Khadijah Hussein, a business lady from the coastal region has narrated how she succeeded in entrepreneurship even without higher education.
Khadijah, who sells Mabuyu (Baobab fruits), revealed that she ventured into entrepreneurship after quitting her 10-year job, which did not pay enough to sustain all her needs.
“Sometimes I had to borrow fare to go to work,” She told The Star.
In 2021, she started making mabuyu from her one-room rented house. With only Sh200, she bought 1kg of raw mabuyu, 1kg of sugar, food colour, and packaging nylons.
After packaging, she would sell the products to residents, mostly neighbours, for Sh10, making a profit of between Sh300 and Sh400 daily.
“I made the mabuyu, packed it in small packets, and started selling them at Sh10 a packet in the neighbourhood,” Khadija said.
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She utilized social media, particularly TikTok, to market her products and even attended food bazaars and other social events to sell them.
“I believed that one day I will look back and appreciate my effort. I felt that being employed would not bring out the best in me. And having felt unappreciated, I thought I should put the effort into my own business,” She added.
It was not long before the business started to peak, presenting another opportunity for Khadijah to diversify her products.
She started making other Swahili snacks including achari, labania, tambi, kashata and chauro (chevda), making profits of between Sh3,000 and Sh4,000 daily.
She sells the products both locally and internationally, with some of the products exported to the UK, US, Australia, through DHL.
Khadija urged her fellow youth to just start and not think about many things when they decide to do business.
“Work hard to build your business on your own and don’t depend on other sources. If you build yourself first, support will come naturally,” she said.
