Snacks business is already showing great signs of being a profitable business to venture into in Nigeria. There is room for everyone whether on a small, large, or industrial scale. Therefore, the chin-chin business is a business to consider for its simplicity in production, overwhelming acceptability by all age groups and profitability. It can be eating alone but better enjoyed with a chilled soft drink. Chin-chin is a crunchy snack that can serve as an appetizer or main food depending on the quantity. This article will show all you need to know about starting a chin-chin business in Nigeria.
Why Chin-chin Business?
- Simple to learn and produce – Chin-chin is produced from frying or baking a dough mixture of flour and other ingredients in small size shapes.
- It is affordable for most Nigerians and can be eating any time of the day: morning, afternoon, and night.
- In Nigeria, chin-chin is served in all most every wedding, birthday, and other social gathering.
- It is loved and eaten by all age grade: children, adults, and very elderly people.
- It has several marketing outlets such as supermarkets, shops, kiosks, marketplace, schools, worship centers, transport parks, hawked on the street and in the business.
- Chin-chin business has good profit potentials and you can start small.
- it is something school children can eat during lunch break and likewise eaten in the office or while traveling by anyone.
- It is a business you can do along side other business and can be combined with other snacks businesses such as eggroll, meat pie, and buns.
- You can mix the ingredients without a machine but for a large scale and stress-free production there are affordable machines for mixing and cutting.
- There is a ready market for the business – chin-chin is one of the snacks with the highest acceptance rate across all age groups.
Before You Start
Anyone who wants to succeed in business or any worthy undertaking must first plan. The best motives behind every business should serve a need, affect lives, and profit-making. Ensure you have the right motivation and drive because these will keep you going even the odds are not in your favor.
It is very important before you start to carry out a feasibility study of the business under the following factors:
Skills – For success in this business most especially when starting small, you must have adequate knowledge of baking. If you are deficient in this, find someone already in the business and learn how to make chi-chin. It is not difficult. You should be your first customer, followed by friends and family just to test and get feedback on how good your chin-chin is.
Capital – Chin-chin business is not capital intensive but buying ingredients like flour in bulk will help increase your profit at the end of the day. Also, for large-scale production, you will need some machines. You must have adequate funds to start and run the business till the business can stand on its own.
Market – available and close market or suppliers of raw materials such as flour, sugar, butter, nutmeg, egg, vegetable oil is a good advantage. It will reduce the cost of transportation. Buying most of these raw materials from one supplier could positively influence the prices.
Customers – there must be a customer base for your product. There must be an unsaturated market for effective entrance. You could use price to lure people to your chin-chin but maintain good quality bearing in mind the social and economic class of your target customers. Quality products always stand out at any time and day.
Negotiate with business owners such as supermarkets, schools, eateries, and shops to market or display your product in front or within their business center.
How Much Do I Need to Start?
Chin-chin business does not demand high capital to start. The amount of money depends on the scale; small, or large. You can start the business comfortably with N50,000 and even less. But, for a large-scale business, you will need from N100,000 upwards. For a large-scale chin-chin business, you need a mixer, cutter, and oven – these will add to the startup cost. Buying raw materials in bulk is a better business approach and more profitable.
What are the Tools I Need to Make Chin-chin?
- Bowls
- Sieve
- Long sieving spoon
- Deep fryer
- Cutter
- Rolling-pin
- Gas cooker or stove
- Mixer (optional)
- Oven (optional)
Ingredients for Chin-chin Production
Ingredients: flour, milk, sugar, baking powder, margarine, nutmeg, flavor, oil, salt, and water.
Chin-chin Recipes
Flour 5 cups or 500g
Milk 4 tablespoon
Baking powder 1 tablespoon
Margarine 50g
Nutmeg 2 tablespoon
Salt 1 tablespoon
Egg 4 raw ones
Water as needful
Flavor 2 tablespoon
Oil for frying just enough
Sugar 4 tablespoon
The amount and choice of ingredients depend on the quantity, quality, and crunchiness of the finished product.
The procedure of Making Chin-chin
- Sieve the flour properly and pour into a clean bowl
- Add the dry ingredients (nutmeg, sugar, baking powder, salt) and mix everything together
- Put margarine and thoroughly mix it with the rest
- Add milk, eggs, and mix until the dough is smooth and hard
- Place the dough on a clean flat surface. Use a dough roller to carefully knead it.
- Once the dough is completely flat, use a cutter to chop the dough into shapes of your choice (rectangle, square, or irregular shape)
- Time to fry. On the gas cooker or stove and place the fryer on it. Add enough quantity of oil to the fryer and allow it to heat up
- Gently add the chopped dough into the hot oil as the fryer can accommodate per time and fry for a few minutes until its color changes to brown
- Remove them from the fire into a sieve (once they are done) to drain off the oil
- Transfer them from the sieve into a tray to cool properly
- Finally, your chin-chin is ready consumption and packaging
Packaging
Chin-chin is best packaged in transparent material for easy attraction. Use thick transparent white nylon to package your chi-chin for two reasons: to maintain its crunchiness by preventing air from getting in and for people to see the product.
Other packaging materials you could use are transparent plastic or bottle containers. To gain customers, it is a must for you to add a label to the container or nylon stating the producer’s name, location, and ingredients. Any graphic designer can design the label for you.
Conclusion
For effective marketing and to reach your target customers, you will need to employ the services of hawkers. Places with a high concentration of potential consumers are motor parks, schools, marketplaces, and shopping malls.
To succeed in this business, you must ensure that the chi-chin are tasty, crunchy, well packaged, and affordable by the majority. Customers like chin-chin that is crunchy and tasty. Have a good balance of ingredients, quality, and price. Look out for supermarkets, business centers, and shops where you can be their main supplier and negotiate a deal with them.
