Food ordering business in Nigeria is a profitable business today. Thanks to technology, people can now sit wherever they are, while having their favorite dishes delivered to them without stress.
This type of business works by fulfilling customers’ orders through mobile applications, phone calls, or websites and having their meals delivered to them using bikes, cars, or scooters – just like Jumia Food does.
This industry is booming as we speak, and statistics show that it will continue on this trajectory due to the busy nature of people and their lack of time to cook.
As a smart entrepreneur thinking of a business to start with a constant customer base and little capital, you might strongly want to consider starting a food ordering business.
Are food ordering businesses profitable?
Considering the fact that a high rate of Nigerians fall amongst the working class, who are always at their jobs or offices and have little time to prepare their own meals, you’ll realize that there is a high demand for food ordering and delivery services.
Take Lagos, for example: most Lagosians are out and about as early as 5 a.m. and don’t return home until 11 p.m. This means that they mostly rely on meals cooked by food businesses for their nutritional needs.
An average food ordering business nowadays makes up to N250,000 in profit these days.
How much do I need to start an online food ordering business?
It’s important to note that the capital required to start a small scale online food business and a larger scale one are different. However, having between N100,000 and N150,000 is enough to start operations on a small scale level for this business.
How do I start an online food ordering business?
In order to start an online food business, you need to;
- Improve on your cooking skills
- Choose your niche.
- Source for start-up capital
- Choose a location
- Choose a brand-name and logo
- Employ skilled hands
- Register your business
- Get license
- Set your prices and choose a suitable payment method
- Go online
1) Improve on your cooking skills
Knowing how to cook will save you a lot of money going into this business, but we’re not just speaking about regular cooking here. Your food has to make your customers crave another meal, and that requires a more-than-average cooking skill-set.
The best chefs in the world today weren’t born with their skills, so investing time in learning how to cook some of the favourite Nigerian dishes would do you a lot of good. You can learn by attending culinary schools, watching online videos, taking courses, or learning directly from a friend who is an expert.
The goal is to ensure that your meals are great and sought after. Watch the video below
2) Choose your niche
Providing different menu options for customers isn’t a bad idea, but it will be wiser to choose the specific type of food business you’ll be willing to start from the numerous options available and get underway.
You could also offer catering services as a side hustle to bring in more income.
3) Source for start-up capital
Even though this business requires little capital to begin, you’ll most definitely not be starting with zero capital because there are a few things that might require a bit of funding, for example, buying cooking materials and utensils.
If you need finance for your business, visit us here to apply for a quick growth loan
4) Choose a location.
You might be wondering why a location is important if you’re going to be doing more deliveries, right? The truth is that, even though people might not like eating outside as much and might rather order in, there are those that would also like to eat at a physical location.
Having a location makes it easier to tap into both categories of people without losing any available money. Ensure to choose a busy area with lots of human movement for your location, for example; areas close to schools, banks, offices, and so on.
You also get better credibility with a known location than without an address.
5) Choose a brand name and logo
Branding is very important in today’s business world; the only thing that distinguishes your business from the next food ordering business is your branding.
Choose a catchy name for your business and create a logo that is not only appealing, but also represents what you’re about. You can enlist the help of a professional branding specialist to help you create the perfect logo for your business.
In cases where-by you’re having difficulty choosing a brand name, you can create a catchy name by using your first name and suffixes like kitchen, delight, touch, and so on. For example; (your name) delight, (your name) kitchen.
6) Employ skilled hands
If you’re looking to run a medium-large scale online food delivery business, then you have to ensure that the people who’ll be working with you are skilled, in order to make your job easier.
Remember, you’re just starting out as well, so make sure you look for the right people with experience working for businesses like this. Also, please note that you wouldn’t need to do this if you were operating on a small scale.
7) Register your business
Once you’ve chosen your preferred brand name, and are sure that another brand has not previously registered that name, the next step is to register your business with the federal government and get a CAC.
It costs between N10,000 and N20,000 to register your business with the Corporate Affairs Commission. This is very important because it shows you’re a legitimate business and confirms your authenticity.
8) Get license
Once you’re in the business of selling consumables, you have to make sure that you’re operating with a license from appropriate bodies like SON and NAFDAC.
It’s advisable to get these licenses on time in order to avoid getting shut-down or having problems with the authorities.
9) Set your prices and choose a suitable payment method
There’s always a standard set out for food prices around you, therefore, while starting out, you should model your prices around them in order to not charge too low or high.
You can also choose to get payment via transfer, get paid on delivery, or by using a payment service like Interswitch.
10) Go online
Since this is the main strategy behind your business model, the final step to going live is ensuring that you can be found online, especially when people search queries like “food near me.” Use tools like social media to your advantage and promote your business for more visibility.
You might want to invest in paid promotions on platforms like Instagram to reach a wide audience in and around you. Make sure you’re very visible online and people know what you do.
Set up a website to aid the ordering process for customers and make it very easy to use – you can outsource this to a professional.
Watch the video below to see more on how to start a food delivery business;
Conclusion
By applying all of the steps listed above, you can be sure to start a small, medium, or large scale food business of your choice if that’s what you’re looking to do.
There are some things that cannot be compromised upon in this industry, however;
- Your customers satisfaction is priority and you must always ensure that it remains the same
- Partner with the right delivery service to reduce time on delivery. This is crucial as it can make or mar your customer experience
- For cancellations, you have no choice but to make full refunds and possible discounts on the next orders if the error is yours.
If this looks like a dream business for you and you’re ready to walk the talk, then we’re ready too. We also provide finance for businesses like this to help them scale and advance, so don’t hesitate to visit us by clicking here today.
