In this 21st century, there is no business that won’t be profitable if you know the secret and how to run it very well; that is why we have decided to drop the steps and tips on the garri distribution business in Nigeria today.
Garri is the most common food in Africa, and many African countries see garri as one of their principal meal, so the demand will be very high in most parts of Nigeria and Africa at large.
Many African countries depend on garri importation to fill up their test of garri because their soil is not suitable enough for garri plantation and cultivation.
Buying garri in Nigeria is one of the basic needs of many families. Many families can’t go a week without testing garri, and many have made garri the primary food they consume in their houses and fast food joint.
The question stands to be how you can utilize this basic need and start a garri distribution business.
In this article, we will be guiding you on the complete steps to take so you can start and run a garri distribution business without any prior knowledge of how it is done nor how to get everything you need to start the business.
Many problems we face in business are not because we do not have the abilities to run a business or we do not have the total capital to start the business.
Most times, the capital will be the motivation, but the knowledge and information needed to run the business successfully won’t be there, which is why most business terms fall after a while or some years.
To run a garri distribution business, you need to take note of many things you need to avoid, so the proper steps you need to follow to run your own garri distribution business very well.
How To Start Garri Business In Nigeria
Many of us wish to start our own garri business in Nigeria as part of our side business or main business. Before doing that, there are things we have to consider and put in place before proceeding, and we may have had a previous experience with our parents in the remote area and how they run their business.
Yes, we can learn something from them, but to modernize our garri business in this 21st century, we should consider that some other actions are needed to get a befitting result as all of us desire.
Now consider taking these straightforward steps listed below to get on with your garri business in Nigeria.
- A mechanized automated frying machine
- Garri sieving machine
- Casava Piling machine
- Bucket for fermentation
- Scale machine
- Generator or Sollar power for low cost
- Bags for garri packaging
- Bag sealer
- Garri pressing machine
- An automobile for garri distribution
These things listed above are what you need to be able to run a garri business to the core, gone are those days where you are tasked to do a lot of work, these days you only need a machine that will do most of the work for you, you have to control it with the handle or computer.
This will make your garri business efficient and easy to handle; you can equally be producing your garri in large quantity compared to what your competitor might be building, which gives a more sell advantage.
When starting a garri business, one thing we need is the raw material. In this case, cassava is a seasonal plant that is not always readily available when needed, so what is the solution to that.
Suppose you have been to remote places in Nigeria, as some villages in the delta state where the people mainly deal with garri.
In that case, you will notice that it is not much of a problem to them as they have their way of making this cassava available to keep their garri business supply steady.
We did some study with them in which we spent up to a month trying to figure out how they could keep up with the steady production of cassava.
We found out that this person has extensive farmland that they have divided into seasons; they have mapped out a piece of land to make their cassava plants at every given time, which requires lots of work and dedication.
This strategy helps them keep up with the demand in the garri business and also helps them balance the gap between demand and supply.
To start your own garri business, you need to find a way to balance your demand and the supply you give if you wish to stay on top of the garri business for as long as you want. It would be best if you got ready some tools as listed below.
- Casava
- Farmland for cassava
- Cassava grater
- Casava fryer
- Suitable place to fry
After getting all these things ready for your garri business, now it’s time to go into the main deal to start the business going.
1. Get ready your garri business Capital
Like every other business, in the garri production business, you also need capital to start because you will need to purchase some things for your business to go successfully.
If you have saved up some money for the business and can purchase fryers, bags, and printing on the bag so your business will look professional, you will need to get a traditional cooking stand with enough firewood.
If you have saved a lot of money and would love to start your garri business in a big way, then you will need to go with getting a garri sieving and garri frying machine which will cost you about 600,000 naira to buy.
You need farmland where you will be planting your cassava, or you can choose to import them from the villages like Delta and Abia where they have good soil that grows healthy cassava.
2. Process your garri
When I was younger, my mom will always take me to her farm where she has planted all sorts of things but the main one is cassava.
We till the ground to get the cassava, we wash the cassava and then take it to the engine to get it ground then we bag the grounded casava that comes in a liquid form to get rid of the water then we bag it and let it out to dry.
This is the same procedure you will use in getting your cassava ready for your garri business, you can follow the steps below to get started with it.
- Get your cassava and remove the shell
- Wash it and take it to the engine for proposal grinding
- Bag the cassava and set a heavy object on it so it will help get rid of the water inside the casava
- Then after 2 days or a day depending on how fats the water removal process takes
- Get your dried cassava and filter out the unwanted parts
- Now get your fryer and start doing the frying
- You can choose to go with the traditional way which is using the firewood as a means of generating heat
- You can get a gari frying machine which is sold at about 300,000 nairas in the market and get a faster and easy result.
- Then after frying, you can now get in with other things needed to get it going.
3. Get a plant for garri planting and processing
Some places are better at producing cassava than others which is why they are mostly been done in remote areas where cassava has enough space and a fertile ground to grow.
You can choose to purchase enough farmland that will be edited for the amount of space you need, you should get farmland in a location that has enough rainfall because cassava needs lots of rain to be able to grow very well.
You will also need people that supply cassava sticks for growing your cassava, this thing requires time and energy to get done and you must give yourself time so that you will be able to master every process needed to run a successful garri business.
Processing Cassava
Just as we have mentioned above, you will need to get the cassava and remove the shell from the main cassava, then you will not wash the cassava and take it to the engine where it will be ground.
- After grinding, you bag the watery cassava and place it in a very neat place and a place that can channel the wastewater out because of the stinks it produces.
- Leave out for for a day or two depending on how fast it dries, after it , must have tried, you can now take it to your sieving matching or use the traditional sieve to remove the unwanted parts of the garri.
- Then you take it to your fryer be it the machine type or traditional type to get your garri ready for consumption.
Packaging Garri
After you must have passed through all those processes, it is now time to package the garri that you will be taking to the market to supply to those that need it.
You will need to first have your business name, if you continue reading you will learn how to create a business name for your garri business.
You will learn how to register your garri business and also how to get everything ready for your garri business.
You will also need to print your logo and business address, office, phone number and customer service on the bag so others can easily reach you and in that way expound your business.
4. Get a business plan for your garri Processing business
Just as you have a business plan for all other businesses, so as you have to get a garri processing business plan to enable you to excel in the business you have chosen to do.
I believe we have so many ways we have seen other garri distribution businesses flourish and we want to take that exact steps that person have taking to enable them to do well in that business.
Sometimes what we need is a business plan to enable us to do well in that particular field of business, you can source your business plan from a professional or you graft out yours, you just need to define your aim of starting the garri business then put your goals and the area you want to concentrate your supplies.
5. Learn how to distribute your garri business
Just like every other business, there are things you need to put in place to run garri distribution business successfully, you shouldn’t make the mistake of not getting the needed Tools to run garri distribution business.
1. You need to make up your mind
Garri distribution business may sometimes turn stressful because you need to go places to find the best garri out of others so that your customers will be satisfied with your services. No one wants to buy something they stand chances of not selling due to the goods not being up to standard.
3. Get Available Means Of Transportation
Let us assume you go to somewhere like abakiliki to buy your garri, you will need a means of transportation to get your purchased goods to your destination.
If you have enough money you can buy a vehicle, it must not be a fine car, it may be a minibus or normal bus that will cost you just N200,000 to N300,000 that is if you have the money but if you do not you can always make good arrangement for that.
6. Start distributing to buyers in Starting Abuja
Starting garri business in Abuja is just like starting a business in another developed area, you just have to follow the basic steps of starting any other business in Nigeria.
Garri business in Abuja have been lacking in many aspects because most people are into government work and other white cola jobs where the production area I slacking a lot.
You should find a place to be buying your garri in Abuja, then get a transportation means of getting your goods, you can store your garri in a cool dry place in which if properly sored can last up to 5 months without getting spoiled or changing its original test.
To start garri business in Abuja you should follow the below steps but this time go into the rural areas of Abuja and look for those that produce it in large quantities, make a business deal with them, and make sure it is sold to you at a price that after selling you will make extra gain from it.
How To Start Garri Distribution Business
Starting a garri distribution business may not be as easy or hard as you see it to be but the truth remains that you will always make it big if you stick t around to the end of this very article.
I am someone that has several experiences in many businesses because of my involvement in them, currently, I have a few businesses set up for myself while I handle most of them, and I employ others to help me out while I am engaged in other business of mine and at the same time employing them.
Garri distribution business is a business a very close friend of mine is involved in and I can say it’s going very well, sometimes I do seat with him to have a short conversation about the way his business is being run and managed.
In this series of conversations I have gathered throughout this period of years, the strategy he put in is very unique and cool and that same strategy is what we will be looking at in this very guide today so that you can be among those successful young men and women into garri distribution business.
1. Figure Out If you Want To Start Garri Distribution Business
When we are desperate to make money or earn a living, there are some decisions we may take that may not be very suitable for us, money only doesn’t give you pleasure, the pleasures come when you love what you are doing, you do it very well and do it with pleasure.
Many other businesses have entered them because they were desperate to make the money, in the end, they may end up not making the money while the sacrifices are for nothing.
Make sure you want to do this and find ways to enjoy what you do because, in the long run, it will help you move faster than average.
Studies have found that people who have pleasure in what they do, will always do it way better than those that are just doing it for doing sake. it is your business, you are investing money and time into it, make sure it is worth it.
2. Draw Out Plan For Your Garri Distribution Business
The first step to make at the beginning of any business is to map out plans on how you intend to run the business.
Draw out what you planned to achieve in the first year of running your business and how you will achieve that, and be realistic in setting your goals.
Many people when they do not achieve their goals, start to feel somehow, they start feeling as if they are failures without examining if the goals they have not achieved were not realistic.
Make sure you map out good plans if possible involve family members and friends that you have experience in business plans so they can help you set your plans.
Be sure not to involve the wrong people so that you will not have setbacks in your business, only contact trusted persons in your business affairs
3. Startup Fund For Your Garri Distribution Business
No business will not require a startup fund. Make plans on how much you want to start your business with because this is so critical, your business success depends on it so do not make the mistake people make while venturing into new businesses.
Let’s say you have planned to start your garri distribution business with the sum of N300,000 as capital, and a bag of garri cost N12,000, estimate how many bags that amount can buy you and estimate how much extra you will be paying for them.
Estimate how much the transportation will cost you to covey it to your destination, let’s say it will cost you N20,000 to carry it down to your destination, add those costs to the total of the amount you have budgeted.
After masking all this estimate, bring out your damages budget encase something goes wrong because you never can tell if everything will go as planned.
4. Figure Out Mode Of Advert For Your Garri Distribution Business
Getting customers to buy your goods is the dream of every business owner, make sure to find one or two ways you will do this promotion whether online or offline.
In today’s world, social media have proven to be one heck of a way to make sales and gather customers.
Use Facebook and Google to gather customers for your garri distribution business, it will go a long way to help you out in your garri business.
Doing this is very simple as an ABCD if you do not have any knowledge of running Facebook and Google ads, contact people that specialize in it so they can help you run it smoothly.
5. Sell Cheaper Than Others
This may sound funny, but when starting your business, have it in mind that some of the customers that will be coming for your services are people that have been buying from other people that came before you.
To take that customer from those people, offer a special kind of service to them, sell cheaper than they have been sold to and make sure to give them the same quality of garri.
Doing this will help get customers and grow your garri distribution business to a height that you may never imagine.
6. Do Promo and Offer Special Services
One way to catch people’s attention is the kind of services you offer, remember people have been buying from others so what makes you stand out from the crowd? The promo and special services you offer will go a long way in making your turn of money and customers. You can offer special services such as:
- Free delivery if the customer is buying in bulk.
- Discount if the customer is a frequent buyer.
- Gifts like books and t-shirts.
- Damage and repair services.
- Online orders
This will help you in the long to make new customers because you are offering something many have neglected in that field of business.
7. Select Location For Your Garri Distribution Business
Select a location where you can set your office so that people can easily visit to check out your goods, this should a spacious wale house so that when you get your goods, you can store them there till the day of distribution.
Some of your goods will not be sold out the same day it was purchased so make room for storage so that you won’t be unfortunate when some of those that have booked your goods do not comply to come to pick them up the same day.
Your office or whale house should be close to a big market where you know garri sellers are in large so that distribution of your goods will be easy for you. This will help you make more customers because they can always make orders whenever they run short of supplies.
8. Get Big Supplier Contact For Your Garri Distribution Business
You shouldn’t be short of supply so that your buyers will not be disappointed, there is an extent you will be running low on supply your buyers will not have trust in you.
Having contact with big suppliers will help you get in contact with them whenever you need a new supply.
9. Choose a Name For Your Garri Distribution Business
you should choose a name for your garri distribution business, this gives your business identity so that people can easily recognize you and your business, the name you chose should be easy to remember and should alose have the keyword of the services you offer.
Also, get a business card that has all the kinds of services you offer plus your phone number, this will help give you an easy way of getting contacted by people that need your supplies,
10. Register Your Garri Distribution Business
Businesses these days need registration to easily get the trust of people, it will also get the government out your back, make sure you register your business because that displays your seriousness in building that very business.
11. Create a Website For Your Garri Distribution Business
Having a website for your business gives you good authority over others, you will be needing a website to make your business very unique to people.
Contact web developers to design your website, you can contact us to do the job for you if you will needing one.
12. Send Out Broadcast To Customers
You should always send out a broadcast to customers when you have new goods to sell, it will help them get updates and know when to come for new supplies.
Garri Buying and Selling business
Many may choose to buy and sell garri instead of the normal production and distribution processes that are more stressful.
If you wish to start garri buying and selling business then this section will do a great justice as we will give you step by step format on how to get that done without much stress.
You will succeed in garri buying and selling business if you buy cheap and sell high, for example, let’s assume that you bought a bag of garri in the amount of N10,000, transport it to your location with N200 as a transportation fee and house it for N20 per day in your shop or storeroom.
After calculating your expense, you will realise that you have spent 10,220 on the garri then you can determine how much profit will suit that particular bag of garri.
You may decide to sell it for N15,000 pocketing a profit of N4780 which is something to hold on to, when you do your calculations that way, you will realise that you will be sure to make some profit off your garri buying and selling business.
Getting Started With Garri Buying and Selling Business
There are some key steps to take while getting started with your garri buying selling business in this new age, gone are those days where businesses fell because of lack of information.
My personal Experience With Garri Buying and Selling Business
I took some months off to do research on how best garri buying and selling can profit me, my plan was to look for a way to buy at a cheaper price and then sell them for a high price which is exactly what I did. I visited markets and made an enquiry on where to buy them cheap and sale them high.
I was giving some directions and contacts of people that do sell them for a cheaper price, but I noticed that those claiming the sale at a cheaper price are not selling the price I have calculated it to be worth and based on the profit I want to make, it will be really hard for me to make some profit.
So I had to choose the best option that I had, bought some bags and now place advertisements using Facebook and Instagram I also did a short video on TikTok just to promote the business.
I was selling cheaper than those in the market so it was easy for me to sell them, I made a profit but was not much. After the sale, I have to ask customers for a review and many of them said the garri was not really prepared well which gave me another task to fix.
I had to visit remote areas where those are is processed and buy from them directly, this garri I ought from these people was very good and had good taste also, they even sold out cheaper for me that what I bought previously, I made lots profit and even satisfy my buyers.
To start buying and selling garri, you need to follow the steps that are listed below which is the option that gave me the best result.
- Go buy garri from remote areas, but make sure you keep your tracking on and make sure people around you like friends and family knows the business you want to go into
- Taste the garri you want to be sure it will really satisfy your buyers
- Buy the garri and transport them to your destination
- Bag the garri and package it well for a professional look
- Print your contacts on the garri bag so other people can contact you
- Calculate your expenses for both transportation, food, preservation and housing included
- Sell cheaper than those selling in the market for quick sale
- Take good photos of your products
- Use social media to promote your business.
Following the easy steps above will give you the best outcome according to my personal experience, others may have another opinion. It will not be harmful to seek opinions from others and make your choice on which one to go for combine both for more satisfying results.
What Is Garri Distribution Business
I believe many of us that consume garri know that garri is one of those food items sold in the market, many of those sellers do not have single farmland where they plant, harvest, and process the finished goods, they depend on distributors like you would soon be to supply them the process goods so the can now sell to consumers.
The process of supplying these sellers the bags of Garri gotten from those that process the casava turning it into consumable garri are the people called garri distributors.
Garri distributors make their money by buying in large quantities from those that process the garri then carry the bought goods to those men and women in the market and sell to them at a higher price after including the cost of transporting the goods from that place (mostly remote area) to the market in town.
The profit made from garri distribution business is very huge because garri have no remain when it comes to its distribution, everything is sold both the garri and the bags used in conveying it to its destination.
How To Market Garri In Nigeria
To market garri in Nigeria, there are some steps one must follow to be successful in it, you need to understand the concept and the need of people coupled with how they want to be served.
How To Process White Garri
The reason why we have white is just because of one thing. If you want garri to be white, do not add red oil to it while in the process of making it.
Many people prefer white garri to yellow on the belief it has a natural test that is looked out for in garri and it hold more nourishment than the yellow ones.
As much as I agree with them I still believe that all garri be it white or yellow hold the same amount what ever nourishment garri holds.
How To Process Yellow Garri
To process yellow garri, you need to include red oil while making. It gives some special test to the garri which is why people love it and prefer it to white garri.
There is no special ingredient added to yellow garri than the red oil mixed with the casava doing the processing stage. You should measure the quantity of the oil you will be adding so you won’t ruin the test.
Bottom Line
You should also put your business in prayer so that it will flow very well, follow all the steps we have listed here in this article, it will help you grow very well.
Your garri distribution business will be a very successful one, make sure to drop your thoughts and more suggestions to us.
