It was around 5pm before I was finally able to locate Aisha’s home at North Kaneshie. Looking around, one could see different pot sizes comfortably balanced on blazing locally made giant stoves.
The scene looked like a preparation for a festivity, but truly this is the daily routine that the young lady in her early twenties and her eight workers pass through to satisfy her customer’s undying desire for waakye.
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| Waakye |
According to Aisha, this is one business that requires very little investment but guarantees huge profit if one is not lazy and ready to learn the trade.
Waakye (pronounced waa-chay) is a delicious and nutritious popular Ghanaian cuisine basically comprising rice and beans mixed together. The delicacy is believed to be of northern Ghana origin but it has since gained national status and it’s enjoyed by everyone irrespective of age, tribe, religion or social status.
What makes this business a gold mine for anyone who plans to go into it, is the fact that in Ghana waakye is more popular as street food; so, it’s not shocking to see very long queues at any spot where it is sold.
A lot of Ghanaians patronize waakye for breakfast while some wouldn’t mind having it for lunch. According to Kwame Asante, a bricklayer in Accra, he says “when I eat it in the morning I can stay till evening without eating anything, all I just need is water”. It is also just fine for supper.
So what does it take to go into this business.
Training
According to the very successful Aisha, one does not need any formal training other than the ability to cook. She claims that she learnt the art from her mother who also learnt it from her grandmother.
On the other hand, Ima Lolo who sells her food at Fadama, says training is important “because not every woman who knows how to cook, can prepare waakye. As for me, I went through a week’s training before starting. Don’t forget that it’s food we are talking about here. The way of cooking food for the public is not the same way you will cook for yourself.”
Therefore serving as an apprentice under a professional and successful waakye vendor is necessary especially as it will help you understand how the public like their waakye to be cooked and with what ingredients.
Capital
According to Labone’s celebrated waakye seller, Auntie Muni, she started selling 10 years ago by buying her ingredients on credit. Aisha started hers five years ago “very small”. But she advises anyone who wants to go into the business now not to invest more than Ghc200. “The reason is because if you start big, you could lose big.
Things to buy
The ingredients include rice, beans, dry sorghum leaves, meat, fish wele etc. One also needs a table and a plastic container, preferably an ice chest, to keep the food warm. “In my case I started with a table, but now I have a mini container” says Aisha.
Location
Unlike some businesses where you will need to rent a store or even a piece of land to start, you may not even need to pay rent to anybody at all depending on the location or your ability to beg. This is not to say you may not be required to pay rent for the land you may be using, but going by the nature of the business, this may only happen after you start graduating into constructing a container for your business.
However, the important thing about the location is not the rent but how strategic and neat the place is. For Ima Lolo, she says “Road side is the best place to be. You can’t just sell at any place; you must be at a place where people can easily reach you. This is because waakye is for everybody including rich people who often will park their cars by the roadside close to you and order for it.”
Presentation
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| Man-Eating-Waakye |
After your customer is satisfied with your level of hygiene, the next thing they want to see is how yummy your food looks. You can call it packaging. The look of your waakye and the stew especially plays a very big role in how people patronize you. According to Aisha, “selling just the waakye itself is not what will bring the bulk of your money, but the other things that go with it – like the wele (cow skin or kpomo as popularly known in Nigeria), fried fish, meat, egg, macaroni and salad. If people see your stew – which is always visible to the buyers, and they see how fresh and inviting it is, it whets their appetite.
Customer Service
“Some business owners in Ghana do not know how to treat their customers and that is not good. I am friendly with my customers and respond to them as quickly and appropriately as I can. I also teach my workers to treat the customer as king in every situation,” says Auntie Muni.
For Ima Lolo, apart from being good to your customers she says knowing how to sell the right quantity that matches the customers money, is very important. “look when you are selling this food to them, they are watching you, so if the quantity you give to somebody for three cedis is more or the same as the one who gave you five cedis, truth is that the person will feel cheated and may not even greet you again.
Advertising
Waakye selling needs traditional modes of advertising. Cook a wonderful meal, attend to customers well and with word of mouth, people will advertise your business for you.
Profit
Finally, the big question comes: how profitable is the business? Although most of the waakye sellers I spoke with were reluctant to put a figure to how much profit they make on investment for obvious reasons, they admitted business is “very” lucrative.
Aisha said she started with just one person as an assistant today she has eight people working for her “and I pay all of them”.
Aunty Muni moved from Tamale to Accra with nothing; today she has 20 employees and she enjoys monopoly of the business in her area.
So if you really want to invest in a business that will bring you good returns, why not try selling waakye?
By McKnight Elabor (+233 545 351 714)
