There are businesses in Nigeria that don't carry much fanfare but are very profitable. You might not hear people talk about it every day, and you might not see a lot of people in such businesses. The few people doing the business are steadily cashing out on a daily basis. One of such businesses is a "food processing mill." A food processing mill undertakes the task of grinding and drying food items. Some people, like babies, don't eat food whole; the cereals eaten by babies and some other people have to be ground into powder, and that is where a food processing mill comes into the picture. Also, some food items have to be dried for further processing or outright consumption, and that can be done easily by a food processing mill.
Like I said at the start, so many people don't tend to put this business in when they are listing businesses, but having been close to people that run the business, I can categorically say that the business is very lucrative. In Nigeria, the vast majority of people don't have electric blenders to process food. And even those that have might not be able to make use of it when needed because of the erratic power situation in the country. Also, there are huge limitations to what an electrical blender can grind. An electrical blender can't be used to grind coconut or dry grains. That's where the business opportunity in a food processing mill lies.
To set up a food processing mill, it is important for a person to intern in one before embarking on starting his or her own. This would give the person firsthand knowledge of the workings and operations of the machines and arm him or her with basic troubleshooting skills necessary for the business. After the training, you are to decide where your mill will be sited. A food processing mill can be located anywhere. You can set up the mill in your backyard, or you could rent a shop for it. If you can get a space in any open market to site your mill, that would be very good. If not the market, it just has to be located in a lively residential area. The next thing to do after you have gotten a location for your food processing mill is to get equipment.
To start at the basic level, you would need a hammer mill and a press. This is because the two major processing operations brought by the locals to the mill are basically grinding and drying. You can start with just one of each machine. A 220V hammer mill costs NGN180,000 (approximately $400), and the press is valued at NGN150 (approximately $315). After you have gotten the machines, your processing mill is set to start. Just set up a signpost that indicates the availability of a mill, and people would start bringing their food items to be either ground or dried. The key to success in this business is consistency. The mill has to be open during business hours. It is important to know that a food processing mill opens quite early. From 4 a.m. on, people that do commercial sales of foods and snack drinks are up looking for places to grind their food items. The highest revenue is gotten between the hours of 4 a.m. and 9 a.m. A food processing mill can be owned and operated either by a man or a woman. It is a business that doesn't require lots of space, and it can even be set up in the backyard. Patronage is high as long as you stay in the business for a long time, and it is highly profitable.
Like I said at the start, so many people don't tend to put this business in when they are listing businesses, but having been close to people that run the business, I can categorically say that the business is very lucrative. In Nigeria, the vast majority of people don't have electric blenders to process food. And even those that have might not be able to make use of it when needed because of the erratic power situation in the country. Also, there are huge limitations to what an electrical blender can grind. An electrical blender can't be used to grind coconut or dry grains. That's where the business opportunity in a food processing mill lies.
To set up a food processing mill, it is important for a person to intern in one before embarking on starting his or her own. This would give the person firsthand knowledge of the workings and operations of the machines and arm him or her with basic troubleshooting skills necessary for the business. After the training, you are to decide where your mill will be sited. A food processing mill can be located anywhere. You can set up the mill in your backyard, or you could rent a shop for it. If you can get a space in any open market to site your mill, that would be very good. If not the market, it just has to be located in a lively residential area. The next thing to do after you have gotten a location for your food processing mill is to get equipment.
To start at the basic level, you would need a hammer mill and a press. This is because the two major processing operations brought by the locals to the mill are basically grinding and drying. You can start with just one of each machine. A 220V hammer mill costs NGN180,000 (approximately $400), and the press is valued at NGN150 (approximately $315). After you have gotten the machines, your processing mill is set to start. Just set up a signpost that indicates the availability of a mill, and people would start bringing their food items to be either ground or dried. The key to success in this business is consistency. The mill has to be open during business hours. It is important to know that a food processing mill opens quite early. From 4 a.m. on, people that do commercial sales of foods and snack drinks are up looking for places to grind their food items. The highest revenue is gotten between the hours of 4 a.m. and 9 a.m. A food processing mill can be owned and operated either by a man or a woman. It is a business that doesn't require lots of space, and it can even be set up in the backyard. Patronage is high as long as you stay in the business for a long time, and it is highly profitable.
