Dear Bernard,
For the water bottling company, I will note that you are going into a commoditized business. The margin is going to be low and it would nearly be a small business, not really big entrepreneurial venture. If you check Eva, Aqua and the premium bottled water, they sell nearly at double the price of the local ones. This means that Nigerians have priced into those products intangibles. The key is quality.
The challenge would be how to build a brand that people can trust to buy. Interestingly the people you need to trust your products are those that can easily afford the bottled one and not the sachets. The sachet water is largely at the bottom of the pyramid.
My advice would be to find a way to build a brand and provide clear quality messaging that you have a product that is high quality in a commoditized business. Your best strategy is to find a way to have a product that can command premium prices the foreign-affiliated entities are commanding. If you can do that, your margin would improve. But if not, you would struggle to have the products in some key restaurants and locations. You should not be satisfied with motor parks only.
I have focused only on quality and branding. If you take care of those, production can easily be ramped up. The demand of the product is what imposes limitations on everything. But that demand is controlled by perceived quality. So, you need to communicate that you have got it. When done, glory will come and you can easily get more orders.
On businesses to do, check this list which I compiled. Nonetheless, the more detailed one is under paywall.
Good luck
Dear Bernard,
For the water bottling company, I will note that you are going into a commoditized business. The margin is going to be low and it would nearly be a small business, not really big entrepreneurial venture. If you check Eva, Aqua and the premium bottled water, they sell nearly at double the price of the local ones. This means that Nigerians have priced into those products intangibles. The key is quality.
The challenge would be how to build a brand that people can trust to buy. Interestingly the people you need to trust your products are those that can easily afford the bottled one and not the sachets. The sachet water is largely at the bottom of the pyramid.
My advice would be to find a way to build a brand and provide clear quality messaging that you have a product that is high quality in a commoditized business. Your best strategy is to find a way to have a product that can command premium prices the foreign-affiliated entities are commanding. If you can do that, your margin would improve. But if not, you would struggle to have the products in some key restaurants and locations. You should not be satisfied with motor parks only.
I have focused only on quality and branding. If you take care of those, production can easily be ramped up. The demand of the product is what imposes limitations on everything. But that demand is controlled by perceived quality. So, you need to communicate that you have got it. When done, glory will come and you can easily get more orders.
On businesses to do, check this list which I compiled. Nonetheless, the more detailed one is under paywall.
Good luck
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