Claire Angoye wears different caps. She is an employee and she is also an entrepreneur. She is a senior financial analyst working in a fintech startup.

She is also a  co-director at The JoySil Preparatory School, a mixed day and boarding primary school that is located along Mumias–Busia Highway.

“Besides these roles, I am the founder of household business Nafuu House Collections and airbnb business Magnifique Airbnbs,” she says.

Her household business, Nafuu, operates online and specializes in the importation of premium household goods. “I import exclusive household items like Carpets and Décor and sell them to other individual clients and retailers,” she says.

Claire started this business in 2020 at the height of the pandemic. “At that time I was working at PricewaterhouseCoopers. We were working remotely and I realized that most of my colleagues had little time finding good quality household items. I started sourcing for them at a fee,” she says.

Her strategy was simple. She wanted to run this business as a side hustle. She got an errands person who handled deliveries and inquiries during the day as she focused on her fulltime roles at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

“My first business investment was Sh. 20,000 in June 2020. I used this amount to buy fleece blankets that were wholesaling at Sh. 1,300 and sold them at Sh. 2500 each,” says Claire who is in her mid-twenties.

Her Airbnb business, Magnifique Airbnb, is a chain of fully furnished residences that serves travelers and visitors to Nairobi. She started this business in July 2021 with Sh. 550,000, which she used to fully furnish a house, rent and make 2 months’ deposit.

“I was inspired by my sister Susan Were of Nyumba Zetu Airbnbs who was already in this business. I had helped her in marketing and learned the ropes on how to handle this type of business,” she says.

Starting and running the two businesses was not without challenges. The first challenge she faced in the household business was identifying quality suppliers.

“This was made harder by the fluctuation of the Kenyan Shilling against the US dollar. The depreciation of the shilling meant that I had to dig deeper into my pocket to buy and ship in products,” says Claire.

She says that for her household business, breaking even was a matter of the first 10 sales. “The household business has good profit margins. What you need to get right is the source of your products and have returning customers and consistent referrals,” she says.

For Airbnb business, Claire took about six months to break even. She is quick to point out that with the Airbnb business, the time you take to break even will mostly depend on your location and pricing. “The time can be shorter or longer depending on your pricing, location and client flow,” she says.

She recalls that when she started her Airbnb business, she had a smooth landing as she leveraged on her sister’s guidance.

“The real challenge came with handling rogue clients. For instance, there was an incident where people had a drinking spree in my residence and broke a couple of appliances. I was fairly new in the business and was quite scared to confront them or ask for compensation. But with time, I have learnt to be super strict on house rules and the crop of guests that come on board,” she says.

Claire says that she would rather have high paying quality clients than shady clients who pay less, leave the residence in a mess, and make you count losses.

“I also focus on long term stay clients who are willing to commit for a week or month. I have observed that those who stay longer strive to be decent and respectful of the property. I have also brought in a house-rules agreement that clients sign when on-boarding,” she says.

Also, running her household goods business came with its fair share of challenges.

“I started this business while I was in full time employment. This made it hard for me to establish a business routine,” she says.

Although the business was picking up well, her time and efforts were very limited. “I had to work around that by plugging into various business communities and understanding how fellow business owners were overcoming the type of challenges I was facing,” she says.

She also faced the challenge of mixing business money with her personal money. “All my money, personal and business, was flowing into one account. Sometimes this could give me the impression that the business was doing well but when I sat down to do the math, I would find that things were not as rosy as they appeared,” she says.

Today, she operates with separate accounts, biashara notebook and Excel Expenses Tracker for her businesses. “Eating business revenue is real! Please get those till numbers, and open separate accounts for your businesses,” she says.

With her personal finances, she has taken to saving through the money market funds, fixed deposits, SACCOS and Chamas. “I have learnt to stay frugal and avoid having idle money with me.  Previously, I tried saving on my current bank account, then I realized that I was always withdrawing whenever I felt like treating myself,” she says.

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Claire shares that two weeks ago, she had one of her major business milestones. A high-end client placed an order for 46 duvets worth Sh. 140,000!

“This was a first-time client. I did not know her. She just saw my post in a group which I had made one year ago, and she messaged me, and paid before delivery. When I sent my driver and errands person to make the delivery they were surprised that it was a well-known public figure’s residence,” she says.

Being a full-time employee, Claire says that neither employment nor entrepreneurship is superior to the other. “The two are interlocked. They need each other. Try and blend the two depending on your ultimate goals, risk appetite and purpose,” she says.

“If you’re in business, remember that even as an entrepreneur, you are an employee in your own business so if you don’t put in the work, no one else will.”

She adds that it is important for young women to plug into social circles like Small Business Kenya FB Community, 52 Weeks Savings Challenge, Career Women Kenya, Successful Female Entrepreneurs Kenya and others.

“I gather a lot of actionable insights from these communities. I have also learned not to be desperate for money,” she says.

“Understand the compounding effect and embrace the multiplier effect. Know which activities compound and multiply your money.  And always save a fraction of your profits for reinvestment. Above all enjoy and celebrate the little moments.”

This feature on Claire Angoye was first published in the Saturday Magazine. The Saturday Magazine is a publication of the Nation Media Group.