When covid 19 hit Kenya in 2020, Million of Kenyans were left jobless after the country imposed a coronavirus-induced lockdown to contain the spread of the disease.

While millions of Kenyans suffered layoffs and pay cuts, the pandemic was a blessing in disguise for others.

Doris Wanja is one of the few Kenyans who hugely benefitted from the Covid 19 pandemic. Wanja, who was a customer service representative at MP Shah Hospital, went into entrepreneurship after losing her job.

The seed for entrepreneurship was planted in her by her father, who is also a successful businessman.

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“In April 2020, I went on a trip to Uhuru market. Some tailors told me they wanted to make masks but didn’t know how to go about it. I gave them the idea of watching the procedure on YouTube, and it worked well,’’  said Wanja.

After getting a good source, Wanja resorted to hawking non-woven masks in Nairobi CBD. She sold her products to both hawkers and individual customers at between Sh30 and Sh50.

The business was promising, but after a few months, she ditched it for a more profitable venture within the sector.

Wanja went for the mask cover sheets, a move she presently credits for her success. While the profit margins were very low, her clientele base was way high as she was among the first people to step into the business.

“Many hawkers from Eastlands used to buy the covers from my shop. I used to buy 500 pieces of the small covers at Sh250 and sell each at Sh1. So I used to get a profit of 50 cents from each piece, so the whole packet gave me Sh500.”

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“I also had the big covers, which made me a profit of Sh1 each but I would sell very many pieces in a day,’’ added Wanja.

In a single day, she would make Sh20,000 in profits. She said the business taught her the value of every shilling, given the profits she made from 50 cents.

She diversified to supplying surgical masks, and it was not long before she became the biggest supplier of surgical masks in Uhuru market.

Throughout her journey, Wanja acknowledged the importance of persistence in business. She advised people trying out to be shameless about what they do.

She presently sells leather bags which she markets through her social media platforms, notably TikTok.