In recent years, the focus has shifted to some good, easy-to-do, yet highly profitable businesses in our world, and one such business is the honey business, also called apiculture. Apiculture refers to a broader term used for the general production of honey, from beehive setups to honey packaging and even sales.
The honey business has been neglected by other forms of business not because it’s not profitable but because many people in this part of the world have relegated it or classified it as a rural business that cannot make headway in urban areas.
Wrong reports have it that packaging and consumption of honey are huge in urban areas. One of the reasons for its high demand and consumption has been attributed to the medicinal characteristics it harbors. It can be used in the treatment of wounds, serve as a natural source of energy, boost the immune system, make cough syrup, and boost sleep, among others.
Also, honey has been proven to be more beneficial to the body than other forms of sweeteners. According to new research, the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks contributes to obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer, which appear to claim the lives of about 25,000 adults in America each year. Also, this resulted in the deaths of about 180,000 people worldwide.
From the above research, we can deduce that sugar is a killer food in its own right. I would have loved to show statistics of the number of deaths as a result of the use of sugar in Nigeria, but there are no records to support my claims. Nigeria, too has suffered her share of death, which results from the use of sugar.
Another is the fact that honey helps in weight loss as well as maintaining present weight, which a lot of us, the females, care about. In their determination to achieve this, many people have employed several methods that involved the use of pills, engaging in rigorous exercise schedules, and taking different forms of diets including the popular keto diet.
All these methods have led to more complexity rather than solving the challenge at hand. The use of honey has been linked to weight loss. Research from the University of Wyoming deduced that intake of raw honey can activate hormones that suppress the appetite.
The above-stated reasons make honey a gold mine, thereby making the business one of the most money-spinning forms of business you can invest in. It’s so lucrative that when you invest, say, N60,000, you can make as much as N80,000 as your gross profit, while the Net profit after deducting the initial capital equals N40,500; that’s about 105 percent. Is this not profitable enough?
Starting your Honey Business in Nigeria
Before going into any form of business, no matter how small it might be, it’s smart to understand your kind of business and your environment, which also define your audience or market, your capabilities, and plans for future expansion if needed.
Below are some things you must consider when starting your honey business in Nigeria: starting volume, your source for raw materials (raw honey), logistics, packaging, branding, and marketing.
- Starting volume: this is determined by your capital strength. The more money you have to invest in the business, the better your chances of creating a big business are. But have one thing in mind: it’s all about creating something, no matter how small it might be.
Honey is sold in liters, meaning you can start with about 5 liters. Depending on where you are sourcing your honey, a 20-liter gallon of honey falls between N60,000 and N65,000.
Another thing you must remember is that honey production is seasonal. It’s usually low during the on-season and quite expensive during the off-season.
At the time I am writing this article, you can get 20 liters of honey from my company for N60,000, excluding transportation to your destination, which should not be more than N2,000 at most.
- Source of honey: Recently, there has been a lot of trouble getting original raw honey to buy. Many honey farms or sellers now dilute their honey just to make more profit. Also, some sellers mix their honey with sugar syrups after diluting it to maintain the sweetening property.
This alteration in the properties of the honey also results in an alteration of the quality of the product. There is no way you can get the same result you will get using diluted honey as compared to raw honey.
To start your honey I will advise you to go for the raw honey—the one that has not been processed nor mixed with anything. Always remember that quality is the hallmark of every solid enterprise.
- Packaging and branding: What sells any product now is the content and the outlook. People tend to graduate with beauty. The beautiful package has its own way of appealing to the minds of the buyers.
After getting your raw honey ready, I will advise you to get a unique bottle, which might be either plastic or glass, with a well-designed sticker to package your honey. Ensure that your stickers carry your contact information; this will help prospective customers locate you easily if they need your product.
Another thing you should do is to ensure that you vary the sizes of your products. Don’t just have one bottle size, have several bottle sizes so that it will be easy for people to pick the size they can afford.
This will also fetch you extra cash. You can get these bottles from your local plastic sellers or from those who sell in bucks.
- Marketing: I call this the soul of every business. No business thrives without a good marketing strategy. But when it comes to honey, I call it a household item. It is a must-have if you want to keep your family healthy, meaning everyone is a potential buyer.
To sell your product, you can sell it to your neighbors, colleagues, hospitals, schools, markets, and even supermarkets. Another easy way to sell your product is to go digital. Use social media platforms like WhatsApp status, Instagram, and Facebook to advertise your products, and I can assure you that you will make good money without much stress.
I started advertising on business Facebook groups I joined intentionally for this purpose, then I searched for WhatsApp groups I could join, and that changed the whole story. but the number one thing is you must be intentional about everything you do
If you are interested in starting a honey business and don’t know where to get your raw stock, you can contact me here: 09116960056 or 08032912347. I have my farm in Iwo-Osun State, which means quality is assured.
Thank you I hope you find this article educational. Drop your observations, comments, and questions, and I will gladly respond to them. Also, remember to share this article so that someone on your social media can benefit from it as well.
Be First to Comment