Fakomi Olajumoke and Linus Akomolafe
With the economy dwindling, Abba Joseph, a university drop out, in a bid to make a living, sold his android phone for N40,000 to start up a noodles business.
Located in the heart of Ikeja, amidst the bustling and hustling of Lagos, is Hand of God Noodles. When IkejaBird visited the outlet, Abba Joseph the owner of Hand of God Noodles stated that he never allowed his situation to discourage him from making ends meet legally.
He began the business in 2017 after he dropped out from Osun State College of Education where he was studying Accounting.
“I started this business after I dropped out of school in 2017 and lost my job, I was idle for a while and then, I decided to sell my phone to start it.”
“My family resides in Benue state and are not capable of helping me financially”.
Speaking on how his female customers perceive his culinary expertise, Mr Joseph said “Females do come to patronize me due to my familiarity with them, I tend to smile often with them and not put pressure on them.”
One of his business challenge is the constant hike in price of commodities and gas, “The gas issue is another thing because the price of gas increases everyday, if you go next week now, they’ll say it has increased by 200 naira but I can’t give up because it is still better than staying idle.”
“I spend about six to seven thousand on gas weekly because I fill 6kg for 4k, and 3kg cylinders for 2k, every week.”
He added that he needed a small fridge to preserve his cooking Ingredients from spoiling, “When I buy 5,000 naira pepper to use in a week, if I don’t take my time to dry it in the sun and take care of it, it will get spoiled and that’s a loss. But with a fridge, I can store meat, fish and pepper for a longer period.”
Another challenge Joseph pointed out is with customers who come in the guise of being permanent clients, only for them to owe him and he won’t see them again.
When asked how much he makes in the business, Joseph said he uses up 7-10 cartons of noodles in a week. “When I started, my daily savings was one thousand naira, but now I have increased it to two thousand and next month I’ll make it three thousand naira.
Joseph said he had thought about the future of his business and he hopes to include snacks, small chops, and Asun to his menu.”
“I need about one hundred thousand to boost my business, and I still want to remain in this location because the business is moving fast here.”
“Young graduates should not feel too big to start a small business, all that matters is their focus and belief.”
