Stories by Bimbola Oyesola
Have you thought how profitable producing potato chips can be? Just like plantain chips, potato chips is another snack you can start right in the corner of your home with little capital and better return on your investment.
Potatoes have become the all-time favourite snacks of people around the world today. Aside from that, it is also very helpful when it comes to cuisine because of its healthy properties.
Those looking for a venture that can pay their bills and still give them enough to put in their bank accounts, should consider producing potato chips as an easy way out of poverty and unemployment.
As a result of high rate of availability of potatoes in the country, you are never going to run out of raw material, hence you are sure to generate enough income that may also give you room for expansion into similar products.
Also, the requirement for setting up your own potato chips production business in Nigeria is not that difficult. The main raw material (sweet potato) needed is widely available in every part of the country.
According to experts, you can actually start with less than N50,000. This amount covers the cost of purchasing of raw potato tubers, vegetable oil, equipment and packaging materials. To be on your way production, below are basic requirements:
Business plan
The first thing you need to focus on is the business plan because it is the center point of your entire business venture. This will also serve as the guide for you to reach your goals. After you finish drafting it in a very professional manner, you must have taken a look at the other factors, which can make or break your business. If ever you need additional funding to finance the other expenses, you can also make use of the plan.
Capital
Capital requirement is minimal. You can get this from personal saving or from relatives for a start and increase as the business grows.
Equipment
Potato chips cutter or sharp table knife, big frying pan, portable electrical nylon sealing machine, gas burner or kerosene stove and weighing scale.
Material for production
Raw potatoes tubers, vegetable oil, table salt, sugar, plain packaging nylon or customised nylon and printed label.
Production process
Peel off the skin of the raw potatoes with a knife, wash the already peeled raw potatoes, cut or slice the already peeled potatoes into small chips using your kitchen knife or a potato cutter, add some quantity of table salt or sugar depending on what your customers will like, light your stove or gas burner, place your big frying pan and then pour in the vegetable oil to get hot, start putting some quantity of the sliced potatoes into the hot vegetable oil to fry till they become slightly golden brown before you strain them out and allow to cool.
Packaging
Now, you can start weighing the already fried potato chips in 50gs sizes and then pack into your customised nylon or plain nylon with printed labels and they are ready for the market.
Marketing
Publicity will increase your sales. You need to ensure potato chips quality. Cleanness and attractive packaging are also important. You can start making money instantly as you introduce your potato chips to friends and neighbors. You can introduce your products to the numerous markets, super stores and schools in your area for people to know your product.
Branding
It is important that you give your product an identity and that is why it is essential for you to register your product with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). On the label of your packaged potato chips, don’t forget to print your product name, email address and phone numbers for easy contact by those who will love to become distributors of your product.
Qualification
There is no need for any educational qualification, but skilled marketing and good quality machine are needed.
Potato chips production in Nigeria is indeed a very lucrative business. It is only when you venture into it and start enjoying the cool cash thus generated that you will realise it.
One advantage here is the fact that the food sector is always growing, so demand is always increasing, hence you can expect rapid growth.
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Ease of doing business: Mixed reactions trail CAC reform
…As agency demonstrates 24-hour company registration process
As the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) inches closer to meeting the Federal Government 60 days target of business registration to 48 hours, business lawyers have kicked against some parts of the reform.
This is even as the CAC has said that business owners in Nigeria can now conveniently register their businesses online within 24 hours.
At a CAC Customers’ Forum in Lagos organised in collaboration with the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), the lawyers who felt the new reform, which now allows individual business owners to register their businesses would send them out of business, expressed some reservation about the new reform.
They condemned part of the reform which supports in-house lawyers to validate the registration form, wondering why a regulator should be the one regulating what external lawyers should be doing. Some of the lawyers also condemned the bottleneck presently being experienced in the course of registration despite the ongoing reform. One of the lawyers at the forum, Alex Mouka, however, charged other lawyers to come together and articulate and align their thoughts and send it to the CAC and PEBEC.
Earlier in his address, the CAC Registrar General, Mr. Mahmud Bello, explained that a series of reforms have been implemented by the Commission this year to make it “quicker, cheaper and more convenient” for Nigerians to start businesses.
He said, “the CAC as an agency of government involved in the start up of business has strongly keyed into the vision of the Federal Government to make Nigeria a progressively easier place for businesses to start and thrive.”
“Our reforms are designed with the MSMEs in mind. For us, the Customer is King and must be treated with royalty.”
Highlight of the event was a live technical demonstration session by the Commission on its latest reforms such as the Document Upload Interface which enables e-submission of registration documents on the CAC Company Registration Portal, and the integration of the FIRS e-payment solution into the CAC portal to enable e-stamping. Participants were also given a walk-through of the Public Search Window and the Single Incorporation Form.
The CAC informed participants at the Forum that manual application and registration processes would be gradually phased out in the course of the year, starting with Lagos and Kano where all submissions must be done online from April 30th.
The Forum was highly interactive with Customers offering suggestions, asking questions and stating opinions which the CAC promised “will form the agenda for deliberation by Management to further improve service delivery.”
The Secretary to the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, said that the Council is committed to providing complete support to the CAC and all other MDAs implementing reforms to actualise the FG’s mandate of making businesses work in Nigeria.
She said that Nigerians would be carried along in the process as PEBEC is mindful of the fact that the success of its reforms will depend on the testimonials of customers like those gathered at the CAC Forum.
Dr. Oduwole also noted that PEBEC’s other target of moving Nigeria 20 places upward in the World Bank’s Doing Business Rankings by October cannot be actualised if stakeholders do not adopt and utilise the completed reforms.