For anyone with an interest in a small-scale but highly profitable business, Ice block-making business is the deal.
West African temperature, particularly Nigeria, is generally hot region which comes with excessive heat. The need to cool down the temperature has developed a thirst for cold drinks but in a country where power outage is a phenomenum, everybody cannot cool his or her drinks. Most, especially, party organisershave to improvise by purchasing ice block to cool the drinks to serve guests.
Because of high demand for ice block, a lot of people are now into the business of ice-block making business, which is said to be lucrative.
While ice block is water that is made into ice. The process is not too cumbersome, as the water is fed into medium sized nylon bags which are then packed into an Ice block-making machine for some hours to turn it into a solid state.
Investigation revealed that a new investor can make his or her investment back in a reasonably short time, after starting up an ice block-making business, especially, during peak period.
It is imperative to take note of the high demand for ice blocks for cooling daily and weekly, which has created a thriving business opportunity in cities, towns and states across the country.
As Nigerians enjoys their drinks cold, we consume a lot of it due to the hot weather conditions we have.
Profitability
It is gathered that this is a profitable business that guaranteed returns on investment.
In a chat with Taiwo Johnson, an ice-block merchant that operates in a Wawa, a border town to Lagos, he stated that people prefer to use ice blocks as they are faster and more efficient at cooling liquid and for anyone with interest in the business, such person can make close to N300,000 in a month.
To him, “I have two ice-block making centers and the accumulated profit for both in a month equals over N400,000, after my expenses on fuel, salaries and so on. I have so many people I supply to and I even go as far as places like Isheri, Magodo, Ibafo, and Mowe to supply. That means you can make your investment back in a reasonably short time.”
Equipment Needed
“For anyone that want to start small, they can start from home or find a commercial shop to operate free business. Ice block is more convenient to produce from home, but if the individual want to operate on a large scale , there’s a need for a place of business which is out of the home,” he stated.
Taiwo disclosed that a new entrant into the business, needs an Ice block Making Machines, Deep Freezers and Generator that would power this electrical appliances.
He added that, it is important to have a good source of water, as the business revolves around water while a water bolehole or assessing water from commercial water tankers is another option. Also, nylon specifically made for packaging ice block should be deployed at all times.
Business Capital
Taiwo disclosed that the capital needed to start up an ice block business in Nigeria is relatively high.
According to him, “in this present economy, one will need a capital of at least N1million or more to start a small-scale ice block business in Nigeria.”
He stated that ice block consists of two types which are ; Anti Freeze and the Dry ice.
He revealed that, he deals mainly in the dry ice due to preference of his customers even as anti-freeze block is made with the use of ethanol that moulds faster and is packaged in containers.
He said Dry ice block is formed in nylon without adding chemicals to it, it moulds naturally, although, this process takes a longer period to mould.
