Skillnaija All courses →

Food Vendor Business: From Your First Pot to a Stall People Trust

Start and run a food business in Nigeria: choose what to sell, cook the same great taste every day, keep food safe, price every plate, get paid, and grow into parties.

Start learning free More Trades courses

Free account required to open the lessons. No card, no fees.

About this course

A practical course for anyone who wants to earn from food in Nigeria: a lunch buka, a breakfast table, small chops from a home kitchen, or office lunches on pre-order. You will choose the model that fits your street and your money, pick a short menu people actually buy, and learn the food safety that keeps customers well and coming back: the danger zone, the two-hour rule, clean hands, clean water and a stall that looks trustworthy. You will set up a kitchen that is safe with gas and hot oil, buy ingredients well at the market, write standard recipes so every plate tastes the same, and cost each plate so you know your real profit. Then you will sell and serve well, avoid fake transfer alerts, keep simple records, and grow into party orders. Lessons include cooking videos from Sisi Yemmie (SisiYemmieTV) that you can watch when you tap them, so no data is used until you choose to. Free, like every Skillnaija course.

Five years ago Bukola Adeyemi, now 34, cooked one pot of jollof rice and one pot of stew in her mother's kitchen in Ikorodu and carried them to a building site in a cooler. The builders bought everything by 1 pm. She thought about opening a small restaurant with chairs and a fan, like the ones she passed on the way to Lagos Island. Instead she kept the cooler, found a spot between the site and the bus stop, and learned what her customers wanted for two years before she built a shed. Today Bukky's Pot feeds builders, keke riders and traders from 11 am to 4 pm, and her niece Amaka runs the serving table. The restaurant can still come. Choosing the right first model is what kept her in business long enough to get there.

What you'll learn

Course syllabus — 12 lessons

  1. Which food business is yours?16 min
  2. Choosing what to sell16 min
  3. Food safety I: what makes customers sick17 min
  4. Food safety II: a clean stall people trust17 min
  5. Permits, rules and packaging16 min
  6. Setting up the kitchen: equipment, gas and fire safety17 min
  7. Buying ingredients: markets, bulk and storage16 min
  8. Cooking to a standard: the same taste every day17 min
  9. Breakfast, snacks and small chops16 min
  10. Costing and pricing a plate17 min
  11. Selling, serving and getting paid16 min
  12. Growing: parties, second outlets and your plan17 min

Your project

My Food Business Plan and Test Day

One shared link (Google Drive folder or Google Doc with view access) containing the plan (Parts 1 to 4) and the test-day evidence (Part 5), with the photos. Do not include anyone's face without their permission.

Certificates on Skillnaija are earned, not issued for attendance: you submit this project, it is graded against a rubric, and passing issues a certificate anyone can verify. See the full project brief, rubric and free workbook →

Frequently asked questions

Is Food Vendor Business: From Your First Pot to a Stall People Trust free?

Yes. Food Vendor Business: From Your First Pot to a Stall People Trust is completely free on Skillnaija. You need a free account to open the lessons, and there is no charge for the course, the project, or the certificate.

How long does Food Vendor Business: From Your First Pot to a Stall People Trust take to complete?

6 weeks · ~3 hrs/week. There are 12 lessons, about 3 hours of material in total. You learn at your own pace and your progress is saved.

Do I need any experience to start Food Vendor Business: From Your First Pot to a Stall People Trust?

Beginner-friendly. You can start from scratch — no prior experience is assumed.

What will I learn in Food Vendor Business: From Your First Pot to a Stall People Trust?

You will build practical skills in Choosing a food business model, Menu planning, Food safety and hygiene, Gas and fire safety, Market buying and storage, Standard recipes and portion control, Batch cooking, Frying and oil management, Costing and pricing a plate, Serving and customer care, Payments and fake-alert checks, Daily sales records, Quoting for party orders. Every lesson is written for a Nigerian context, with examples drawn from how the work is actually done and paid for here.

Do I get a certificate for Food Vendor Business: From Your First Pot to a Stall People Trust?

Yes, but it has to be earned. You complete the course project — My Food Business Plan and Test Day and submit it for grading. Passing the project issues a verifiable certificate; finishing the lessons alone does not.

Related Trades courses

Ready to start Food Vendor Business: From Your First Pot to a Stall People Trust?

It's free, it's self-paced, and it ends with something you can show an employer.

Start learning free