import duty 4 wheat flour) nd d prices of bread are not things u could just wake up a day nd change simply bcoz the cost of productn has risen. U nid some cooperation from other bakers so dat evrytin can be uniform. Now dats where ive been suffering coz the members of d bread union in my place aint cooperative. So u see d cycle continues. Anytime theres a loss u suffer it greatly cos d profit margin is so small.

D only way u can break even is if u specialize. The business is so competitive as there are too many pple now on the scene. U nid to consult to improve ur bread greatly so u can invite more distributors. Coz truly, d higher u produce, the much u gain. imagine producing 15 bags a day at a gain of 1200 per bag; dats sometin in nigeria today. bt if u can specialize and produce very standard bread, u could gain at least 3k per bag. With a good distribution network, imaging hw mch u will make by producing just 10bags a day.

contnd later

bebe2:

Tnks for ur time.

Am getting to increase our profit margin I need to go more specialise. At the moment it's mainly medium and super but my plans for that baery was that i ud be doing a lot of breads and cake dat we enjoy here.

We we will get there I think I need to get more involved.

Pls can u help me, I need a reliable printer that can print on nylon and also do some bright coloured labels.

toasmart: its too risky for doing that cos no one is to be trusted in terms of money pls dont take any chance for runing any business in naija from abroad u can always do it when u are back in naija if u still intend to come back to naija

Okija_juju: Use Bromate..



Ok! Seriously! A Business is only as successful as the management and its market!
Did you ever personally manage this business before handing it over to your sister?!
If Yes?! What was you profit margin then?!
If it was high, what is the cause of this low profit turn out?!
Do you have an idea about your market and customers?! E.g Hotels, e.t.c.

Answer and lets take it from there!

bebe2:

Tnks for ur time.

Am getting to increase our profit margin I need to go more specialise. At the moment it's mainly medium and super but my plans for that baery was that i ud be doing a lot of breads and cake dat we enjoy here.

We we will get there I think I need to get more involved.

Pls can u help me, I need a reliable printer that can print on nylon and also do some bright coloured labels.

amdman: I think we need to take into cognizance the profit margin in bakery business generally, as profitability is based on volume.

Due to stiff competition, profit margins are generally slim… about N2000 to N3000 per bag (after production expenses). Cost of N11,000+ per bag of flour is not that unreasonable depending on the quality of bread you are making. What you now need to do is increase your volume of sales. If you keep doing one bag daily, you will never make a profit. You need to grow the business to start doing 5 bags daily, and to do that, you need to re-jig your marketing strategy. Where in Benin is the bakery located and how do you sell presently (do you supply retailers or they come to buy from you?)

On the other hand, you may want to lease the bakery to someone that will pay you a fixed/relative rate monthly.

KenGali:

Third time am posting on your topic. Your problem is likely not the bright colours of your label if you are going to specialise on premium bakery. I hope that's what you mean by specialise. If your clients recognise the quality of your bread, they will not mind even if your label is as dark as charcoal. Do not rush to spend your money, go back sit down and study the business before you decide what the problem is. Packaging may not be the problem. Be logical in your approach not intuitive.

If you are producing average quality bread, your problem could be your distribution network, maybe it's too small.
If you are producing above average quality breads: maybe you are targeting the wrong clientele. May be your bread needs to get to high end supermarkets and like.
It is still possible that your label is too boring, but I doubt that.


Am interested in how you solve this problem, do keep us posted when you do.

biafranqueen: Thats what my family is doing a baker is paying rent for 5 years now

bebe2:

Pls were is ur family's bakery, how much have u rented it out for?

Daddy G n geess:
I have d same experience once b4, if u want I can help u by sending somebody to asist and show them how to make real money from bakary business. g.geess@yahoo.com. Contact me if u care

bebe2:
tnks for the offer.

i was wondering if there was a particular flour or ingredients that increases the bread quantity.

but i have learnt there isnt much profit in 1 bag but wit higher quantity we will achieve higher profit.

donpata:

U c, u can increase production by improving on the quality of bread, quality of packaging and good distribution network.
The most important thing is distribution network. U can produce quality bread but without a good distribution netwrk, its sham. Gone are the days customers rush to bakeries to buy bread; there are too many bakeries now so everyone is pursuing the vendors to their doorsteps. Anoda tin is the population around ur bakery and the class of the people. If they are mid class to low class, u may consider making other smaller brands that will sell faster thus increasing ur production scale. U cant imagine, i still produce N20 bread, and N30 bread. These two and d super D loaf actually take up much of the flour. So i can produce 8 bags at d beginning of the week and it wont still be sufficient to distribute to all my outside customers. The main disadvantage here is dat ur profit margin will b slim. But evn if na 1.5k per bag by say 7 bags, dats around 10k gain daily. Dats not sustainable though so am in d process of restructuring my productn.

1 thing ive noticd is dat some flour yield more dan odas. Its however still a mystry am tryin to figure out. The flour dat works for anoda bakery may not work well for anoda - but some flours are generally better than others. Some kick well and thus can increase yield, while oders simply dont. Again, u may use a particular flour nd after a while, it stops givn u results; maybe its 4rm d company. So u simply hav to switch flour. Among the ones are prefer are Golden Penny, Honey Well and Life.

By d way if u are in d UK, u can meet or consult a bakery there. U knw, dey take tym to do research tins better. They could provide u wit info on d ingredients 2 use, dia proportn nd so. Then u may b able to produce dat kind of Quality Agege Bread Osofia ate in London. However, Consultancy there may b 2 xpensive. U may consider getting a consultant, pay him btw 100-150k and direct him to liase with ur sister on how to overhaul the bakery completely. Besides, if u want 2 standardize it, u will need modern machines wch are quite xpensive - and of course, A gigantic Generator.

Now we are done with ansering ur questionss. Stop asking and Act.

donpata:

U c, u can increase production by improving on the quality of bread, quality of packaging and good distribution network.
The most important thing is distribution network. U can produce quality bread but without a good distribution netwrk, its sham. Gone are the days customers rush to bakeries to buy bread; there are too many bakeries now so everyone is pursuing the vendors to their doorsteps. Anoda tin is the population around ur bakery and the class of the people. If they are mid class to low class, u may consider making other smaller brands that will sell faster thus increasing ur production scale. U cant imagine, i still produce N20 bread, and N30 bread. These two and d super D loaf actually take up much of the flour. So i can produce 8 bags at d beginning of the week and it wont still be sufficient to distribute to all my outside customers. The main disadvantage here is dat ur profit margin will b slim. But evn if na 1.5k per bag by say 7 bags, dats around 10k gain daily. Dats not sustainable though so am in d process of restructuring my productn.

1 thing ive noticd is dat some flour yield more dan odas. Its however still a mystry am tryin to figure out. The flour dat works for anoda bakery may not work well for anoda - but some flours are generally better than others. Some kick well and thus can increase yield, while oders simply dont. Again, u may use a particular flour nd after a while, it stops givn u results; maybe its 4rm d company. So u simply hav to switch flour. Among the ones are prefer are Golden Penny, Honey Well and Life.

By d way if u are in d UK, u can meet or consult a bakery there. U knw, dey take tym to do research tins better. They could provide u wit info on d ingredients 2 use, dia proportn nd so. Then u may b able to produce dat kind of Quality Agege Bread Osofia ate in London. However, Consultancy there may b 2 xpensive. U may consider getting a consultant, pay him btw 100-150k and direct him to liase with ur sister on how to overhaul the bakery completely. Besides, if u want 2 standardize it, u will need modern machines wch are quite xpensive - and of course, A gigantic Generator.

Now we are done with ansering ur questionss. Stop asking and Act.

bebe2: Hun, if u give me advice on wat wud will help my sister will do juju to kill u

Babes, dat one strong o

Tnks anyways

Btw I don't believe in juju

bebe2: hi NL, i have a bakery in benin city nigeria. it was opened in january and its been run by my sister.
the problem is were are not making a profit.
i spent about 4million setting it up but it has refused to get off the ground.

cost of baking one bag of flour (including other ingredients)according to my calculations is about N11,800.
they are making profit of about N1200 fom each bag after expenses.
this doesnt make sense, i expect to make at least 40% of the cost of making a bag of flour.

we cant even holdon to a baker they come spend 1 month and they are gone.

pls anyone wit experience, can u help wit tips?

bebe2:
No, I just sent money down for it to be established.

I did a bit of research which bread business was a good venture. But if they are making 1200 from a 12 k investment den that's not gud.

We dont do big supplies yet, we just got our first distributor , we also just bought a van registering it next week.

The profit margin is just too low

Originalsly: If you did research you should know that N1200 investment would bring you N1200....unless something is wrong somewhere. Is this a fact?...or what you aere told? You seem to believe in your sister and I think she is not only mismanaging the business but has an attitude problem. Changing bakers so often should tell you she has a problem. Like most think...if you not there you can't succeed. I think your best option is what Bigheart suggested ..... rent out the bakery instead of selling. Eventually you will get your money back minus the stress.

Larrystan: Dats what i do 4 a living,in which i start small bt now in big form. The name of my bakery is God'mercy at iyana iba, Lagos. So i can help you to manage it with ur sister. Call me or email. 08022688375,leyom4@gmail.com

Larrystan: Ok, but bakery biz moves in Lagos