hello dear Nairalanders, i really need your help with this business. i have been doing lots of things for some years now, from network marketing to investments, to selling of children cloths, none of which have given me a good success. maybe i would have made it with the cloths business but then i had a problem with the shop i rented and then i went to square one. luckily now someone is offering me her shop she has not been using but looking at the area, i don't think i can successfully sell cloths there. so i have done my visibility study and i have decided that the only thing i can do there is to make it a fry centre i.e to fry akara, plantain, yam, potato, fish, and the likes. i have already made up my mind to go with this business but the problem is that i want it to be different from the rest out there. so my friends, i need your suggestions and advice on how i can go about this, what can i do differently to stand out? is there any special way i can market it other than the usual way?

i would love to make a name with this business,it may be difficult but i know it is possible.

so please help me

any suggestion, comment, advice will be welcomed.

thanking you all in anticipation

Success is you, not the business. Work on yourself in area of acquiring more related skills or knowledge about whatever you which to do, doing a big business is not the question but getting the expertise to make it work. No harm inteeded.

Soul_caine: If u are serious call me. 07083766253. Waiting...

@soul caine, thanks but i would appreciate if you could post something here that can also be of benefit to others, that is why i did not drop my contact here in the first place.

dunno wia u reside but believe me selling akara and the likes in lagos environs is a good biz especially in the evening time. I think you should put hygiene in mind,make the place look inviting,also spice up your products with ingredients and you can give your potential customers some kind of bonus for now just for awareness.

^^^^ He said it all...

hi all, thanks for ur contributions/advice. i wanted to update this thread on my progres in the biz but i found out i have no time at all since i started to go online, coupled with the challenges and the fat that i have to cater for my son.

besides, nairaland banned me from signing in through my mobile, so i can't do anything except i use my modem on my desktop which is what i'm doing now.

i started on monday, the 3rd of September, so its almost two weeks into the biz., by tomorrow or next when i will have enof time, i promise to update my progress so far, the challenges/sucess.

see u then.

Congratulations !
I am so happy for u!

There is a lot of ways u can brand yours and make it stand out. Firstly you could use foil papers or wedding plasters to package you fries . The quality and the size also matters. If your shop is large enough you can add a freezer and retail frozen chicken, chips even fish. But take them step by step more of like an expansion plan.

Pattybf, I Like ur spirit, u sound like a resectable Nigerian. I wish u best of luck. Pls apply for youwin (youwin.org.ng). Package that biz well.
What did u mean by NL band you from using ur phone to post?

Hi guys, thanks for being there!

the challenges in this biz is way beyond what i anticipated, others may have found it easy but that is not in my case at all. ok, here is the story so far

before i started, i realised i couldn't do it alone, so i got someone who only agreed to help based on partnership which i agreed, we contributed 30k to start off, meanwhile the owner of the shop has charged 1k per week. so we set off with 30k, we bought all we could managed with N25,100. on our first biz day we made N3,040 and at the end of the week, we realised a profit of N4,900. Within this week, we had a problem coping with the owner of the shop. Initially, she wanted us to use part of the shop and only help her look after the shop, then two days before we took off, she called and said she would want us to pay and we still agreed and she set the price without even giving us the chance to negotiate.

so, after two days she came around to watch the progress, at the end of the day, she told me she's not comfortable with what is going on, that it has been her plan to have people start this biz for her since she can't do it herself. That was want she wanted with us but that we confused her, and she didn't know when she agreed to this. so she wanted us to rearrange everything. so she concluded by saying she someone else will be coming to sell fish, I told her we were going to sell fish as well but she said no. the following week, there was rain, the weather was bad, the charcoal was disappointing, by Wednesday of that week, we have resolved to using gas (considering that we spent N2000 on charcoal alone in the first week)so i thought gas would be cheaper with less stress. by Thursday, we brought gas cos i already had one i wasn't using at home, we filled the cylinder with 3k and took it there but the wind didn't allow us to make proper use of it, so we have to make a box for it since we must use it outside.
by now we were worried of our fate in the shop, knowing that we may be given an option that we cannot accept. a friend i told advice we started looking out for a space ,that we didn't really need a shop but i needed a place where my son could sleep or play. so we were still waiting for our fate until on friday, she came and told us her mind. She wanted us to work for her, give her account and get paid. she gave us the weekend to think about it. As God would have it, that same friday, we looked around and we got a space at the entrance to that street. we paid 5k for it, we had a welder made a box for us, big enof to contain our things. but we didn't have enof money for all these extra cost, but my sis who was around the first day she made that comment offered to help, so she loaned us 50k,the box cost us 20k.

by Sunday evening we went to move our things to our new site, and made sure we returned her key and 2k for the two weeks we stayed that same evening since we live on the same street.

Ordinarily, we thought the site would sell better but that was not the case! Sales dropped drastically, we couldn't even finish selling one tuber of yam. This first week was so bad. We were so sad things turned out this way. We became discouraged, by the weekend, there was nothing good to tell about our biz., then my son fell sick. This is the second week, i haven't been there, i have been going to one hospital or the other with my son. My partner has been going with the little girl that stays with me. Thursday and today Friday, she didn't go. so I’m already thinking of what next to do.

Already, we have invested 80k into this biz with N22,370 at hand. Another sis of mine advised me to look for another space preferably in Aguda where i stay, that the biz is more lucrative here rather than in orile where we operate presently. She suggested one junction, i went there and got a space for another 5k but i'm afraid to spend more money like that at this point. My partner is already nursing pooling out cos she came back on wednesday to tell me that some woman came to ask us to sell our box and space to her, i asked her who told the woman we wanted to sell it but she just said she don't know, that she came to ask her if we wanted to sell it.

Now, I’m so confused, I’m thinking whether to sell those things as my partner is suggesting and bade the biz goodbye and accepting to incur some losses, and look for something else I can do with the new space or should I moved the things and continue the biz with or without her having the fear of the unknown in my mind.

Please who have advised should dropped it her for me.it wasn’t easy at all to decide on starting a biz of this nature, so many people look down on me for doing this, I have had so many discouragement already. After having nothing to show for other ventures, I tot I could make a progress this time, even if its just to save money to start something more classy as they say.

Pls advice me on the next step to take from here.
thanks

jjjkkkooo: Pattybf, I Like ur spirit, u sound like a resectable Nigerian. I wish u best of luck. Pls apply for youwin (youwin.org.ng). Package that biz well.
What did u mean by NL band you from using ur phone to post?

thanks, for a long time now i can't sign in with my mobile. i have tried opening another account and its still the same thing.since i don't really have all the time to find out why and what i have done, so i have resolved to use my desktop whenever i can.

@ pattybf
i really admire your kind of spirit i must commend, i have at least 1M in my bank account at the moment but i dont really know what busines to invest in without my money going down the drains. though peeps have suggested all kinds of businesses like restaurant, barbing salon etc,which i wouldn't mind going into but the truth is that i dont even know where to start from also fear of the unknown , but i know i just have to close my eyes, take the bulls by the horn and start from somewhere, anywhere.
i pray the Lord will continue to strengthen you till you realize your dreams
pls dont give up!!

emilyone: @ pattybf
i really admire your kind of spirit i must commend, i have at least 1M in my bank account at the moment but i dont really know what busines to invest in without my money going down the drains. though peeps have suggested all kinds of businesses like restaurant, barbing salon etc,which i wouldn't mind going into but the truth is that i dont even know where to start from also fear of the unknown , but i know i just have to close my eyes, take the bulls by the horn and start from somewhere, anywhere.
i pray the Lord will continue to strengthen you till you realize your dreams
pls dont give up!!

I will suggest that you should not go for peoples suggestions because except maybe they know you well enough to understand your passion.
It is good that you start or invest in a business you are already passionate about so as not to lose focus and interest in it.
That is very important because it keeps you going during tough times when other people quit.

You can visit my blog and sign up for updates from me if you like it.
www.businessplanoffice.com

To your success!

@ pattybf: I feel you.
The owner of the shop should have given you some breathing space.
Anyway "sha", life goes on.
I have found out myself that very few people are interested in helping others succede.
Don't be discouraged. You will get there.
Hope your son is ok now.

My suggestion:
1)Don't sell off the items.
2)Try and secure a place in your neighbourhood; then re-locate the items and start all over.

God bless you.

Regards.

logo77: @ pattybf: I feel you.
The owner of the shop should have given you some breathing space.
Anyway "sha", life goes on.
I have found out myself that very few people are interested in helping others succede.
Don't be discouraged. You will get there.
Hope your son is ok now.

My suggestion:
1)Don't sell off the items.
2)Try and secure a place in your neighbourhood; then re-locate the items and start all over.

God bless you.

Regards.

hi logo77, thanks for your advice and yes my son is very well now, thanks again. infact i have just done exactly what you suggested. i have secured a new space within my neighborhood and have moved the items there but i still face the challenge of getting someone who will assist me, i mean someone who is ready to work and get paid based on our agreement as my partner has eventually pulled out.a business of this nature needs at least two persons to manage it especially considering the fact that i have a little son at hand.

so i'm using this medium to canvass for a worker, if you are willing or knows anyone who is willing to work with me, pls dont hesitate to contact me on 07035747751.

thanks

hi guys,hope this festive season is meeting us all in good health? wishing us all a blissful celebration in advance!

abt the biz, i'm still hanging on,i couldn't get a hand to help but someone suggested i enroll my son in child's care home so i could have time to handle the business alone, i did and thank God things are going slow but steady.

as a matter of fact, i'm thankful to God and those who advice me not to give it up at a time when i almost did, this is a business i will like to see grow and expand.i think this is what i have always wanted, a venture that could produce profits on a daily basis.it seems i'm finally seeing my dream come true!

however, i still need a hand in this biz, presently i only sell in the morning,many of the customers and people around asks me to sell in the evening but without a hand to help it seems very difficult.

but i have plans to get someone soon, either here in lag or from the village as i will be traveling for xmas come next week.

i'm very happy at the pace at which things are going for me now, @least i make btw 5k to 6k daily,hoping it grows soon when i will add evening and other other products, i had limit only to akara since its just morning biz.

i hope it goes well for you guys too especially as we are entering the new year!

goodluck guys!

pattybf:


@soul caine, thanks but i would appreciate if you could post something here that can also be of benefit to others, that is why i did not drop my contact here in the first place.

Good afternoon Aunty..Hope you are doing fine..just came across your thread when I was trying to research ways to start an akara frying business..Hope yours is Still booming by the way...?

JhyMedex:

Good afternoon Aunty..Hope you are doing fine..just came across your thread when I was trying to research ways to start an akara frying business..Hope yours is Still booming by the way...?

Hi there,

I'm good. It was good while it lasted. I' m into something else now, as seen in my signature.

I had to quit due to some challenges wt family/kids.

U will do well if u r focused n determined.

Wish u success in ur endeavors!

pattybf:


Hi there,

I'm good. It was good while it lasted. I' m into something else now, as seen in my signature.

I had to quit due to some challenges wt family/kids.

U will do well if u r focused n determined.

Wish u success in ur endeavors!

wow..Tanx for replying in time...Yea I saw that..
Pls Aunty could you engage me for a bit..Help me with the following questions...
How much will it cost to start this business?

What were some of the challenges you encountered along the way and how did you solve them?

What is the average profit per day? ..

Thanks in anticipation..

JhyMedex:

wow..Tanx for replying in time...Yea I saw that..
Pls Aunty could you engage me for a bit..Help me with the following questions...
How much will it cost to start this business?

What were some of the challenges you encountered along the way and how did you solve them?

What is the average profit per day? ..

Thanks in anticipation..

Hmmm!

Contact me via whatsapp.

Hmmm..... You are really blessed. What your hand touches booms. You only faced territorial powers in the first phase of the business.

But I see you have come a long way, well done Patty!

Hope to use your new services soon.

P.S - you could do well to motivate a lot of women and girls out there.

OreSho:
Hmmm..... You are really blessed. What your hand touches booms. You only faced territorial powers in the first phase of the business.

But I see you have come a long way, well done Patty!

Hope to use your new services soon.

P.S - you could do well to motivate a lot of women and girls out there.

Will be expecting to hear from u. And thanks for d compliment!

Hello sister, I know this thread is long overdue but I need an advice from you too about this business especially for someone using gas. during your time, were u using Gas?