Important marketing secrets to learn from street food vendors
By Zion Rufus
Across the world, street foods are attractions not only to locals, but also to tourists that are curious to understand and explore ready-to-eat delicacies prepared and sold by vendors in public places.
Some popular street foods in Nigeria include Small chops and grills, Shawarma, Rice, Akara, puff puff, boli and smoked yam with sauce, amala, fried yam and potato with sauce, fried egg and bread/indomie, suya and many more sold from mobile shops, stands, or food trucks.
Where these foods are adored for their “homely” tastes, affordability, nativity, and originality, the vendors are worshipped for their ability to attract customers, retain them, and offer them non-stop value on zero marketing/ad budget.
To also keep their businesses top of mind, street food vendors utilise different strategies including highly attractive packaging, and various forms of thrills to keep their customers entertained. Meanwhile, here are 10 other marketing tips to learn from street food vendors as shared by experts.
Planning and punctuality
Speaking on their unmatched ability to plan, execute, and punctuality, Tiwalade Adeeko, a Sales Specialist shared: “Street vendors in Nigeria are masters in time and planning and management. If the akara woman on your street opens shop by 9:00pm, be rest assured she will be there. They know the right amount of food to prepare, their foods don’t ever go to waste because they understand their customers; they know when demand will be high, and when demand will be low. Street vendors don’t have to take permission from any high authority for planning and replacement of goods. They are focused and change their products and sales strategies in accordance with time, season, needs, and situation. Time and punctuality is also something you can’t take away from them.”
Optimisation of available resources
According to Balakrishnan Krishnan, Independent Logistics and Supply Chain Professional, Street food vendors are living examples of optimisation of available resources, multitasking, and providing food at very competitive prices.
He shared: “Most of us know that a large segment of the underpaid working class is dependent on SFV for their food. Let’s encourage them to serve even better by providing additional facilities like subsidised raw materials, shelter, etc. by bringing them under one umbrella and I wish the authorities concerned will take note of this through this medium and do the needful.”
Consistency
Olamilekan Kamal, a Social Media Manager and life coach shared that amongst many other lessons to be learnt, the amount of consistency, hard work, perseverance, timeliness, accuracy, accountability, and intuitiveness displayed by street food vendors should be readily studied by corporate entities.
Train your successor
Overtime, succession planning has become important for business leaders as grooming an internal successor ensures that your company will be led by someone who shares its values, brand promise, and customers’ values.
Abdullah Khalid, CSAA said: One more thing that I think people would be missing here is that it is necessary to train your successor and who would take over the place after you, in order to continue your business.
Learn to have fun in your workplace, love what you do
Sometimes, the continuity of a business depends on how happy the employer is, and how happy the employees are at their job. Are you doing what you love? Most street vendors stay true to their craft even for thirty years.
According to Junaid Asad Ali, expert at Japanese Industrial Management Systems, one of the most integral takeaways from street food vendors is the importance of loving what you do.
“We have learned a lot from street food vendors including resource management, timing, speed and why it is important to have fun in the workplace
Self satisfaction
Uttam Aich, former-general manager(P)IR at BCCL shared: “Nothing like a great start up as a street food vendor. No bank loan , initial capital, land, labour, academic qualification etc,. required. Highly creative, profitable and self satisfying. No age, caste, physical criteria bar. Only zeal, energy and josh required. Young and old alike.”
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