Oluwatosin and Sanni: Tapping opportunities in catering industry

Planning an event can be extremely stressful. This is why many people have resorted to outsourcing some aspects of it.

But a lot of people are very skeptical when it comes to hiring catering companies as many have ruined their events with poor delivery and creativity.

To change all that for clients and event planners, Oluwatosin and Sanni, two young entrepreneurs in the catering and service industry, have stepped up their game through the power of creativity, providing relief for customers.

Omowaire Oluwatosin

Omowaire Oluwatosin is the founder and chief executive officer of My Dinner Hub, a catering and event management firm focused on food delivery, event and personal catering services.

Oluwatosin, a 500 level Crop, Soil and Pest Management undergraduate of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), started trade at the age of 10. She went into trade when he mother could not earn enough money to provide for her siblings after the demise of her father.

In a bid to help herself and assist her siblings, Oluwatosin started cooking food for people. After few years of doing this, Oluwatosin was able to save enough to pursue her undergraduate degree.

At the university, she went into cooking for birthdays, get-together and events. After making encouraging profits for years, Oluwatosin decided to establish her business in 2016, giving it the name ‘My Dinner Hub.’

The undergraduate started her business with 10,000 last year and was able to get a startup fund from Women in Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) in 2016 to embark on a student-focused food project.

Currently, the business has grown remarkably and is worth about N750, 000. This feat was achieved seven months after registration. She has three full-time staff members and hires part-time workers at times depending on the projects she is handling.

When asked about the challenge confronting her business, Oluwatosin told Start-up Digest that lack of finance was the greatest challenge.

She urged the Federal Government to provide adequate grants and loan opportunities to youths with entrepreneurship mindsets.

Oluwatosin also said that high cost of food items and inadequate power supply were also key issues.

She sources her raw materials from local markets across the country.

The caterer, who is also a farmer, stated that her business had been able to grow because it brought local cuisines in an attractive style, guaranteeing customer satisfaction through excellent service delivery.

The entrepreneur also told Start-up Digest that she would tell her younger self to be open to identify problems around and turn them into value that could be exchanged for income.

“The food industry is wide with so many prospects. One of the untapped parts is the making of naturally sourced food seasoning and herbals, which can be exported to earn foreign exchange,” Oluwatosin said.

Sanni Sheriff

Sanni Sheriff is the founder of Sannikayz Kitchen Limited. He is a caterer with vast experience in event services and currently runs a mobile restaurant and event catering services in Lagos.

An engineering graduate of the University of Lagos, Sanni started his journey as an entrepreneur in 2011 when he began his mobile restaurant business on campus as an undergraduate.

The demand for his services was very high and after the undergraduate study, he established Sannikayz Kitchen in 2014.

Sanni is a recipient of so many awards, including the Under-30 Achievers Awards in 2013, and Creative Man of the Year by the University of Lagos Engineering Society Awards. He is the Best Entrepreneur in 2014, nominated as Sheraton Entrepreneur of the year at the African Youth Choice Awards in 2014 and the Most Promising Enterprising Youth at the Nigerian Achievers Awards in 2015.

Sanni started his business with just N10, 000, an amount he spent on registering his business name, printing banners and invoice. With referral from family and friends, he was able to break even.

“I was also inspired by my dad who operates a marine engineering services firm. He always wanted to grow his business and add more value to the brand and himself. This also drove my passion for rendering services to people,” he said.

He currently has three staff members working with him and over 20 part-time workers who also work with him, especially at weekends when demand for his services are high.

The engineer turned caterer has not had it all rosy as he contends with high prices of food items in the country and low purchasing power of consumers.

He also said the epileptic power supply in the country was a very big challenge confronting his business as it had shot up his cost of production.

“Our business has grown tremendously since we started and we have even opened another brand of business. Our target client is corporate bodies and everybody who is interested in our services,” he said.

“We have been serving the corporate class since January and it has really been adventurous. We have customers in Access Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Investment One, Integrated Supply Chain, Akintola Deloitte, PWC , just to mention a few. We have also acquired more assets. With support from family, friends and investors, the business is now worth about N5 million,” he added.

 

Josephine Okojie