Someone once said that food business is blood money. This is not literal, but an emphasis on the fact that food business is a lucrative business. To a great extent, it meets the daily needs of people. One of the aspects of food business is a bakery. It involves the baking of cakes and confectionaries.
You can agree with me that despite the harsh economy, people still celebrate birthdays with cakes, and always get to eat snacks. This means that the business is here to stay and those involved in it will keep making a profit.
Some people might be discouraged from starting a bakery business because they do not have culinary skills or didn’t go to such schools. But there is no end to knowledge, is there? Of course not. You can learn anything you want to these days. YouTube is a life saver. You can watch videos on literally anything you want. if you want to go more professional, you can take courses on Udemy, SkillShare, and other platforms that offer courses. So, you really don’t have any excuse to not start a bakery business, if that is what you desire.
In this article, I will be breaking down some tips on how you can start a bakery/pastries business in Nigeria.
Decide on what you want to bake
The decision on what you want to bake is the first thing to make. This is because there are different types of bakeries. Some specialize in bread and biscuits, others in cakes, while others are pastries like egg rolls, doughnuts, meat pie, etc. So, you will need to know exactly what you want to focus on.
It will give you the direction you need and inform your choices on other things you need for the business.
Draft a business plan
So, you know what kind of bakery business you want to run, the next step is to draft a business plan. I will emphasise this step because it is from here that you draw everything you need to start and scale. It is typically the framework of your business; what your business is and how you should go about it. Your business plan should include an executive summary, industry analysis, SWOT analysis, financial projections, etc. Get your business plan in place. If you are not skilled in writing a good one, you could hire a professional to help you out, who could also give you business advice.
Rent a space
This step is not compulsory, especially if you are starting small. You can comfortably run the business in your house. However, if you need something more professional, conducive and spacious, it will be a good idea to get a space. Critically survey your locations of interest and identify the one that resonates with your business and has the good conditions to make your business prosper. Since it is a food business, hygiene is paramount. Choose a location that is neat and healthy.it should also be made easily accessible to your customers, as no one will want to cross hurdles in order to patronize you. No matter how good you are, they will seek another option.
Purchase equipment
Baking requires some necessary equipment to aid the process. Some of them include; an oven, refrigerator, mixer, bakeware, dough proofer, baking sheets, etc.
You will also need to get baking ingredients in bulk, as you will not have to rush out to the market every single time you want to bake. This equipment should be well-stocked in your bakery.
Get licenses
This is a crucial thing to do. In Nigeria, you should register with the CAC, to validate your business. If you will be going large scale, it is even the more reason to get licensed. Also, food business requires NAFDAC licensing to ensure you are producing safe and healthy pastries.
Market your business
With the above steps, you are ready to launch your business. However, it is not enough to open your bakery every day and just sit there until a customer comes, you will have to market your business. For your business to grow, it needs to get the attention of as many people as possible. Thank God for social media. It is a solid way to market your business. Put your products out there and make your page as engaging as you can. If you are buoyant enough, you can have a marketing budget to run ads and work on other social media marketing schemes.
As a bakery business owner, you will also need the help of others. This means you will have to hire and train workers. It is better to hire more people with prior experience than novices so that you can maintain the balance of training and quality.
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