With the festive season over, we are all back to reality. And with reality comes thoughts of what to achieve this year. These include how to start earning money, earn more money or leave our 9-5 jobs to start our own businesses. This is my list of Nigerian meals, snacks et al that are great for business. 10 of them you can do from home and only 3 you’ll need to get an outlet for. If you want to make money with Nigerian food, enjoy!
1. Nigerian Cake
We may all know how to bake a dense and moist Nigerian Cake but the design is where the money is. I cannot get enough of the creative cake designs I see online. So if you can learn how to do this, you will be a winner making cakes for income. Do you know that there are cakes that cost as much as Five Hundred Thousand Naira? Yes, that’s half a million Naira. But you know that the cake we are talking about here will definitely not look like akpu, right? 😀
When 2 people are given the same ingredients to bake a cake, the difference in the price of the finished product lies in the looks which means that what people pay for is the design and perfection. Sure it needs to taste great too. But your profit is determined by your creativity. With every John and Jane and their families making cakes these days, you need to be very good at this to stand out.
Once you can make the best cakes in Nigeria, the business will find you because your work will speak for itself and people will spread the word for you. And with social media, if you have good marketing skills, the sky is your limit! So go get your game on and open social media accounts to advertise your work and people will come. You can also send me a free cake and I will taste and advertise for you. *wink! *wink!
2. Nigerian Moi Moi
Nigerian Moi Moi is a snack and a meal at the same time. If you can set up shop in a place where lots of people come together; office complex, schools, churches etc, you will be making cool money once you can make delicious Nigerian Moi Moi. Team it with chilled drinks and you are sorted. You don’t even have to get a shop. Simply find events caterers, shops and supermarkets you can supply to on a daily basis and that’s even better. You save the money you should have used in renting the shop and you will not spend money on fuel or public transport travelling to and from your shop.
3. Akara
Believe it or not, a good number of people who are successful today were brought up by hardworking mothers who fried Akara balls (in the mornings and evenings) by road junctions. Some women saw all their kids through University with money made from selling Akara. So this business is a silent money maker.
I remember when I attended SSCE evening lessons in Enugu, there was this lady that fried big Akara balls a. k. a. Akara Ndi Ukwua with AVOP vegetable oil. Chai! The aroma from the Akara balls would not let us concentrate on the lectures. Usually, as soon as the first lesson was over, we would all troop to the woman’s stall and line up for the first batch. They are all gone as soon as she scoops them out of the hot oil. Some “bad” boys spent the whole 3 hours meant for the evening lessons at this lady’s stall eating Akara and toasting babes. Hehehe And what do all these patronage translate to? Money, money, money; from our pockets to the lady’s bank account.
Just make sure you know how to make the perfect Akara then find a busy road junction, a school or a business area and set up shop there. You do not have to sit outside, you can even fry it in a kitchen close to these areas then advertise and you will be the one saying, God I am tired of making money from this business!
4. Plantain chips
This is the most popular snack sold in Nigerian “go slows” (traffic). In Lagos Nigeria, it is normal to sit in traffic for 5 hours and what do we do to while away the time? We eat every edible thing that the hawkers shove in our faces. Tons of Plantain Chips are eaten in Lagos traffic every single day, not to mention the ones you can supply to supermarkets and shops. You seriously need to consider this business!
5. Jollof Rice, Fried Rice, Ofada Rice
I call these the 3 Musketeers of Nigerian parties. If you can prepare these 3 Nigerian Rice dishes to perfection, that’s a money-making events catering business right there. Throw in Nigerian Salad and you are booked till the end of next year. Gbam! One thing to know about this kind of business is that once you are good, business finds you. When people attend parties and taste a great meal, they are already thinking of how to contact the caterer for their own party and before they leave the venue they must collect the caterer’s contact information from the celebrant. And we all like to recommend great stuff so lots of people will even start recommending you before they have used your service because tasting your meal is enough to go by.
6. Nigerian Soups Service
Believe it or not, preparing Nigerian soups for other people for money is still a great money maker. You may think that with the internet overflowing with written recipes and videos of how to prepare these soups, everyone will be preparing these themselves. Wrong! You forget that some people are too busy to prepare these themselves. Just like any other skill, not everyone can master the art of cooking especially the challenging preparation of Nigerian soups. And there are still some people who do not want to learn how to prepare these so this means money for those who are ready to do it for a fee.
So make sure you know how to prepare these soups very well then prepare some, take great photos, head to social media to advertise your service and you are minted. Seriously!
7. Small Chops
In addition to the rice dishes mentioned above, small chops are the in-thing in catering. The great thing about small chops is that you don’t need a big party for a small chops business opportunity to come your way. People order small chops when they are having a small get together, a meeting, a picnic and so on. Even when people prepare the rice dishes for a party themselves, they often go to another person for the small chops because not everyone wants to get into all that stress of preparing small chops.
8. Nigerian Meat Pie
If I get 10 Naira for every email, comment or message I receive from someone that uses my Nigerian Meat Pie recipe to make and supply meat pies for money, I would be a millionaire by now. 😉 If you are in doubt about how much money can be made from selling meat pies, ask Mr Biggs! Meat Pie is their fastest selling snack. My Nigerian Meat Pie video has received more than 1 Million views on Youtube. What does that tell you about the popularity of this snack?
So if you are looking for a money making venture, hit the road and advertise your work to the shops and supermarkets near you and you will be overwhelmed with the orders coming in.
9. Nigerian Suya
Nigerian Suya Mallams have been making money from their Suya joints since time immemorial. And if you can open a Suya spot especially outside Nigeria, just name your price and Nigerians and non-Nigerians will pay. We are ever-ready to dole out some extra good-time cash for a taste of home. Once you get the Suya Pepper mix right, you are open for business. Go learn it.
10. Nigerian Suya Spice
I cannot talk about Nigerian Suya without talking about what makes those grilled fillets of beef what they are. When I released my recipe on How to make Suya Spice, I was inundated with requests from those who could not make the suya spice themselves. They wanted me to make it since I had access to the ingredients, bottle it and sell to them.
Some people are already using that recipe to make money so if you have been a LASTMA in this case, I am telling you now to take that recipe and run with it. This is especially the case if you live outside Nigeria and have a way to export the ingredients from Nigeria to where you live. Also make sure you have a heavy duty dry mill that you will use to grind this because your personal use dry mill will be fried if you attempt to use it to meet up with the orders you will be getting. Nigerians and non-Nigerians love Suya!
11. Nigerian Chin Chin
Some of you already know that I paid someone to teach me how to make the Nigerian Chin Chin whose recipe is on my website. How did I meet her? I went to visit my friend’s friend with my friend hehehe committeeoffriends.com … and I saw her there because she came to deliver the Chin Chin that my friend’s friend ordered. The Chin Chin was in cute transparent plastic bags tied with curly ribbons and I was eager to taste it. It tasted so good and as I had a conversation with her, I learnt that she makes them and delivers to her customers in their offices, shops and for parties. That was how I arranged for her to come and teach me how to make her own version of Chin Chin for a fee.
She told me that she was making good money from the business and she was no longer looking for a paid job. This happened about 5 years ago and from the way she was so focused on the goals of her business, it must have grown beyond imagination by now. I really hope it has.
12. Isi Ewu, Nkwobi, Pepper Soup
This is another way of telling you to open a restaurant and when you do, make sure you have these 3 and other Nigerian restaurant specials on your menu if you want your restaurant to be a “happening” Nigerian restaurant.
If you are in Nigeria, add a football match viewing centre by the side where you collect money for people to come and watch European league matches and you will be wondering why you have not started this business long ago. Yes, it is a brick and mortar business hence will require considerable capital to start but if managed well, you will not regret it.
13. Nigerian Okpa
I cannot end this list without talking about making money selling Okpa. I was in Lagos, Nigeria recently and one day I just craved correct Okpa Wawa. Unfortunately Nigerian fast food restaurants that now sell all the traditional orisirisi meals did not have it and I was like, this is a great business opportunity yet no one is doing it.
Okpa makes a great breakfast, lunch or dinner and on top of these, it is a great snack. Okpa with chilled Coke anyone? So you will not lack customers. With the number of Igbos in Lagos, non-Igbos who have tasted Okpa and love it and the millions of people that Okpa can be introduced to, someone who starts this business in Lagos will make lots of money before it catches on. And biko, I take God beg you, if you do start an Okpa business, leave Okpa the way it is. Please do not give in to the pressure to westernize Okpa bikooo. We love it the way it is. 😀
If you know an Okpa joint in Lagos, please let me know so that I will not die of Okpa craving next time I’m in Lagos. 😀
P.S. Please note that this is not a business advice. I do not have any experience doing any of the above for money but I have seen successful businesses that are doing some of these. This blog post came about as my way of answering some food business questions that I get through my website. Hopefully this will help someone fine tune their business plans for 2016 and beyond.
Since these businesses involve edibles, please look into the laws of the country where you live before opening shop. Most countries have very strict regulations when it comes to food. Make sure you meet all of those to avoid the wrath of the law. Good Luck!
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Hi Flo, I actually meant to mention to you that I started a Zobo business using your recipe with garlic and ginger. I have sold to friends and now a health shop through referals. Although I have tweaked the recipe a couple of times to see which works best. But I promise you most love it for the ginger and garlic which I sell sweetened or unsweetened as per the customers wishes. Even kids love my Zobo with garlic. So thank you very much. I intend to try out other drink recipes too.
You see? And I did not even mention drinks! That’s officially No. 14 Sabine! Well done for using the information available to you to impact people’s lives in a healthy way. Zobo is so good. When one has it in the fridge, no temptations to drink the carbonated drinks that are bad for our health.
And Zobo takes time and effort to make making it a great candidate for business as most people do not have time to make it themselves.
Well done Lady!
Very soon, I hope to hear that you have added cocktails to your line of products that is if you have not done so. I hear that’s a thing in Nigeria now. People now get events catering contracts just for drinks including cocktails. For cocktails try Tiger Nuts on the Rocks! hahaha totally made that up! I have also heard of Agbalumo/Udara cocktail. Please explore them and you will also get inspiration from your customers’ requests.
Although I’m not from Nigeria but I find it very easy to prepare these outlisted snacks. Thanks for sharing this information online I have maximised it, and it was very delicious especially my meatpie.
Thanks for sharing dis with us.Hope to try my hands on them soon.
Please do Hope. I look forward to your successes in the food business. Good luck!
You rock flo. I really admire your generosity in divulging useful information. Your chin chin recipe is superb. I get lots of praises because anyone who taste my chin chin always love it. Though I don’t commercializ. it.
You are awesome Debb! So glad that you are shining with that Chin Chin recipe. Your “free customers” are enjoying ooo, keep it up. 🙂
Am Alxo Gaining Alot Frm Diz Blog I Cnt Really Cook Bt I Tink Diz Blog Wil Help Me Alot Tankz For Giving People D Priviledge To Learn
You are welcome Lovelyn. 🙂
Hello Flo! I intend starting up an online store that delivers sauce…talking about laws, you mind sharing a link or giving hints on laws guiding edible ‘production’ in Nigeria or any bin Lagos precisely . Thank you
Helen one thing I know about packaged food production in Nigeria is that it must be approved by a body known as NAFDAC. I do not know the process but search for a NAFDAC office close to you and start from there. They will guide you through the process and eventually give you a NAFDAC number that will be stamped on each sauce label.
Good luck with your business!
Really love all your recipes… can’t wait to get my own copy of your cook book. Thank you
I’m glad to read that Cynthia! 🙂
I had a catering and bakery business years back in Lagos and it’s really a profitable business though it can be a bit hectic.
Jackie dear, a catering business is not an easy undertaking at all! I duff my hat for you o, you are a strong woman!
There’s money to be made in it for sure.
You are highly welcome to my corner. 🙂
Flo, you make my day each time I go through your posts. I really want to own a restaurant this year. I’d love a copy of your Recipe guide and other necessary advice. Will like to start up latest July. Lotta luv.
Nono.
Dear Nono! It warms my heart that I am contributing to your awesome days. Na God ooo. 🙂
Good luck in your restaurant opening. I believe that if we put our mind to anything, it must surely come to pass and with perseverance, it will be a success. I am not that knowledgeable in the business side of things (you probably know more than I do) but feel free to send me an email and I will do my best to answer any questions you may have.
I am not sure where you are in Nigeria so click here to see information on all the possible places you can purchase the cookbook from.
Hmmmmmmmm!!!!! Aunty Flo I can’t just thank you enough. I have been following your blog now for the past 2 years and I have tried out almost every recipe here. I mean it when I say almost. now my testimony is that, after my youth service I came back home, of course no job available yet! I then decided to open a small shop where I bake and sell snacks. meatpie, fishroll and cakes most especially. I started last year and to tell you the truth, the business has grown so big, I have gained so much popularity that now am not even interested in any government job. I sell an average of 5k snacks on daily basis! yes on daily basis except Sundays. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! u are doing a really great job here and God will bless you for blessing lives.
My dear Rebecca! I am happy that you jumped on the entrepreneurship train without wasting time and now you are years ahead doing this. I hope that more people will continue to go this route of creating a source of income for themselves doing what they know and love.
I love reading emails and comments from people telling me that they are no longer looking for a paid job. Who would want a paid job when you have all the freedom to run your own show? Especially now that your business must be running on autopilot after the first few years of learning the ropes. I am so happy for you! I am sure that by now you are an employer of labour sef. Keep it up dear. I am proud of you.
Thank you so much for sharing and may God continue to bless you and your business! 🙂
As usual, your generosity and kindness show in every blog posts. Thank you so much for encouraging readers like me.
Thank u so much Flo. This is the best post I have read today.
My head is already spinning with so many foodie ideas.
I am still schooling now and so I have financial and time constraints, but once I graduate, I’ll hang my certificate on the wall and it’ll be foodsssssssssss all the way! ??
Thank u so much for the tips and encouragement.
Thank u so much Flo. This is the best post I have read today.
My head is already spinning with so many foodie ideas.
I am still schooling now and so I have financial and time constraints, but once I graduate, I’ll hang my certificate on the wall and it’ll be foodsssssssssssss all the way! ??
Thank u so much for the tips and encouragement.
Will like to try the chin chin and meatpie out soon. Well don flo…..
Am your fansoooo,,,infact I luv wat uar doin here!!!! I would hv said I will like 2 get ur books but I prefer d video,,,,hw I wish can get a video copy of al,,,,,,,,am really following u up!! Nd uar helping me a lot,,,even in my schl,catering schl.b4 we do any practical in schl hv learn it already here,so all my studnt are always surprise thinking hv been 2 catering schl b4!!! Abt d video plssssss I will nid ur reply if is possible,Great jobs!!!
Hi Elizabeth, glad that you find the videos useful.
Yes, videos coming soon. 🙂 It will be announced here when ready.
Flo Flo Flo!!!
Ur wisdom has indeed flown. I love love love everything about ur blog. Am not really a business kinda person but I dabble a little. Learnt cakes on ur blog. Now every PTA at my kids school, my cupcakes,zobo & kunun aya are highly sort after. If I miss PTA,hmmm na war. Tnx 4 endearing cooking to us. It use 2 be a chore,now it’s a hobby.
Ps.: they pay me big for d snacks at d meetings so am also SILENTLY making bucks off it! Thanks dear. Love ya!
I love you too Fadilah! You must be fun to be around. 😉
Well done for using the information available to you to make people ask for more. Biko do not miss PTA meetings o, if some people faint because of lack of cakes, zobo and kunun aya, we will hold you responsible ooo! Na serious matter o. Can you imagine all the dreams some people will be having about eating and drinking these only for you not to show up?! hehehehe
Keep it up darling. 😉 Thanks for all the love. ♥ ♥ ♥
Hahahahaha. I tell u.now am trying to perfect d art of Nigerian meat pie. Will keep u posted. Much love & respect
CHIN CHIN SOUNDS BEST IDEA
I love your videos and will like to start a snack business. I have tried meatpie and doughnut but i couldn’t make profit from them following your recipe. Please could you advice me. Maybe there is something am not doing right. I heard some people coat their egg roll n buns n donut with bread crumbs. Is there any significant advantage of using bread crumbs. I hope to hear from u as am desperate to start something soon
Hi Jacinta,
For coating of egg rolls and buns with bread crumbs, this is my first time reading about that. One snack that is coated with bread crumbs is Scotch Egg. Are you sure it is not Scotch Eggs that they are coating with bread crumbs? And why would they add an extra ingredient that does nothing extra to egg rolls and buns? I will understand that extra ingredient and step if their customers are requesting for bread crumbs.
My meat pie recipe only shows how to make the snack. To sell meat pies for profit, you need to sit down and calculate the total amount of money you spent buying the ingredients, the cost of transportation to and from the market, the cost of your cooking gas used in baking them and your time and effort and make sure that the money you get from selling the meat pies in one batch is more than the money spent in making them. That way, you will have profit.
You may need to use a smaller cutter to make smaller, more affordable meat pies, that way, you will get more meat pies from the same quantities of ingredients. If there are enough people asking for supersize meat pies, start making those too. You can offer as many sizes as possible but make sure you sell each size for what it is worth to cover your spending with profit. You know in business, one has to be good in mathematics because there is constant calculation and recalculation going on. You also need mathematics to be able to adjust a recipe to suit your business. That recipe is for very rich, homemade Nigerian meat pies and I can guarantee you that those who make meat pies for profit do not make it as rich as those, even if they do, one with that size of meat pie in the recipe will sell for at least N500. So many business people have tricks they apply to their businesses so that they can still make profit. In those days, egg rolls used to contain one whole egg but these days, because of the rise in the cost of everything, one will be lucky to find a piece of egg albumen in an egg roll LOL. The meat pies sold in eateries have thinner crusts than the ones in my video so some business people can even get 20 meat pies from that 1 kg of flour if they roll out the dough a lot thinner. Will even get more when they use a smaller cutter. So my dear no one can do the calculations for you except you. You need to start thinking outside the box. Chat with people in the same business and learn what they do to keep making profit, OK? Once you know that you can make perfect meat pies, approach supermarkets, smaller shops, school canteens, office canteens etc in your area to get them to place orders with you.
I wish you Good Luck as you try again. 🙂
You are a darling. Just hearing from you has been reassuring. thanks a lot. I will get back to you when am able to solve d maths of my snack bussiness. Am skeptical about asking other snacks sellers cos i feel they wont tell me the truth but i will try my luck with some. Have a great day
Aunty Flo!!!Aunty Flo!!!! You are such a blessing ooooo. I have been out of job for over a year and some weeks back I got a proposal to partner with someone in starting up a business, all he wants is to invest his money and I am to do every other thing. I asked for permission to sell snacks for myself since cooking is my first love. I remembered you have posted something like this so I rushed here to read it thoroughly again??. I am looking at meatpie, sausage rolls and plantain chips. Thanks for these ideas and wish me luck.. Much love
Good luck dear Morenikemi!
You’ve got the passion/first love sorted, now go and conquer. ♥ ♥ ♥
Hi,just started thinking of starting a sweet potatoe chips business and i came across this post wow!you don’t have a post on it but I can use the plantain chips as a guide. my question is how can I slice large quantity or will i use the mandoline just wondering if there is an alternative. thanks a lot and may God continue to bless you
God bless you too Maryam. Starting with that hand slicer is the best option. Later, you can buy an industrial slicer as the demand increases.
Good luck!
Thanks a lot a about the sweet potatoes recipe I don’t mind oo winks!
Hi Flo,I hv been following u,u ar really doin a great job.pls I need ur help on dis cooking of soup for fee,how do I go abt it?pls enlighten me more
Funmi you need to simply start. Take nice photos of those dishes, calculate and come up with price lists for specific quantities of different soups and make a flyer (offline), distribute to your friends and give them more to distribute for you. For online, create social media accounts and post your photos, fill in the bio with your contacts and business don set be that. Share the link to your social media pages with your friends and tell them what you do. Everything should be geared towards advertising your business so that more people know about your business.
Hi flo, iv learnt a whole lot from this platform and sincerely wish to thank you for impacting a lot in the minds of people.you are amazing.how can i get a copy of your cookbook,i believe i would learn more form the book as well.Thanks
I’m glad you are learning a lot Peace. You are awesome. My cookbook is available on Amazon, Konga and in some Nigerian shops and outlets in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. Click here to visit a page where you will find every information about buying it somewhere close to you. Or copy this link and paste in your browser address bar: https://www.allnigerianrecipes.com/cookbook/
Nice work here,keep it up.pls I want start selling dough n pastries but I am confuse on how to start them especially d marketing area.please I would like to employ someone who is good at marketing maybe an ssce holder because I am also working .what do u think pls?
Thank you for sharing your ideas!
I graduated recently, and while waiting for service,I make and sell chin chin.I hope my business grows.
Good luck in your business Onyinyechi.
Thanks ma’am for all d lectures. Sincerely appreciate your good work and efforts.
You are welcome Kemisola. 🙂
Thank you.
Hi Flo, please I’ll like to have a kind of chit chat with you, I’m a guy, and a student I’m actually new to cooking stuffs but like what I’m seeing here
Please I’m looking forward to you mentoring me on it
Thanks
Hi, think i stumbled unto these at the right time.
Am starting a baking business from scratch in less than two weeks. Am therefore going through some vigorous online research to start on a good lane.
Thanks so much for this am gratefully glad!
I Would share my contact with you if you will. I would also ask so much questions… Na you go taya to answer. Lol.
For real i just need an ear receptive to my questions.
Thanks so much. I’ll be ‘gladder’ if you’re okay with my plea.
May God bless you Flo.