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How to Start a Crayfish Business in Nigeria 2024 [Complete Guide]

  • October 1, 2023

The crayfish business is a profitable venture in Nigeria. It is one of the fastest-moving businesses that make a lot of money.

This business can be started both on a small scale and a large scale. That is whether you have a huge capital or a small one, you can get the business started.

Regardless of location, the crayfish business pumps in quick sales, as it is one of the most important ingredients for making some kinds of soup and other delicacies. So, this makes the demand for crayfish high all across Nigeria.

Not just in Nigeria, but globally, as crayfish are also exported abroad. However, it requires prior and in-depth knowledge of how the business works to get started either within Nigeria or as an exporter.

That is why we’ve come up with this post to show you exactly how to start a crayfish business in Nigeria. Not just that, but you’ll also discover the cost of starting the business, the profits to expect, and all other things needed to run the business successfully.

Without further ado, let’s get started!

Starting a Crayfish Business in Nigeria

Starting a crayfish business in Nigeria simply involves selling different types of crayfish to retailers such as supermarkets and market people, or final consumers including restaurants, and homes for consumption.

The crayfish business can be operated in two ways. You can start either as a wholesaler, or retailer.

As a wholesaler, your job is to find and sell crayfish to retailers. You can also export crayfish to neighbouring countries as a wholesaler. While as a retailer, you’ll be in charge of buying crayfish from wholesalers and selling to final consumers.

The crayfish business can be started anywhere in Nigeria, and it could become a source of daily income if you get the right customer base.

Related: How to Start a Profitable Frozen Food Business in Nigeria

Is Crayfish Business Profitable in Nigeria?

Yes, the crayfish business is very profitable in Nigeria. You can make a lot of money selling crayfish in Nigeria because it is seafood. As that, there’s high demand for the food across the country.

The profitability of crayfish can be calculated based on sales and profit margin. The more sales you make the more money you’ll make. Since crayfish are packaged in bags, the profits per sack could range from 20% to 55%.

Keep in mind that this range may vary depending on season and location. During seasons when crayfish are scarce, you’ll make more profits if you already have them in stock. Also, the cost of transportation may affect the profitability of the business in your area, especially if you’re living in the north.

The demand for crayfish is also high overseas, so, if you can afford to start the business as an exporter, you’ll make more profits.

Check Out: Top 25 Most Profitable Untapped Business Ideas in Nigeria

How Much Does it Cost to Start a Crayfish Business in Nigeria?

The cost of starting a crayfish business varies depending on the way you want to start. The crayfish business can be considered a small-scale business for retailers, but a big business for wholesalers and exporters.

As a crayfish retailer, you can start the business with 20,000 Naira or less in Nigeria. While as a wholesaler, you’ll need hundreds of thousands to millions of naira to get the business off the ground.

Related: 15 Businesses to Start with 30K and Make Millions in Nigeria

How to Start a Crayfish Business in Nigeria

1. Start With a Market Research

Just like every other business, the first step to start a crayfish business in Nigeria is to carry out a detailed market survey. Doing this, you’ll get to understand the business, how it works, the do’s and don’ts, and so on.

While doing market research, it would be ideal to find and meet someone already in the business at the level that you wish to start. Do some findings by asking them the best type of crayfish to sell in your area, the price range and what affects it, where to buy, and how to sell.

Also, find out the law guiding the business, and don’t forget to research if there’s any association to join before starting. Lastly, you want to find out about your target audience, and how to market your products to them.

2. Arrange for Capital

After doing your research, the next thing is to raise capital to start with. One setback that many people have while looking to start a crayfish business in Nigeria is how to fund the business.

Well, it is not as difficult as you think. Maybe you just don’t have the idea to raise the capital for a startup. Since starting small doesn’t require much capital, you can save up to start the business by doing some menial jobs.

However, if you need more capital, it would be ideal if you seek financial assistance from friends and family through partnerships or loans.

See Also: How to Start Fruit Salad Business in Nigeria [Full Guide]

3. Get a Shop

Before even buying crayfish to sell, you need to find a shop in a suitable location for a crayfish business in Nigeria. Whether you’re starting on a small scale or a large scale, you need a shop to stock your goods, although the shop type and size may differ.

You can start a small-scale crayfish business in Nigeria with a small shop, or a container kiosk. On a large scale, you would need a warehouse, or a spacious shop to start the business.

Regardless of the size and type of shop, you must find a good location to start. A suitable location for a crayfish business would be an open market, a busy area such as a student area, or a middle-income earners’ residential area.

In essence, just make sure you sit your shop where your target audience is located.

4. Get the Needed Equipment

After getting a shop, you also need to buy some equipment needed to run the business. Although you may not know now, you need equipment like measuring and scaling materials such as different sizes of plastic bowls, scales to weigh the crayfish, nylon for packaging, and so on.

While that’s a general requirement regardless of the level at which you want to operate, you’ll need a means of transportation such as a vehicle, and/or wheelbarrow if you’re looking to start on a large scale.

Although all these are required to start and operate a crayfish-selling business in Nigeria, you will find out more while doing your market research.

Read Also: How to Start a Food Business in Nigeria

5. Source Crayfish to Sell

Crayfish business

The most important step in starting a crayfish business in Nigeria is finding the right sellers to work with. Depending on the level you wish to operate, there are different ways to source crayfish to sell in Nigeria.

Crayfish are very available in some parts of the country, mainly the southern and western states. As a retailer, you can source crayfish to sell from big markets, or perhaps farmers’ markets in your area. There are usually crayfish dealers in those open markets.

Starting on a large scale, you’ll need to locate a crayfish-producing state where you can find fishers that sell different types of crayfish in large quantities. To make things easy, below are some states you can start with.

Where to Buy Crayfish at Wholesale Prices in Nigeria

Here are some of the largest crayfish-producing states and places to buy bulk crayfish at wholesale prices in Nigeria.

  • Oron, Akwa Ibom
  • Calabar, Cross Rivers
  • Lagos and Badagry
  • Bayelsa State
  • Rivers State

All these states above are the major producers of crayfish in Nigeria. Visiting there, you can find sellers in the bay area to buy from in large quantities.

As a retailer living close to any of these places, you can find out about any farmers’ market, get crayfish at cheap prices, and sell for more profits.

Crayfish comes in bags, so, while sourcing crayfish to buy, you must research the current price and go with the seller that meets all your criteria. Here, people tend to ask – how much is a bag of crayfish in Nigeria?

Well, it depends on your location, but on average, you could get a big-size bag of crayfish for anything from 50,000 to 70,000, while a medium size could range from 30,000 to 45,000 naira.

6. Start Selling

With steps one to five now in place now is the time to start selling and to do that, you need to come up with a marketing strategy. This could be advertising your goods through different mediums including

Branding

Although it may cost some money, branding a new and one of the most effective ways of marketing your crayfish business. As a retailer, you can package your crayfish in a nylon or container, and then print labels and/or stickers to place on your packaging materials like plastic containers, or printing your business name on the nylons used for packaging your goods.

Doing this, you’re not just marketing your business, but also creating awareness. Once your brand becomes popular, you’ll start driving tons of sales without even spending a dime on advertisement.

Word of Mouth

Another effective way of promoting your crayfish business in Nigeria is through word of mouth. Tell your friends and family about your business, offer them some crayfish to try, and also encourage them to advertise your product to their friends, family, neighbours, and so on.

As a beginner, this is the best way to quickly drive sales, especially if you’re starting on a small scale. You can also advertise your business to professional housewives, and restaurants to drive more sales.

Advertise on Social Media

Social media also offers you the opportunity to promote your crayfish and drive sales. You can leverage the power of WhatsApp status to reach a lot of people through reposting. Also, post your crayfish on Facebook groups, and create Instagram pages for your business to create awareness.

Offer a Delivery Service

To make social media marketing success for a crayfish business, you would need to offer a delivery service. Since the aim is to drive sales, you often won’t get buyers in your area while promoting your goods on social media, so to get the package to them you’ll need to use a dispatch rider.

Operating your business using this strategy will help you in the long run. This is because when you gain a good reputation, buyers from far away would want to try your product. And this will help you reach more middle and high-income earners that will pay more.

Check Out: How To Start a Profitable Snacks Business in Nigeria

Types of Crayfish You Can Sell

Crayfish Business

As part of starting the business, you must know that there are different types of crayfish in Nigeria. Although there are different species, the types of crayfish in Nigeria are mainly based on the areas where they are caught by fishers.

The most popular and profitable type in Nigeria is the oron crayfish. This type is indigenous to the Oron in Akwa Ibom State. That’s mainly why crayfish are popular amongst the Igbo in Nigeria.

There are other types of crayfish and they are caught in places like Bayelsa, Lagos, Calabar, and so on.

Conclusion

The crayfish business is a very lucrative one to venture into in Nigeria, as it can be sold within or outside the country, and also the demand is high globally. The profit of the business is juicy, as it moves faster than other seafood in Nigeria. With this post on how to start a crayfish business in Nigeria, I believe you should be on your way to starting now.