Stories by Bimbola Oyesola
Grocery stores are the small stores where you can buy food items and others like beverages, wines or other special items mainly located in neighbourhoods or small communities. It is one store that a community cannot afford not to have as it is quite handy to meet the residents’ basic needs. They are extremely useful. So useful that life could be miserable in a neighbourhood where there is none.
So an entrepreneur can actually make it easily investing in this business, most especially those living in a community that is quite far to the city centre. The stores are so convenient as people in the neighbourhood can practically get all they need with less stress. There are different types, one can get the one that specialises only in food items, and one can also run a full provision store that will have all products.
Grocery store makes shopping so convenient in the neighbourhood and afford the entrepreneur to make plenty of money at the same time. The return on investment is very huge as one can also sell items in wholesale which would make it easy to sell fast and recoup money invested within shortest period.
Provision items are the fastest selling in any Nigerian market. Like food stuff business, It is a business that has no seasonal boundary, it sells all year round, money or no money, strike or no strike. That is why the business is considered very viable because whatever amount you make daily as profit may likely be constant all year round or even increase.
However to succeed in the business, the points below are quite important:
Location
Rent a shop in good location. Any place people are living is a good location, especially a neighborhood setting. The size of shop you rent depends on the amount of money in your hands and how big you wants to start. Be choosy about the shop and try to get decent one in a strategic location.
Shops are not too costly in neighbourhoods. If you have your own house, some people may consider starting from there by building shops right in front of the house. These may also help to save cost, but for security reason it may not be advisable to have shops in front of a residential house. Having paid for the shop, you need to furnish it to taste. Furnishing includes:
Floor tiles
In most cases, the floor of the shop may not be tiled, you need to fix tiles for some reasons (1) To beautify the shop and add more glamor (2) To prevent ants and insects from digging holes from the ground and invading your shop. Insects can destroy most of your items such as sugar, biscuits, beverages, etc..
Install Store Shelf
There are different types of store shelf, some are made of woods, other are made of aluminum, while some are made of iron. The wooden is the preferred and the most commonly used. And you have different types of wooden shelf as well, some are made decently with polished materials while other are hurriedly done. This depends on your tastes.
Fix tables
Probably one or two tables may be okay depending on the size of your shop. The most important is the cashier’s table, you may do additional one or two tables for product display.
Painting
Painting is one of those important thing you need to do and this must be done with high quality paint. When a shop is well painted and floor tiles fixed, it helps prevent ants, insects, and rat from invading the store.
Lights
Lighting is very essential in a business premises. Besides the fact that it will illuminate the shop to let the customers see what you have, it also helps you quickly to see where the goods are at night and quickly reach out for them. It equally draws attention to your shop as well as serves as security as you and your neighbours would be able to see movement of people around the store.
Air conditioner
Apart from your personal comfort and convenience, air conditioner helps preserve your goods and keep some unwanted intruders away. Customers are more at peace shopping in a grocery shop that is made conducive with AC. Therefore, try and install at least one.
Refrigerators
Refrigerator is a must in a grocery shop to keep your soft drinks and juices cool. These days, no one buys drinks and juices that are not cold. If you hope to sell drinks, juices, bottled and pure water, then refrigerator is a must.
Goods
When everything is in place, the next and final step is to proceed to the market and buy your goods. The wholesale prices are fixed in any place where the grocery items are sold in wholesale, though some dealers sells some items slightly higher or lower, the prices are relatively the same.
You can get the provision wholesalers in most major markets in Nigeria. After you have established your shop, you will be getting supply from manufacturers of some goods who usually go from streets to streets supplying shops. You can also get to be a distributor for some companies, whom you would be taking goods directly from at discounted rates. These would enable you to sell cheaper and sell better with more opportunity to gain better profit.
Register your business
Though it is a neighbourhood business, but it is good if your can register your business with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). This would give your business the required identity, and as you will be dealing with companies later, the registration will come handy. It is also important for you to have all the necessary permits from the local authorities, so that you can run your business without any disturbance.
Records
You also need to keep proper records of your sales. If you actually want to run a profitable business, you must keep proper record of your sales, expenditures and make sure you separate the business from your individual expenses. If you need to hire a staff, then you must be sure to keep tracks of the goods in your store through proper accounting.
Marketing
It is a neighbourhood store, so you don’t really need much in the area of advertising, but you can do one on one publicity, by informing your neighbours about your stocks. Then at the initial stage, you can do some fliers and distribute it within the neighbourhoods to create the initial awareness for your store.