December 21, 2017, at 9:58 am I told my partner, “ why not burgers and chips instead of noodles, at least no one sells that inside Unilag or its axis that I know of”. We were chatting via WhatsApp, prior to that we were talking about businesses we could do together. He asked, “but how do we make burgers?” To which I replied and gave explanations about where to buy the items and how to make the burgers. We decided to do a test-run at the end of the year hangout we were planning with our friends later that week.
The initial plan was to operate on a food truck which would move around the campus at specific hours which will bring the food directly to the consumers. This, however, was not meant to be as the realities we faced when we commenced operations made us rethink our options and restrategize for a better business. Our first ever burger sale happened at the AIESEC Lagos Conference where we sold just 12burgers. Small right? No, we were ecstatic because we didn’t ever imagine that we will sell even one, we did it with faith. Our burgers were sold at just #500 each. This was the beginning of a business that will change everything about us… Myself and Hassan!
I remember after our end of the year hangout back in December, we went broke, the majority falling on me because we didn’t plan well and some mishap happened with the boat we hired..(story for another day), some people not showing up after we had planned with them inclusive and did not pay up and I had to cover up for it. It was a very hard end of December, ushering in a very tough 6monhs of January lol. We talked about it and decided we could not continue like that and next December(2018) had to be better. That was the driving force and motivation that pushed us out of our comfort zone to really do something. We were extremely BROKE!
February 2018 brought us our very first opportunity to sell our burgers at the AIESEC Lagos Local committee conference. We both contributed our weekly allowance with the hope that things went well and we made enough sales. Hassan borrowed his mum’s car and I borrowed my mum’s equipment, we bought what we needed and set up shop at the conference. My sister Lolade also pitched in to help. So while Hassan was inside the hall doing his thing, Lolade and I were outside making the Burgers. We sold 12 burgers at the end of the day and I met one of the most amazing people ever, “Ewajane”!
By March we were already getting a hang of the business, started making plans to register the business with the CAC and do other major documentation and branding. At this point, we were only doing events and so we attended Foodizo at Medilag LUTH. This gave us some exposure to the students at LUTH and they got the opportunity to taste our Burgers.
April was a bomb! We attended Halal Food Fest and sold about 195burgers, there was no stopping us, we were on fire. Tv and radio stations were calling, they wanted to know Gidi Burger. And per usual, Hassan attended and made us proud.
Gidi Burger at Halal Food Fest April 2nd, 2018
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, businesses enjoy boom periods and endure down times.
We were still enjoying our little success when we hit our first bump. There are times you go for events that you are unable to sell all your wares and if you are lucky, you resell them later on. Unfortunately, we deal with food in its most basic form as most of our ingredients are served raw i.e veggies and it has a shelf life of a few hours before it goes sour. We attended another event and we didn’t sell as much as we envisaged. We were trying to clear up our debts and could not afford for the burgers to spoil. Hassan came up with the idea to deliver burgers on campus that evening. Ewajane, Othello and Damola may God bless wherever you are, these guys pushed for customers for us that evening, a quick status update on Hassan’s WhatsApp and we already had people waiting to buy the burgers even before we got there. Safe to say, we sold out again. This was another turning point for us because this situation ushered in the delivery arm of the business.
May 2018, after several disappointments from courier services that almost crippled the business (at this point we were skewed towards delivery than events because of the demands from our customers), we decided to introduce a campus ambassador program where ambassadors will take on the roles of foot soldiers for the Brand. We also introduced our first website just to make the transaction process as seamless as possible. The program ushered in amazing people like Tobi, Bukayo, and Eniola that did their best possible to push the brand. It also helped me gain insight into what it is like sitting on the other side of the table as a BOSS.
July 2018, We finally had delivery covered, or so we thought. We decided to increase our delivery days and delivery areas and boy-o-boy, it was a total fail! We could not meet up and ended up reverting back to our initial delivery day, Friday. The rest of the months passed in a blur and before we knew it, it was November.
November 2018, we attended the Sme100africa event and pitched our business to the panel of judges. Although we did not win the competition, we went home with renewed knowledge about SME’s in Nigeria. With a few more ups and downs, December came knocking.
December 2018, it was unofficially one year since we started Gidi Burger. A few giveaways here and there and a lot of offers. Christmas in Lagos was a whirlwind of concerts and events. We ended the year beautifully with a sold-out pop-up store at Junk food fest.
January 2019, the year started a bit slow, which is understandable. Financial engagements everywhere, school fees, IJCB traveling back to their base. We took some time out to plan towards the new year.
February 2019, Officially a year since we commenced operations at Gidi Burger. We celebrated the love season by introducing a combo pack. We, however, encountered some hick-ups along the way but we sorted it out just as always.
In my entrepreneurial journey, I have learned to be steadfast, audacious, and open minded. I have learned how to adapt in the most uncomfortable situations, flexible and calm. I have learned how to work with people and respect their opinions. But most of all, I have learned how to be me; caring, empathetic, creative and hardworking.
At this juncture, I will drop my pen. I have come full circle writing about Gidi Burger. Thank you to everyone that has helped out in any way in the past year, thank you to the team for being steadfast and believing in our goals. Thank you to my amazing partner Hassan, for being the rock in the storm. I look forward to an awesome 2019 with you all!
This blog post was originally created and posted by Maryam Adekoya Nurudeen – Read the full blog post here!
