Nancy Amunga started by selling used clothes at Gikomba market and now only getting her name featured in Forbes Magazine can quench her thirst.
With untamed determination and confidence to have a better tomorrow, 23-year-old Nancy does not fear failure. She says that in order to achieve anything in life, several setbacks are just a set up to a greater comeback.
Her mitumba business was failing terribly and to get back to her feet, she joined a network marketing business which involved selling herbal drugs; this also failed.
Despite failing for the second time, Amunga did what most successful people do- they never give up. She was able to pick herself up, dust herself off and carry on. She started bracing herself for another business challenge- Courier Services.
“I had heard a lot of companies complaining about inefficiencies with their courier delivery services such as delays of up to six hours and often time longer. I have also been a victim and I decided to be part of the solution,” she says. But that was just it, an idea.
Amunga did not have finances to set up the business and therefore sought out employment as she forged a way forward. She has worked with different television programmes. She hosted Comedy Club, was a production assistant of Bebabeba on NTV and is still a writer with Home Assured Magazine.
It was not until November last year, that her idea of coming up with the courier service organization was mooted. She met Manish Shah, the Executive Chairman of Kingsway Tyres at a business forum and grabbed that opportunity to pitch her idea.
“He asked for my business card but I didn’t have any, he told me the secret to business is “always to be prepared” and then he advised that when I am prepared I can go back and share my idea with him.
I did not sleep, I was fascinated by Shah’s trust in me and my business idea, I trusted in myself more, and here I am,” she says. Amunga is now the founder and director of DANA Communications, which among other services offers courier services.
With the little savings she had, she hit the ground running and now she has employed five people in their small office on Mfangano street, Nairobi. Once stable and with enough capital, she intends to expand the business to all parts of the country.
“DANA is here to salvage and assist companies, especially online stores in satisfying their clients by ensuring fast and efficient delivery services,” she says. Amunga says she is not one to complain all the time about situations that are especially beyond her control.
She urges young people who keep on complaining and waiting on the government to give them a job, “you cannot complain the rest of your life, wake up and do something, be the one to create employment opportunities,” says Amunga.
She draws her strength and determination to achieve and succeed in life from her mum who also used to sell groceries and second-hand clothes. “Since an apple does not fall far from the tree, I think that’s where I got the courage and zeal to be an entrepreneur,” Amunga says.
She wants to be on the cover of Forbes Magazine in less than 10 years. Forbes is the magazine for the world’s business leaders, and makes lists such as the 20 richest people in the world, “That is where I belong. I have a thing for swimming with the big sharks. I know it’s easier said than done but if others made it, whom am I not to?” she asks. Among her major clients are the National Organisation of Peer Educators (NOPE) and Lake Gas Group. And her company is worth half a million.