How To Start A Food Delivery Business From Home In Nigeria (Step By Step Guide)

How to Start a Food Delivery Business from Home in Nigeria: Guide to Starting a Successful Food Delivery Biz in Naija

Looking for a lucrative business you can start with small capital? This article is specially designed for you. Here, we’ll be showing you a comprehensive guide on how to start a food delivery business from home in Nigeria.

There are numerous businesses to start in Nigeria. However, most of these businesses require huge startup capital, which, most times, is not available. One key business that tends to be independent of this and can be started with a relatively small capital is food delivery business. Furthermore, food is a universal product that is consumed by people of all ages, genders, classes and races among others; hence, its market is practically everywhere.

If you have interest in this business, and you have what it takes, which is a standard culinary skill and a token (to start up), proceed with this article, as we bring you some vital tips and tricks to help you start a successful food delivery business in Nigeria.

How to Start a Food Delivery Business In Nigeria

The hustle and bustle of a city (like Lagos) has a telling effect on its inhabitants. Today. most inhabitants of metropolitan cities like Lagos, especially the working class, skip their breakfast and sometimes lunch. Worse still, the daily workload and extremely tight schedules in a conventional corporate setting today have further drawn people away from their kitchen. Ultimately, this affects the health and productivity of the working population.

This situation has created a huge vacuum of demand that needs to be filled, and the smart entrepreneurs, who are willing to take this burden (of preparing food) off the working class folks, are the winners. By preparing the food and having it delivered to various demand points, the workforce is getting fed and you (as a food delivery business owner) are making your money: win-win for everybody!.

The point here is, most working class individuals today generally depend on food from a third-party source, as they have little or no time to prepare it themselves. With this, the demand for ready-made food delivery is always on the rise, making the business one of the most lucrative small scale businesses to venture into in Nigeria.

One interesting thing about this business is that it can easily be set up from home; hence, you don’t need huge sum of money to acquire a business or shop space before preparing your food. With your kitchen in good shape, all you need is a good delivery system via cars, motorbikes, tricycles or wheelbarrow. In fact, you can even hand-deliver it in portable coolers.

To get a comprehensive guide on how to start a food delivery business from home in Nigeria, kindly check out the next section of this article and follow through with rapt attention.

How to Start a Food Delivery Business from Home in Nigeria

There are certain factors to consider, and steps to follow, if you want to start a successful food delivery business from home in Nigeria.

Food delivery business could be developed into a multi million Naira venture in Nigeria. With the rampaging issues of unfavourable working conditions, long working hours and unrealistic daily targets, an average worker in Nigeria finds himself/herself stuffed up, with no time to prepare quality food for herself/himself. In light of this, such worker would be willing to pay a fortune to gain access to quality home-made meal, in the midst of a rather enervating day at work.

Not to deviate too far from the point, let us take you through some of the key factors to consider and steps to follow in setting up a food delivery business from home in Nigeria.

• Determine your location/target market

Like most businesses, it is important to carry out a market survey of your desired location, and determine your target market. This way, you’d know the kind of food in demand and the set of people in the region.

For instance, if your target market is a school or sports centre, with a large concentration of youths, you might want to prepare more of snacks, junks and other fast foods. However, in areas with government institutions, business establishments and the likes, with a large concentration of middle-aged and high class individuals, special home-made delicacies would sell more.

In any case, when considering a location to start up a food delivery business, an urban – business concentrated – area is the most ideal for optimum productivity. This choice is better than a residential area, as people in their homes would prefer to prepare their own food themselves. Nevertheless, depending on the area and cash at hand, starting up in a residential location is not so bad an idea.

Furthermore, it is important to consider certain sociocultural aspects of a target location. Basically, issues like religion, economic condition and other cultural aspects should be considered. For instance, a place with large concentration of Muslims is obviously not ideal for the delivery of certain food products like bacon, pork and other kinds of products considered Haram (forbidden).

Bottom line;  determine a target location, and ensure you understand the needs of your target market before setting up a food delivery venture.

• Prepare a business plan

Food delivery business, like every other business, requires a business plan. This is one of the key attributes that determine the success of a business in the long run.

A business plan is a simple document, which contains information about your business and how you plan to start, sustain and grow the business. It basically covers every key aspect, from the most significant detail (like startup capital) to the least significant information (like grocery stock).

Also, your business plan should be tailored, in line with your target market and location. And your prospective competitors, in the same line of business, should also be duly acknowledged in the plan.

Typically, a standard business plan for a food delivery business should contain the following information among others:

• Brand name; create a catchy and unique brand name for your business. The business world today is all about branding.
• Desired location and target market.
• Type of food product(s); fast food, junks, home-delicacies etc.
• Delivery channel and cost.
• Startup capital; including how to acquire it (if not already in hand)
• Operational budget and cost (daily, week, monthly and yearly).
• Forecasted ROI (daily, weekly or monthly).
• Required manpower (depending on your desired business scale).
• Billing format; price per pack or price per distance.
• Expected growth rate.
• And more

Bottom line; how good your business plan is usually determines how successfully your business would be, and vice versa.

• Register your new business

Every new business in Nigeria is legally bound to obtain an operating permit from Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). Hence, it is important you obtain required license(s) and permit(s) from CAC and other relevant regulatory bodies in Nigeria.

If you are looking to go into the supply/delivery of packaged food products, you should apply for a NAFDAC registration number, to get your products certified safe for consumption. All these, of course, require money; but, in the log run, are worth every penny.

Bottom line; by getting your business registered/licensed, you’ve distinguished yourself from an average food seller. With this, you are able to charge more money for services rendered. And in the long run, you can easily expand your business as you grow your client base.

• Promote your new venture

One of the most challenging aspects (if not the most challenging) of a new business is how to get customers. And it is especially difficult when dealing with consumer goods like home-made food products.

As a new venture, you should harness every resource at your disposal to advertise and promote your goods. Basically, you can create and distribute flyers, reach out to friends and relatives (to help promote your new biz), advertise on social media, and approach organizations or establishments in your target location (if possible).

Typically, it takes a little while before getting a sizable customer-base, after which you can start earning significant income. Hence, it is recommended you start small, and expand as you grow your customer-base.

• Hire extra hands

As a startup, you should be able to handle the workload of preparing food at a small scale, and hand deliver them to all demand points. However, as you grow your business and expand your client base, you can hire extra hands to help with food preparation and more importantly, delivery.

In the delivery of food products, you might have to cover several kilometres per day, and this may not be cost-effective. The smart thing to do here is to get a vehicle and/or a delivery staff (two or more). This would ensure orders are delivered in quick time.

Also, you can get a kitchen assistant (one or two), to help you in the preparation of food. With this, you won’t become overwhelmed, and this would ensure continuous delivery of quality service to your customers.

What Do You Need to Start a Food Delivery Business?

Basically, this information should be covered in your business plan before setting up your business. And while the requirements to start a food delivery business vary across locations and scales, we’ll be listing out the basic ones in this section.

Some of the basic necessities to start a food delivery business in Nigeria include:

• A startup capital; 30,000 Naira to 200,000 Naira (depending on scale and location).
• Kitchen wares (utensils); cookers, pots, plates, take-away plates and spoons etc.
• Delivery vehicle; van, car, motorbike or tricycle.
• Grocery stock (regular supply).
• Labour cost (where applicable).
• Registration/license fees
• And more.

We wish you success in your new business ventures.

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