Nature’s greatest gifts are often simple and free. Water is not just a simple and free gift of nature which is essential to life, but its invaluable qualities, if well utilised, could reveal and unravel the wealth-creating ability of water. One of the unique qualities of water is its ability to solidify and expand when exposed to a certain temperature.

What this means in a simple term is that when water becomes frozen, it increases in volume and size. This results in the formation of blocks of ice (often called ice blocks, or iced water) which can then be sold to people who need them.

Reasons the business is worth considering
It is not right for someone to go into any business without having a rationale behind it. Therefore, the following are possible reasons the business of iced water production is worth considering:

•In a tropical country like Nigeria, where the dry season is often synonymous with excessive heat and hotness, people often need cold water and beverages, thereby, blocks of ice could come in handy.
•The above reason is often aggravated by the fact in many of such tropical countries (once again, Nigeria is an example), not many people have good and functioning refrigerators in their homes, and for the few who do, poor electric power supply often renders such refrigerators useless. Therefore, they might need to look elsewhere for a reliable supply of iced water.
•From time to time, people always have reasons to celebrate. Celebrations like weddings, birthday parties, naming ceremonies, etc, often require that guests are served chilled beverages. Such celebrants often need a large supply of ice from someone who can produce them in order to have satisfying celebrations.

How to start
As it has been earlier mentioned, the business is quite simple and easy to start, and it can be done by anybody. It does not require any special skill, training or tutelage. The basic thing is to know the basic items and equipment the business requires.

According to Mrs. Iyabo Adesakin, who spoke with Saturday Tribune on this subject, the materials needed to run a successful iced water production business include good water, various plastic containers of different shapes and sizes ( this will serve as the templates and moulders of different shapes and sizes of blocks of ice), a good, effective and functional cooling system such as refrigerators,  deep freezers or ice making machines as well as steady, constant and reliable source of electricity, which, as it has become the case in Nigeria, could be a diesel or petrol-powered generator that must be able to supply the required amount of electricity which the cooling system of your choice requires.

“All you need to do is to properly load your ice producing machine with containers full of clean water, and watch the machine as it does its magic. After some hours, your blocks of ice will be ready to be sold,” Mrs. Adesakin stated.

In her own opinion, Mrs. Malik Idrisu, another iced water producer, said, “due to the cost of purchasing freezers or any other ice producing machines as well as generators, whoever intends going into this business must be ready to part with a substantial amount of money.”

Therefore, according to experts in the business, for someone who wants to start from the scratch, the amount required to start the business could be as high as N200,000. This is because such a beginner will have to acquire a cooling system of his/her choice, as well as a generator, both of which form the lion’s share of the start-up capital.

Plastic containers are quite easy and cheap to come by. You can also add to the bulk of purchased plastic containers by making use of old ones you probably have at home.

Profitability of the business
The profitability of the business depends mainly on the number of blocks of ice you can sell daily or weekly. This is so because the same quantity of electricity required to produce, for instance, 100 blocks of ice, will be required to produce 20 blocks. Therefore, to ensure a good optimisation of your resources and factors of production, especially electricity, ensure that your ice producing machine is well stocked.

Depending on the size, blocks of ice can be sold for as much as N200 or as low as N50.

Sales volume also depends on seasons. This is because during the dry season, there is always a remarkable increase in the demand for iced water.

Also, as earlier mentioned, during major celebrations like weddings, there is usually an increase in the demand for blocks of ice.

“During major events and celebrations such as weddings, and depending on the volume of drinks to be chilled, a producer of blocks of ice could be required to supply up to as much as 20 dozens of iced water, worth about N120 per block. This is besides the ones that are sold on daily basis to people who need them for use in their businesses as well as those who need them for personal use,” Mrs. Adesakin declared.

This view was corroborated by another producer, Mrs. Adjei Ochiowu, who said that as a teacher she was not comfortable with the idea of not doing anything with the time she had at her disposal after coming back from the school where she teaches. “What started as a business to help me keep myself busy after coming back from school has now turned out to be a fruitful venture. On the average, I sell several dozens of blocks daily and much more when I am called upon to make a major supply during any celebration,” she declared.

Challenges of the business
The challenges that one is likely to face in this business can be grouped into two: seasonal and recurrent.

Seasonal challenges are associated with a remarkable decline in the demand and sales of blocks of ice during raining and harmattan seasons. This is because during these seasons, there is a natural reduction in the intensity of the sun, which subsequently leads to a significant decrease in the heat in the atmosphere. Therefore, people become naturally less thirsty, and as such, they crave less chilled drinks.

Recurrent challenges are those that occur from time to time, and which must always be planned for, so as not to be caught unawares at any point.

“Chief among such challenges is the need to ensure that the water kept inside the ice making machine remains truely frozen so as not to disappoint your customers. This means that as a producer, you must ensure that there is a reliable source of electricity which could be produced either publicly or personally,” this was the view of Mrs. Idrisu.

It is worth mentioning again that the highly inconsistent nature of public electricity in Nigeria coupled with the high cost of fuelling and maintaining one’s generator often lead to an increase in the cost of production.

Other tips for running the business successfully
*Ensure that your blocks of ice are produced with clean water.
*Many producers do not bother to clean the containers used in production; they just keep on using them over and over again. This is wrong; ensure that you clean them from time to time.
*Do not wait until the machines used in production start to develop some problems before you attend to them, periodically, make sure you service them, so that they do not disappoint you when you least expect.