HOW TO MAKE EFO RIRO

By Omolade Rasaq

Efo riro is a Nigerian traditional vegetable soup with its origin in the Yoruba-speaking part of the country. Efo riro is incomplete without locust beans and palm oil. The best vegetables suitable for this recipe are efo tete or efo shoko.

For those who don’t know what it is and want to try, we have reproduced it just for you!

Ingredients

Beef

Cow tripe (Shaki)

Cowskin (Ponmo)

Dry fish

Palm oil (20 cl)

Efo Shoko (500g)

Pepper mixtures(Red bell peppers, Scotch Bonnet peppers, chilli pepper)

2 tbsp ground crayfish

1½ Onions

Seasoning cubes

2 tbsp of locust beans (iru)

Salt

Before you start;

Wash and cut the vegetable into big chunk. Soak vegetable in hot water for about 3 minutes drain and set aside.

Wash locust beans and set aside.

Soak the dry fish till soft and debone.

Deseed the peppers and blend roughly.

Method

Start cooking the caw tripe on high heat with little water. When the cow tripe is almost done, add meat, chopped onions, salt and seasoning cube and continue cooking.

In another pot, pour the palm oil and heat it. Once hot, add the remaining onions and fry for 2 minutes.

Then add locust beans fry for a minute. Now pour your blended pepper mixture, and stir together. Add salt, seasoning cube and crayfish. Allow to cook for about 20 minutes.

Once the oil is floating at the top, add smocked fish, ponmo, and meats. Stir and taste for salt.

Add the vegetables to the sauce and stir very well, cover the pot and allow to cook for about 4 minutes. After some minutes, take the pot off the heat.

Your Efo riro is ready.

Culled from: /guardian.ng/life

MARKETING TIPS FOR GROWING SMALL BUSINESSES

BY VWEDE OVERAH

The foremost goal of any business, big or small, is to make profit and grow. How do you achieve profitability and business expansion?

Achieving this isn’t an uphill task as it takes knowledge, determination and skillful direction. Definitely, effective marketing also plays a key role here. Success formula for one business may not necessarily be the same for another, but certain action plans are common factors that drive business success. Again, these will translate to success if only they are understood and well applied how and when necessary.

Briefly, we would look at some marketing ideas that could influence the growth of about any business from cradle to maturity with little or almost no spending.

Marketing, as we know, is the key to success in just about all businesses. Hence, it is not unusual for a mediocre product with great marketing to overtake a good product that is poorly marketed. The question here is: since small and medium-sized businesses can’t afford the luxury of spending on blockbuster marketing ideas for their products or services what is the way out? What can you do to improve their marketing results?

The answer is simple: pay attention to what big companies (as well as other small businesses) do to introduce and promote their products, and then adapt their marketing techniques to meet your own target clients and budget.

Here are some marketing ideas to consider:

Form strategic alliances with other businesses: Look out for businesses that would interest your target market and explore ways you can work together. Whether you actively market each other’s services, or team up to jointly work on clients’ jobs, strategic alliances can extend your reach and further enhance your bottom-line.

WEBSITE – Get a functional website for your business if you haven’t already done so. The world is now a global village. Make it much easier for people to locate and get in touch with you.

Segment your market and create products or develop areas that would appeal specifically to the needs of each segment of your audience.

Be different: As a small business owner, emulate the techniques of bigger businesses. Study you competitor, find something that distinguishes you from them – and then promote the difference. The difference could be your slogan, a key difference in your product, or even a perceived difference. For instance, are the cakes you produce fluffier and more colourful? Are your services via your website and across all social media network?

Expand into new markets: Sell your vegetable products to local restaurants and catering facilities as well as directly to consumers; if you sell computer accessories to small businesses, look into soliciting business from bigger companies, and federal, state or local government agencies.

WEBSITE – Get a functional website for your business if you haven’t already done so. The world is now a global village. Make it much easier for people to locate and get in touch with you.

SOCIAL MEDIA – A lot of people are on one form of social media network or another. Know the social networks your customers participate in, and then spend a few minutes a day participating in the one or two most customers use.

Send a card or postcard to customers to remind them when they need to come back for a check-up, or to remind them in advance of an appointment scheduled months in advance. These could also be facilitated using emails.

Talk to your customers – Make it a habit to ask them for feedback. Ask them what you can do to better serve their needs. This could be done formally of verbally. If you see a trend in what’s being asked for, act on it.

Send email to your customers: Plan regularly scheduled emails or Newsletters providing your customers with discounts and special offers, product tips, helpful hints for improving their business or their personal lives, or other information that will help them remember you and visit your store or website again. 

SEEK REFERRAL - Ask your customers to give you referrals. Happy customers will readily oblige you, especially if there is an incentive tied to it.

Give away something useful with a purchase over a certain amount, you might give an inexpensive neck scarf with clothing purchases, or a make-up kit to frequent customers to your hair salon.

Be proactive and be persistent. Consistent marketing is key to success for any small business. Always follow up with prospective and lost clients. You have to keep at it until you achieve desired result. Then, if you want to continue your momentum, you have to keep on marketing.