10 ways of making money in Sierra Leone with little or no investment. 1: Fruits

by Milton Margai

Investment Required: None

How do I go about it?
Sierra Leone has got a huge variety of fruits and they are of the highest quality too. In addition to that, we have got them in abundance. Some grow them in their back yards; some grow on the wayside and some in bushes and forests (free for all). Even those with private fruit trees are not too fussy to give you some of theirs if you just ask kindly.

Imagine having a team of 2–3 to start with. You can help yourselves to the free for all fruits growing in bushes, forests and on the wayside (others have to eat so don’t pick everything from the trees). You can also ask friends and families if you can have some of their fruits. You can assign the market research to the most capable to identify customers, location and understand pricing. We have fruits in abundance so not many Sierra Leoneans will be willing to pay for them, but some do. Targeting foreigners and expatriates will be a good start. the market research would have given the information on where they normally gather or their places of work (Location is important). It would be wise also to look at hotels/restaurants, sports clubs, beach and hospitals.

Let’s say you gather up to one thousand different fruits (oranges, grapefruit, mango, papaye, guava, banana, apples etc) at no cost at all to start with. You do not have to be an economist to know profit would be made at the end of the day. Having the fruit is one thing; customer service is another and very important. Presentation of self and product is very important (especially something that has to be eaten). Make sure you’ve got water, hand towel, bowls and cutlery (just in case someone decides to eat on the spot). Also make sure you’ve got correct change and be polite always.

The initial profit will be used to get more fruits as the demand grows. This time you can even pay friends and families to pick a certain amount from their trees for a small amount. You should then have more people on board to sell your fruits at different locations earmarked during the research. As time goes on; with commitment, determination, resilience, patience and a knowledge of the fruit market, you will start supplying supermarkets, stores, hospital and offices.

Background: I challenged Milton to come up with 10 ways of making money in Sierra Leone for people with little or no money. He rose to the challenge and this is the first part of the series.