How to set up a Lucrative  Shawarma Spot Business in Nigeria

Shawarma is originally a Middle Eastern cuisine made of meat cut into thin slices, stacked up in a cone-like shape, and roasted on a slowly turning vertical rotisserie or spit. Shawarma was originally made of lamb or mutton but today shawarma is made of chicken, turkey and beef. The Nigerian shawarma however has been revamped to appeal to the typical Nigerian person’s taste bud and it is usually made with beef, chicken, Frankfurters (Sausage) and not to mention some spice to give it that extra zing.

Shawarma is now one of the most sought after meals by both adults and children, male and female in Nigeria. The fact that shawarmas are loved by most means that it could be a very lucrative business that can earn you a really good income if you do it correctly. Unlike many other meals, preparing a shawarma is actually quite easy as it requires not too much skill or complicated ingredients

The business of selling shawarma is a lifestyle venture and can also be called a branch of hospitality. The main customers are people who want to relax and have a good time and hence view shawarma as a snack or a light meal you take in between meals. It is very popular with girls in their late teens and early twenties and is very popular as a menu item on romantic dates or friendly get together.

There are restaurants in Abuja where the cheapest Shawarma – usually a small size - goes for N2,000 while there are other places where a large Shawarma goes for N1,000. So location and target market can determine the price but how much is the ingredients used in making each Shawarma? The price is less than N600 per Shawarma meaning if you’re selling for N1,500 then your gross profit should be N900 per Shawarma but there is more to it than that this as several factors can make or mar this business.

How much sales can one look towards from selling Shawarma?

If you have a good location, your Shawarma is very good and you operate in a conspicuous, clean and very attractive environment you should be able to attract enough sales. I know a restaurant in Wuse 2 Abuja that sells over N200,000 per day worth of Shawarma and they also do deliveries which is not included in this estimate. So if you set out to sell Shawarma for N1,000 each and can do at least 80 a day you should be able to make N80,000 per day as sales

There are many factors that can determine whether or not you will succeed in this business and the most common factor is the taste of your shawarma. A very delicious shawarma has huge sales potentials because it can create loyal customers many of who will refer more customers to you, so ensure your shawarma will outclass every other one in the market. Another success factor is hygiene. The person serving the shawarma should be neat and presentable, also the environment where it is made must not stink, shouldn’t be close to a dirty place and should have something entertaining to it e.g feel good music playing in the background. Third factor is price of the shawarma, a good customer may want to buy more than one but your price could discourage him/her making them buy fewer number of your shawarma instead and there are several other factors that affect success in this business but not enough time to explain them.

How much do you need to start?

With as little as N500,000 you can start a shawarma business with a stand in a little corner on a busy street. The money can be used to pay for rent, buy second hand equipment, outdoor print adverts and initial supplies.

How quickly can you recoup your investment?

You can make back your money in as little as 3 months if you can achieve your sales target. For instance an investment of N500,000 working on 20% net profit margin (note I didn’t say gross profit margin) assumption and daily sales of N30,000 for 25 days in a month should recover your initial capital investment in 75 days or 2.5 months if you are able to achieve your sales target.

A lot of people are into the shawarma biz now and the folks who make the most money are those who have their stand in bars. Consider your competiton, you could even buy their shawarma to see where you could improve on it.

The toaster is different from the vertical grill(the machine that roasts the meat). An imported vertical grill will cost you about N100k,  you should be able to get a locally fabricated one for about 60k. I would advise you go for the imported one if you can afford it. Not sure of how much the toaster costs but a locally fabricated one should cost about N30k.You will need a gas cylinder too, I think you should do away with the fridge for now. You should also consider getting hired help.

Training: Although this may not be completely necessary, it may be a good idea to get some sort of training from an expert on how to prepare tasty shawarmas. This training may take approximately one week because a shawarma is not a very difficult thing to make.

Location: It is very important to find a relatively busy location for your shawarma business. A place where there is a lot of foot traffic will be most ideal. It could be a commercial area i.e. an areas with lots of offices, outside a busy supermarket, church, school or bar. Try looking for such Places and ensure that there is no competition around then speak to the owners of such establishments in order to negotiate rent so that you can setup your business in that vicinity. In time and as you grow, you can have more than one shawarma stand and employ staff to help run them whilst you generally manage all of them by visiting each stand regularly.

Your Target Market: Who are you selling your shawarmas to? You need to consider your target market prior to setting up as this will tell you exactly where you need to be located. Not everyone can afford the luxury of buying a shawarma so you cannot set up your shawarma stand in a low income or rural area. You need to consider the kind of people you intend to sell to and ensure that such people live or work around the area you are looking to set up your business. Determine who your target market are and ensure they have the capacity to buy because your success is dependent on these buyers. In other words, the more buyers you have, the more profit you make.

Marketing: Advertising your business is also very important because no matter how great your product is, if people do not know you exist, they cannot come and buy from you. The good thing about advertising this business is that it can be as cost effective as you want it to be which means you can advertise within your budget. You can advertise on facebook, Instagram and any other free social media or online portals. If you have some money to spare, for as little as N100 a day you can also do some paid adverts on Wetinuneed or for a pity more on any of the other platforms to further boost your advertising reach. You can also print fliers and distribute them to people around your business location and tell friends and family to also spread the word.

Get our information, on Shawarma Business, this guide reveals key insights on profitability in setting up your own Shawama Business you will learn the best way to market and profit from the  business. Most especially, you will learn the exact costs of the materials and equipment you need for your Shawama. The body of this work is formed from consulting experienced and relevant people running the  business to get first-hand information about the success secrets and marketing strategies deployed to achieve business success.

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