Ice block making business in Nigeria is one of the fastest growing ways to make money in the country. This business is relatively easy to join and very rewarding if you do everything right. Find out how to start an ice block business right now!
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1. What is ice block making?
The process of making ice blocks is appealingly simple: plastic containers, nylon bags, or metal cans are filled with water, dipped into the icing machine, and frozen at a very low temperature. The result is a water-filled shape that is called an ice block.
2. Why ice block making?
The reason why ice block business in Nigeria is thriving right now is simple: while regular people and business owners are determined to keep their food products and drinks cold, the power supply continues being extremely unstable.
The potential audience for your products is huge: from individual customers who want to keep their meals and drinks fresh, to street hawkers selling cold drinks and ice cream, to large business owners struggling to ensure proper storage conditions in their markets, shops, hotels, and restaurants.
3. Which equipment do you need?
Ice block making isn’t a technologically sophisticated business: you can start a small-scale business with a bare minimum of equipment:
- Ice block making machine in Nigeria
- Diesel power generator
- Constant source of clear water
- Packaging materials
The most expensive item on this list is, of course, the ice block making machine. The ice block making machine price in Nigeria depends on the size of the device. You can buy a small machine for ₦300,000, but large-scale industrial machines cost up to ₦2 million. It’s also possible to score a much lower ice block making machine price if you buy a used machine from Jiji!
4. How to start an ice block making business
If you’re ready to launch your own successful ice block making enterprise, here is a step-by-step guide on how to start.
- Choose your location: it needs to be a place with a lot of foot traffic, within close proximity of other large businesses, and in convenient location for delivering the goods to the customers.
- Create a business plan. Whether you do it on your own or hire someone to do it for you, a business plan will help you create an efficient business strategy and know exactly what your expenses and projected earnings will be.
- Get a supply of water. The quality of water you’re using for your business should be steadily high: people won’t return to buy more ice blocks from you if they’re not satisfied with the quality. You can get water from a borehole, or buy water from a third party supplier.
- Hire people. When your business is only starting out, you don’t need a big staff. Two machine operators, cashier, loader, and a delivery truck driver should be enough to get your business running for the first few months.
- Make yourself known. In this day and age, there are many ways for you to attract customers. The easiest thing you can do is word-of-mouth marketing: establish contacts with business owners, event planners, and caterers, and let your outstanding service quality speak for itself. You can also print out flyers, invest in visual advertising, or try promoting your business online.
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Africa In Demand Of Ice Blocks
Every business is successful only in case the product or service you provide is in demand. Thus, start with analyzing the factors that make ice blocks popular / not popular. A little hint: go with the first option, and this is why.
- Geography, climate, weather. Being the world’s hottest continent, Africa enjoys high temperatures and lots of sunlight. At the same time, those are the reasons of many troubles. In the conditions when water, especially cold water, can be hard to find, ice blocks can become a saving reserve.
- Convenience. Possessing proper equipment makes ice cubes easy to produce and store. For establishments like cafes and bars it is also time-saving: one ice block is much more convenient to use than preparing a bunch of small cubes in a freezer.
- Unstable electricity. While you are learning the basics or looking for ice cube making machine price in Nigeria, some are Googling generator prices. Poor electricity supply in Africa makes it complicated to store ice cubes or simply fresh clean cool water. Using ice blocks is much easier and effective.
- Partying. Bars, cafes, lounges, nightclubs, pubs, open-air activities, private parties, social events – every kind of partying and relaxation comes along with chilling drinks, both containing alcohol and alcohol-free. Urbanization and globalization only increases the scale and demand, especially when it comes to massive outdoor events, like weddings.
Different Forms Of Ice
Before you’ve started to look for the best block making machine price in Nigeria, hold on and make sure it is blocks you are going to focus on. Actually, frozen water can be produced and stored in a diversity of forms. The most common are the following.
- Ice cubes – small, used mostly for juices, sodas, and cocktails.
- Cracked ice – pieces that are smaller than cubes and melt fast, used in specific cocktails and dishes.
- Shaved ice – very thin, used for producing slurry cocktail.
- Ice ball – rare form borrowed from the Japanese, used for whisky and some other drinks.
- Block ice – a huge piece of ice that can become any of the mentioned above.
Buying Ice Making Machine
Ice block machine in Nigeria is much easier to find than ice. Just open Jiji.ng, type your request in search line, and you’ll see the full list of available equipment. Ice block making machine price will be a pleasant surprise.
Block making machine price list in Nigeria starts from N 350, and this is not a joke! Okay, such prices are rather exception, but an average machine will cost around N 200,000. There are five main factors that define the price, so pay attention to them before purchase:
- capacity (how many blocks are produced);
- brand (local or foreign, imported);
- freezing time (how much does it take to prepare the lot);
- compressors (the quantity);
- maintenance (difficulty and availability of details).
Calculations In A Nutshell
Expenses
- Generator – N 25,000.
- Ice block making machine – N 200,000.
- Electricity bills – depend on region and season.
- Packaging – negotiable.
Total: around N 300,000 in case you don’t hire staff to help. Depending on what you already possess and which market you want to cover, it may be possible to start with just N 60,000 – exactly the same amount you’ll earn weekly.
Profit
- N 150 per block.
- 150 blocks sold daily, around 1200 weekly.
- Margin – around N 60,000 in a week, N 240,000 monthly.
The calculations are very rough. It is assumed you have specially devoted location for placing equipment and have transport for delivery. Nevertheless, the income depends a lot on the competition in this niche in your area. One way or another, ice block production is business idea worth the support.
