Unemployment spurred me into becoming an employer of labour – kilishi producer

Two years after her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme, Nafisat Suleiman, owner of Naf-Naf Global Enterprises, started a business in 2010, and within three years she has employed 20 people. She speaks on how it became possible with OLUYINKA ALAWODE.

Business

Naf-Naf Global Enterprises is into the production of kilishi, danbunama, shredded beef, shredded chicken and shredded guinea fowl. We started February 2010, but got registered April 19, 2010. We kill about two cows everyday and we are still not able to meet demand. The business is based in Lagos, but I started in Ogun State.

Inspiration

I have always loved to do business; I love marketing in particular. I studied business administration at Igbinedion University, Edo State, and did my NYSC programme in Balyesa State, and finished 2008. I looked for a job and when I did not get one I delved into business. I decided to give this business a try. I started with N20,000. I would buy the meat in kilos. I did not go and learn about making these items, I only read about how to do them. I started employing people who know about making them and are very skilled.

Processes

I now know the processes very well, but because it is physically demanding, I cannot make them myself. When the demand became very high, I started buying life cows. I get the supply of cows from the North. I ensure they are very healthy. I now have about 20 workers because making kilishi involves a lot of hard work.

We use defatted groundnut cake for making the kilishi so there is no cholesterol in our kilishi, so people do not get fat on eating it. I also ensure the kilishi is dried in an hygienic environment, free from flies, dust and all sorts. We get our groundnut cake supply, ginger, garlic from the North.

Market

The bulk of my market is here in Lagos, but I get to sell a lot to people living in the USA through people that travelling there. I also get calls from them when they are abroad to package and send the products to them and they send me the money. My firm does wholesale supply to supermarkets and other distributors who resell. We do not supply consumers except they come to our place of business, and except they are outside the country because I do not yet have distributors that I can supply to resell in these countries.

Future prospects

I want to have distributors in the US, UK, and the Arabian countries, and so on, and therefore export to these countries in large quantities. Since we are not even able to meet local demand, I plan to import machines so we can mechanise and speed up the process. We use just about 10 percent mechanisation currently, the remaining 90 percent is manual. We operate in a small building currently, but I plan to establish a standard factory towards the mechanisation, export and meeting of local demand, especially during the festive season.

Staff

Among the staff are supervisors and managers that ensure that the standards I have set are met.