Few months ago, a lady and I were walking down the street, I had gone to pay her a visit and was leaving for my place. By the time we got to the junction it was evening already and I could see a Suya man setting up for evening sales. Different thoughts flashed through my mind, for the first time I started connecting different ‘dots’ to understand the full ‘matrix’.
I started wondering why I had never really paid close attention to the business strategies used by this skilled skewers of Suya. We all know that Suya spots are common locations carefully situated at major intersections and junctions. I think I just jogged your memory; you sef don dey reason am😂. While on campus, I remember that all Suya joints were either in front of the junction, beside, around or close to a junction. Though most people do not realise, these guys are certified and may even be more qualified than most Harvard MBAs. Think of this, you’ve really had a long stressful day at work, probably even spent some few hours in traffic then as you’re about to get home your nose picks up the signal of seasoned meat, you turn and sight a stand carefully adorned with tasty red meat diced and arranged in a very visible position on the grill. These Suya custodians understand that junctions are very strategic markets, the reason they are so valuable is that they give the needed exposure and visibility even from a distance. They also provide ease of access to customers who can easily bump in regardless of traffic.
Come back by 10pm to that same spot and you’d be amazed. Yes, Suya still never finish. Now I ask you How many sellers sell out Suyas every night? You just guessed right again. They know to maximize their assets, from meat to even the gas lamps. Have you ever seen a suya man preparing his meat for the evening sales during the day? They spend a lot of time sharpening their knives to make precise cuts. They use these knives to achieve laser like cuts, reducing the thickness of the beef to the barest minimum. Every pound of beef counts as profits and profits can be maximized just by spreading out the beef. Let me give you a related story. When we were kids, I remember we used to separate wafers by their layers just to make them last longer and make one wafer feel like five!? That’s the similar style the Suya guys use. How well you maximize your assets may just be the difference between your profits and your losses.
They also understand the need to stand out; the use of kerosene gas lamps gives them added visibility at night.
On social media, we know that to stand out and reach more people, your content should have a catchy title, that you should make good use of imagery and a great command of language. In order words, you should stand out from the crowd, set yourself apart.
Well, at least whenever you are out at night and you feel like treating yourself to a pack of suya, just look for the street corner with a spot of bright light and there you have your suya, no sign, no logo, just good old gas lamps.
We would like to hear your experience and observation from Suya stands around, kindly let us know in the comment section.
Thanks for reading through.
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