How To Start Ice Block Business In Nigeria (2024)

In this article, we shall be discussing about how to start ice block business in Nigeria this 2024. There are many businesses one can venture into and make a decent living from it and this is just one out of the lot. As we proceed, we shall be taking a detailed look at the guidelines on how you can set up and successfully run your ice block business in the country today.

The ice block business in Nigeria is a booming business. This is because of the many events and functions that happen over the course of every week; be it on a weekday or a weekend. Several functions, chief of which are parties of every kind require the use of ice blocks for the purposes of cooling and chilling drinks of various kinds.

Nigeria is a country that is very hot in the dry season and plagued with epileptic power supply, making the ice block business indispensable. This business involves the production of ice blocks in commercial quantities and selling it to various vendors who require it in turn to run their day to day businesses. Ice blocks are sold to people in the parks, markets, schools, etc, for preserving and refreshing their consumables.

The beauty of this business is that you do not need training for any special skills before you can start up. All you need is the desire to succeed as well as a good working deep freezer, an excellent generator set in pristine working condition and a decent start up fund to keep going, pending when you have made it to such a level where you can afford ice block making machines.

With that in mind, below are the step by step processes that you will need to follow in order to birth this business into reality as well as the various materials required for setting up your ice block business in Nigeria conveniently. Do kindly stay with us.

HOW TO START ICE BLOCK BUSINESS IN NIGERIA 2024 

The following are the step by step processes involved in setting up your ice block business in Nigeria this 2024:

DEVELOP A BUSINESS PLAN

Before starting your ice block business in Nigeria, you will need to draw up a business plan. This will serve as a guide on how to run your business in an orderly manner and set you apart from the regular ice block producer with no detailed plan for their business. Your business plan must include every vital detail that is crucial to the way you want to operate your ice block business effectively.

RAISE CAPITAL FOR YOUR ICE BLOCK BUSINESS

Next is to raise the capital required to set up your ice block business in Nigeria. If you want to start small and grow from there, you should already know that you will need a deep freezer, a sizeable generator and some packaging materials as well as a constant source of water to successfully run your business and as such you should budget the money for these materials and equipment.

But if you have the capacity to start large, you may require one or two ice block making machines, a heavy duty generator, a bore hole and your packaging materials. Endeavour to make research concerning the cost of all these and other things you will need before setting aside the capital needed to fund your business. You should have one eye on your returns on investment once your ice block business is up and running.

FIND A GOOD LOCATION FOR YOUR ICE BLOCK BUSINESS

Another thing to do when you want to start your ice block business in Nigeria is to find a good location where your business can thrive. You can start from home if you are starting small but if you are starting in a big way, your ice block business should be situated in highly populated area where different businesses are so that you can take advantage of the population to make huge profits.

You can also target places with busy roads or streets as well as places with high pedestrian traffic such as markets, schools, etc. Also target potential habitual customers who require ice blocks on a regular basis for their personal, household or business needs. These habitual customers include event planners, petty traders, hotel owners, to mention but a few. Your business will do well if they keep patronising you.

Kindly note that this business is also affected by seasons and as such, you may witness a reduction in purchases during the rainy season as many people do not buy cold drinks and consumables as often as they do in cold weather conditions because of the already cold weathers. You may want to consider reducing the quantity of ice blocks you normally produce in the summer during the rainy season.

GET THE NECESSARY MATERIALS NEEDED FOR YOUR ICE BLOCK BUSINESS

Ice block business require certain materials and equipment to be put in place for a smooth running of the business and we have discussed them in detail below as you continue in the course of this article.

ADVERTISE YOUR ICE BLOCK BUSINESS

Advertisement can never be overemphasised as long as you are in business, and awareness that you are in the business of producing ice blocks should be created so that people can get to know you for what you do. You can use all the various ways of advertising to get your business out there to your customers and potential customers.

THINGS REQUIRED TO START ICE BLOCK BUSINESS IN NIGERIA

The following are the materials needed to start your ice block business in Nigeria today. They are:

WATER

The most important material required to start your ice block business in Nigeria is water, without it, your business is dead on arrival. Ice block is simply frozen water or water in its solid state, so endeavour to have a very good source of water supply because you will require an abundance of water to carry out this business venture. A bore hole can serve this purpose but if you do not have one, that shouldn’t be a worry as you can always buy water from local water vendors who sell in trucks so that you can run your business.

DEEP FREEZERS/ICE BLOCK MAKING MACHINES

If you do not have the means to purchase an ice block making machine, you can always start with a deep freezer after which you can switch when you have gotten to a height. While deep freezers are good, ice block making machines are even better as they are better suited for this kind of business.

Some ice block making machines are designed with rectangular compartments where you pour the water so that it takes the rectangular shape and solidifies accordingly upon cooling. You can either go for the local or foreign produced ice block making machines depending on your financial capacity, and you should consider the following factors when you want to purchase an ice block making machine:

Freezing Time: That is, the time it takes for the water to freeze/solidify when put into the machines. Some ice block making machines produce ice faster than others, and you should take note of this in order to help your business.

Capacity: This means the number of ice blocks a machine can produce. The capacity of ice block making machines varies as some can produce 100 pieces of ice blocks while others can produce 50 at a particular time.

After Sales Support: This involves making acquaintance with the manufacturers or sellers of your ice block making machine as you may be needing their assistance sometime in the future should your machines develop any fault which will require repair or maintenance works on them.

PACKAGING MATERIALS

You will require packaging materials for your ice block business in Nigeria. Packaging materials include the use of transparent polythene nylons to wrap and cover your ice blocks. The nylons come in handy when you want to hold the water before transforming it into its solid ice state.

GENERATORS

Because of the epileptic power supply in Nigeria today, it is very important that you get a very good generator as an alternative to your regular power supply so that you can run your ice block business in Nigeria conveniently and without stress. A good generator, preferably a heavy duty one can help carry all your machines needed for ice block production but if you only have a deep freezer, you may just go for the regular ones we call ‘big gen’ but please avoid the use of ‘i pass my neighbour’.

CLASSIFICATION OF ICE BLOCKS

There are two distinct classification of ice blocks and they are: the anti-freeze ice blocks and the dry ice.

ANTI-FREEZE

Anti-freeze ice blocks are made with the use of chemicals. This type of ice blocks form faster than the regular ones and they are called moulds. They are markedly different from the ones formed with the use of nylons and they are always in containers.

DRY ICE

This type of ice block is formed with the use of nylons of different sizes. They are the most popular type of ice blocks that we are familiar with in this part of the world.