How To Run a Successful Fruit Vending Business in Kenya

Fruit vending business deals with selling of varieties of fruits. Many people in Kenya are jobless and still need to carry out activities that require the use of money. It is not always good idea to depend on others for financial support. We have several self- employment jobs that one can do and earn good money at the end of the day or a month.
One of this self-employment job is being a fruit vendor. Kenya has several types of fruits which are recommended by doctor for our good health. Therefore, getting customers is not a big deal. Before starting and running a successful fruit vendor business, one is required to follow some steps. These steps include:

Step one: Research the market

Locate the suitable place for your business. This will help you gather information if people in the area likes fruits. It will also enable you to know what kind of fruit liked the most by people around. Having an idea on the place you are going to work will give you easier time to budget for the fruits.

Step two: Have a fruit juice business plan

Before starting your fruit vendor business, you must know how much money you need to start with (startup cost) and the source of capital; where to get from, whether it’s a loan from the bank or contribution from family member and friends, the business location, type of fruits to sell, target market and the profit that you get from the business.

Step three: Identify fresh juice business location

Every business person would love their goods to be sold at once or be sold all that day. In order to have your fruits be sold at high quality, there are places you must target. Place like institutions have many people. They may be pleased with the fruits since not all institutions like schools provide fruits to learns.
Bus stop is also a good place to sell your fruits because passengers travel to different parts of the country. Some take long hours on the road before reaching their destination. Fruits will be best for them rather than drinks which may cause disturbance by stopping the bus to help themselves.
The target place for this business is where the pedestrians are many. Parents like buying fruits for their kids. They will promote your business by buying almost everything and at the end of the day you have your money.

Step four: Equipment to carry out the business

For the starting, it is not a must that you have all the require tools. There are those that are essentials like cutlery and blender, the rest you can purchase as your business grows. If you are starting and you have adequate capital, the equipment you should go for are:

• Plastic chairs; some customer would like to sit down or a bench to enjoy salad.
• Display shelves; In order to make your fruits to look attractive to customers, it is your ability to display them on something conspicuous and not on the floor. It should be neat even if you are using a cart.

Step five: Licensing your business

Register your business and have a legal way of running the business. This will protect your fruit vendor business from local authorities. Customers will also be confident knowing that they are buying goods which are safe since you comply with health and food hygiene regulations

Step six: Market your business

This will make your fruit vendor business to be famous. It will help in attracting more customers and increase your sales. Also choose the name for your business. Pack your juice in bottles and seal properly. Label the juice in the bottle attractively.

How to start a fruit vendor business in Kenya successfully and overcome challenges

Business may sometimes have some challenges. Fruits are perishable, thus they cannot be stored for long period. If they get spoiled it will be a big loss to the fruit vendor. Sometimes the change of weather can be problem especially during rainy season.
There are some fruits which cannot be used when it is cold outside. Also rain can hinder customers to reach the vendor to purchase the fruits. In such cases you get low sales at the end of the day. Also fruits go with seasons, there is a time when there is scarcity of fruits in the market. To overcome these challenges and make your business succeed well, you need to do the following:

1. Identify adequate supply

It would be advantage if you have several supply of variety of fruits. It is also advisable to get fruits wholesale so that when selling to retail it can give you profit. When buying  fruits, do not major on the ripe fruits only. Buy unripe fruits to avoid fruits from getting spoiled.
Also unripen fruits are cheaper compared to ripe fruits. If you live near fruit farmer, you can purchase from his or her garden to cut transportation cost. The following are some fruits commonly used for blending juices; pineapple, pawpaw, oranges, mangoes, avocado and passion fruits.

2. Provide additional information together with the fruits

Fruits are the source of many essential nutritional values in our bodies like vitamin C, potassium, which are got from ripe bananas and useful to ladies during menstruation and dietary fiber. You can as well entice your customers by telling them how fresh fruits are the best option for breakfast or desert. It is not bad idea telling people how fruits are sweet and easy to handle since they are always read and require no recipe to prepare. Fruits are natural with no additional chemical which is suitable for many people to avoid lifestyle diseases.

3. Establish and harvesting forecasting system

This will help you schedule for the sale. It will enable smooth planning on when to pick a certain fruit from the farm or wholesale. This system helps to avoid excess fruits in the store which may cause spoilage of some fruits since they cannot be sold at once. Planning will help you to know which type of fruit is required to be added in large quantity.

4. Program fruits according to varieties and season

Most fruits have different seasons. Take advantage to visit farms near you to buy at a cheaper price. People may have fruits at home but they do not know how to blend to get the juice. Therefore, they will prefer getting blended juice from fruit vender. It should not worry you that when fruits are on season your sales will be low, you only change the form of the fruits. Have variety of fruits in your stock.

5. Communication skill

As a business person, you must find a way to talk to your customers. This way will make them to come back for more fruits. Your words, how you answer them can make them go and never come back again. You must have attractive words and very convincing one.
Your approach to customers also matters a lot. Some customers may be impressed on how you welcome them since most of the people likes to be addressed politely. Be lovely, jovial, active and not moody. Treat your customers nice so that they keep on coming whenever you have fruits to sell.

6. Handling business profits

If you want your business to grow, do not misuse or mishandle the money. Always ensure you get extra money from your sales. The profit you get will enable you to go for the new stock. The money you get at the end of the day should not be interfered with like buying house hold items. You can even open bank account to save money. This can expand your business since you can use the savings or take loan from the bank to develop your business.
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How fruit vendor business is profitable in Kenya

Most people running big business started from low level and grown with time. There are those who start with less capital even three hundred shillings and at the end of the day they have five hundred shillings. This means they have profit of two hundred shillings. Getting profit needs business person to be wise. One can get six bananas at twenty shillings and sell each banana at ten shilling. The total sale of six bananas will be sixty shillings thus having profit of forty shillings.
There are those customers who would like to pay monthly. The business person would have to calculate and know the total cost of the sales per month and compare with the money got at the end of the month. You will find that there is high profit in both daily and monthly selling. This profit is what makes the business to grow and be successful.