Up to the year 2002, Ekiti State had no single eatery. Residents were longing for one but no one wanted to invest in the business, probably because of the belief that Ekiti people love pounded yam so much that no food business outside this could fly. It was in that year that Prince Nathaniel Uzomah decided to plunge into the murky waters of eatery business in the state.

However, in going into the business, he failed to observe business rule number one, which is, know the business that you want to go into like you know the back of your palm before you dabble into it. He went into the business as a novice and had his initial investment burnt. But as somebody who believes that failure is nothing but a sour taste that only needs to be sweetened to turn it into a success, he hung on and today, Prince and Princess Eatery has become the number one food and drink centre in Ekiti State in particular and the other neighbouring states in general. According to Uzoma, it was after he had gone into the business and made a success of it that others such as Mr Biggs, Tantalizers etc gained the confidence to venture into the state.

“I want to  say that I broke the jinx that Ekiti people would not patronize eatery centres because of their love for pounded yam. It was after I had established Prince and Princess Eatery which was the first in the state and made it a success that Mr Biggs,Tantalizers and the other eateries began to come in.

In this interview, he spoke on the challenges of pioneering an eatery business, how to make money from it, his management style and other issues.

Excerpts
My name is Prince Nathaniel Uzomah, managing director of Prince and Princess Eatery which is located in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State. Apart from the eatery business, I have a construction company and also deal in plumping materials.I came to the old Ondo State in September,1996 as a contractor and in October of the same year, Ekiti State was carved out of Ondo State and the  area that I was living fell into the new state.

From that 1996 to 2002, there was no single eatery in Ekiti State as a whole. The residents were longing for it because when they go to other states such as Lagos and Oyo, they would see eateries but back home, nothing like that existed.When I inquired, I was told that Ekiti people love pounded yam so much and as such any food business outside the normal restaurant would not fly I decided to plunge into the business, knowing full well that business, like life, is all about risk.I saw the lack of eatery centre in the state as a very big gap and I decided to fill it.

Setting up Prince and Princess Eatery

As I said, the reason why I set up Prince and Princess Eatery was to fill a gap, I told myself that I would try an eatery and see for myself since Ekiti people do not eat much of other foods except pounded yam, I decided going into the business, even though there was already doubt in the minds of the people concerning such a business, I had to start in a very big way but in doing that, I did an overkill. For instance, I bought a 100 KVA generator which was by far higher than the equipment that I have in the place.I also bought an ice cream making machine that cost more than N2 million then which nobody could operate and it was damaged even before we started the business.

Initial challenges

The initial challenges that I encountered when I started the business in 2002 was legion.You know, to start something new is usually difficult. Being the pioneer eatery centre in the state, we did not have people with experience to hire. It was trial and error because the management staff then were all novice in the business and I paid dearly for it.

As I said earlier, the ice cream making machine that I bought never made ice cream for one day because nobody could operate it. The 100 KVA that I bought was higher than the equipment that it was meant to power so I abandoned it and bought a lesser one. Another challenge was that I left the business for the team to run while I was running the other of my businesses. Because of my absence, they were behaving as they like and before I realized what was happening, the business was going into liquidation.

Initial response from Ekiti people

When Prince and Princess came on board, there was joy everywhere in the state because that was what they had been  longing for. They were asking themselves, this thing that we see in Ibadan, Lagos and other places, when would it come  to Ekiti but nobody had the guts to go into it. When I eventually plunged into what I felt then was murky waters, a lot of people were very happy. Even people from Ondo town and Akure were coming there every Saturday and Sunday to relax and enjoy themselves.

We started with pastry foods like doughnuts, meat pies, fish rolls, burger, ice cream and others. Later, somebody advised me to make it departmental and introduce beer section. Thank God that I still had empty space where Prince and Princess was located, so I added the beer section with the things that go with it like goat head, ox tail, grilled meat, pepper soup, fish pepper soup and all that and that even became the hit. Again, some weekends, we would invite live bands to play. The response was massive and made Prince and Princess the place to be in Ekiti. Mind you, there was nothing like that before it.

How to make money in eatery business

Food business, though very ordinary is very lucrative.It is a business that you cannot fail. Remember the saying, “man must whack”. The reason for this is because food is the first basic need of man. Before you think of buying a car, you must first of all satisfy the need of your stomach. Before you think of building a house, you must first of all have food in your stomach. Even before you think of buying clothes to cover your unclothedness, you must have food in your stomach, which will give you the energy to wear the clothes. That is why I said that food business is the best business in the world. However, it is not the kind of business you spend money recklessly on. We make money through repeated patronage.

The more people patronize your eatery, the more money you would make.So I can say that the business, like most other businesses, is customer based. The more the customer, the more the money. However, it is not the amount you make that determines how rich you are but the amount you are able to save and plough back into the business for expansion and growth. Money comes very easy in the business depending on the level of patronage one has but it  is not a business you  spend money recklessly.You must know the difference between gross and net profit and the things that your customers need at any point in time.If one is in a very good location and is prudent in spending, he would make money in eatery business

Our edge in the business.

I want to say that what has given us edge in the business is the adage which says that wine tastes better with age. The saying is applicable to Prince and Princess Eatery. As the first eatery in the whole of Ekiti State, we have come of age.We have also been tested and trusted. People are now emotional about our services because it is now  part of their subconscious mind. You know that it takes a very long time to build a successful brand but once it is built, it stays in the mind of the people. Prince and Princess has become a successful brand as far as eatery is concerned and as such nobody would jump the fence and take the market from us.

People would ask,where is he coming from? What are his  antecedents? You know that Ekiti is filled with enlightened minds who are very critical of everything.You cannot come yesterday and try to pool the wool over their eyes.They would put you in your rightful place until you pay your dues as Prince and Princess Eatery has done.

Management Style

I want to confess that I  learnt the business in a very hard way. I have told you earlier that my initial staff  almost grounded the business owing to lack  of experience. It was when I left most of the other businesses that I was doing and then focused on it that it picked up. So, my management style is building a large customer base and treating them very well. Those things that make my customers to continue to come back is my  priority. I have told my staff that if they offend me, I can forgive but whoever offends a customer would never get my forgiveness because it is because of them that we are in business.

Apart from making sure that my customers are satisfied, I also make sure that my staff are happy with their work. I am a team player.I am not the bossy type I welcome ideas from staff and implement them if the idea would help our customers to value us the more.I make sure that they are well paid and that they get the reward for every extra effort they put in the business.I understand the fact that if my staff are not happy, they would not relate well with the customers and that can affect the business.So my management style is to make sure that my staff and customers are happy.

Competitors

I don’ t believe that I am competing with any other person in the business. Rather I feel that I am competing with myself. It is like somebody who is involved in a 100 metres race. Though he has other people in the track, he is competing against himself because the more he lowered the yards, the better runner he becomes. But if he feels that he is competing with people and they are so lazy that it would take them 20 minutes to run hundred metres and you feel that you are competing with them, you are harming yourself. Naturally, I have very high standards and I always like to make impact.In order to do that, I set my own standard and work towards it rather than wait for others to dictate the standards in the name of competition.

We have come of age in the business and I know what the market demands from us. Once in a while, I also make some innovations to avoid my customers feeling bored because if they continue to eat and drink the same thing year in year out, there is the tendency for them to feel bored.Variety, they say, is the spice of life. So I am on top of my game in the business and doing what my instinct tells me.

Advice to would be entrepreneurs

The advice that I have for people who want to go into any type of business is to be  patient and prudent in spending. They should know that they cannot sow and reap at the same time. Everything in life has time and season. They must not mix the season, rather they should allow it to run its natural course. Nigeria is a very difficult place to do business but if you persevere, you would enjoy the fruit of your labour. We have a huge population which is the desire of every entrepreneur. However, we must make sure that we are giving the best because if you are giving the best to others, you would also be getting the best because what you sow you must reap and with what you measure, you would be measured with.

Job creation

Eatery business is one that needs a lot of hands because of the services it is rendering to the public.In Prince and Princess at the moment, we have over 20 staff. Some companies that are bigger than us have more hands.That is why I feel that government should try and make its policies friendly so that they would be favourable to local investors because the more our businesses grow, the more hands we would be able to employ. One of the reasons for the insecurity in the country is  unemployment. A lot of hands, mostly graduates are idle and a saying has it that an idle mind is  the devil’s workshop. That is why I am appealing to governments at all levels to start providing support and incentives to local investors so that they can grow.
http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=69848

A very good job, but that doesn't mean he should be consuming all the food himself, oh!

I stopped by the 4th section when I couldnt bear to see another "...my eatery was the first in the state" or "....mind you, before I came there was none".......

Yeah, yeah, we get the point, you developed Ekiti state and were Prince and Princess to close up today, Ekiti will fold.

What was the point of his story, again?

ISpiksDaTroof: I stopped by the 4th section when I couldnt bear to see another "...my eatery was the first in the state" or "....mind you, before I came there was none".......

Yeah, yeah, we get the point, you developed Ekiti state and were Prince and Princess to close up today, Ekiti will fold.

What was the point of his story, again?

Do you think he actually meant without an Igbo man Ekiti people will still be eating iyan under trees?

ISpiksDaTroof: I stopped by the 4th section when I couldnt bear to see another "...my eatery was the first in the state" or "....mind you, before I came there was none".......

Yeah, yeah, we get the point, you developed Ekiti state and were Prince and Princess to close up today, Ekiti will fold.

What was the point of his story, again?

Stop hating, whether you like it or not he was the first to introduce food business in Ekiti state.
You guys and inferiority complex. Smh

Great pioneering job !!! Kudos to all igbos in the remote place of Nigeria pioneering new business ventures and bring all parts of 'nigeria at par with the developed and advantaged parts

ISpiksDaTroof:
you developed Ekiti state and were Prince and Princess to close up today, Ekiti will fold.

If u say so

As a true Ekiti girl, I consider this thread a joke. lol. E be like say I be the only Ekiti wey waka come post here sha.

Nigga looks ugly. Looks like he's his only customer sha.

I don't believe this! This first eatry in Ekiti should be Friendly's. Unfortunately, it closed down. Yeye dey smell.

You better step up the notch because N1M made in SW equals N100K in SE.

so ekiti people weren't buying and selling food before his hideous fool? Someone puts baby powder of their face and buys an advertisement and we're ready to say he introduced food to ekiti.

Ilekere: As a true Ekiti girl, I consider this thread a joke. lol. E be like say I be the only Ekiti wey waka come post here sha.

Nigga looks ugly. Looks like he's his only customer sha.

You need psychological help....Its no longer a joke. The people you started tribalism and bigotry with has since retired from the ugly trade but you seems to be growing stronger. Do you have a conscience?

And na one man go later marry you put for house!!!!

By the way,this dude look disgusting and unhealthy.....probably eat half of the food he sells.....I hate fat people....they give me the creeps.

Nnewi1stSon: Iledi you still dey alive? I thought they said you died of Myocardia infarction after fayose won your red-roof state?

you're such a loser. grow up and move on.

are we as igbos supposed to be proud of this yam looking man?

this is not ikengawo

the ikengawo guy claims to have retired from active duty. hello ngozi. i might be in love with you.

this is ikengawo and this is a stupid topic. The forum was re-started, why bring back garbage like this?

Malawian: hello ngozi. i might be in love with you.

what?
My dad said I should report to him whenever a male says such to me and here u are ........
* dials my dads number *

Ikengawo: this is ikengawo and this is a stupid topic. The forum was re-started, why bring back garbage like this?

Taaa and what's with the name callings?

naijaking1: A very good job, but that doesn't mean he should be consuming all the food himself, oh!

and 2mro sm idiotas wil open dia septic tank dy cal mouth and ask d guy to go bk to hs place.when he has contributd honestly to d developement of d states food economy

Ilekere: As a true Ekiti girl, I consider this thread a joke. lol. E be like say I be the only Ekiti wey waka come post here sha.

Nigga looks ugly. Looks like he's his only customer sha.

You get bad mouth

Evergreen123:

what?
My dad said I should report to him whenever a male says such to me and here u are ........
* dials my dads number *

Nwada,Malawian is my brother and Idenmili guys sabi wife ikporo. Don't keep my bros waiting,abi you never enter Oraukwu ebe ego na esi ka nsi.

Ikengawo: so ekiti people weren't buying and selling food before his hideous fool? Someone puts baby powder of their face and buys an advertisement and we're ready to say he introduced food to ekiti.

Seun, what is this nonsense?

"When Prince and Princess came on board, there was joy everywhere in the state[/b] because that was what they had been  longing for. They were asking themselves, this thing that we see in Ibadan, Lagos and other places, when would it come  to Ekiti"



Lol!

He is painting a picture of street wide jubilation at the sight of an eatery.

I don't think even backwards Ekiti can do that.

Rada rada abi uncle e? "The man who introduce food biz in Ekiti" indeed. Flat heads and their gum join body mumu attention seeking. Next pls

Evergreen123:

what?
My dad said I should report to him whenever a male says such to me and here u are ........
* dials my dads number *

report me to your dad, i want to meet him myself.

Malawian:

report me to your dad, i want to meet him myself.

hahaha

That means the pastry shop that I used to go eat fresh hot pies and sausags opposite State Hospital in Ado Ekiti back in 1998/1999 when I was schooling in OSUA (UNAD) made their pastries out of pounded yam.

This man can Liiiieeeeee..........!!!!