Llewellyn Ouya is a Kenyan financial consultant-cum-tiktoker who also goes by the alias ‘Mr. Know it all’. He started Tiktoking with the aim of imparting financial knowledge to his viewers. He makes videos about saving, investing, budgeting, and other financial topics.
In 2021, Llewellyn Ouya made a series of videos about various business ideas one can start with a budget of ksh 10,000 to ksh 50,000. The videos went viral, accruing him thousands of followers on TikTok.
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However, there was one problem. TikTok videos have a very short lifespan, and it can be hard to trace a specific video unless you download it. Therefore, hundreds of Ouya’s fans started flocking to his TikTok DM, requesting to be tagged in specific videos. Due to the high traffic, Ouya found it hard to tag all of them.
Consequently, he decided to compile the information in the videos into an eBook. Fans could then purchase and pick their ideal idea from the eBook, which would contain 50 business ideas in various categories. He says he wrote the eBook in under an hour.
Initially, Ouya says he intended to retail the book at ksh 500 per copy. However, his brother advised him to cut the price so that even his less financially endowed fans – such as students – could afford the book. He decided to sell a copy at ksh 200.
Ouya then compiled another video to tell his fans about the eBook and how they could purchase it. The video gained over 70 thousand views on TikTok.
Contrary to his expectations, the eBook was wildly successful, selling six copies on the first day. Over the following weeks, Ouya received orders from all over the country and diaspora, especially from the Middle East.
”When writing the book, my goal was to sell at least 20 copies per week. However, it reached a point where I could sell more than 20 copies in a day,”
says Ouya.
When starting, he would record the transactions on an excel sheet. He would then calculate the money he had made from the book over that month. Within the next three months, Ouya had sold over 2,000 copies. The sales kept increasing to the point where he could not keep track of the transactions.
The Tiktoker launched an e-commerce website where customers could access and buy the book. He also retailed it on ecommerce sites like muthurwa.com, further increasing his customer base.
From his experience, Ouya says he learned that you don’t have to overthink a business idea.
“Mine was just a flash idea. I just thought that since these business ideas were greatly in demand, why not capitalize on them?”
He says he has previously invested in various businesses, but none has had as huge returns as the eBook. All he invested in the book was his knowledge, 60 minutes of his time, and communication skills.
He advises budding entrepreneurs not to overthink whether their idea will succeed.
“I never expected this kind of success. I expected to sell the book for a maximum of one week and that the sales would taper off”,
he says.
In future, the TikToker hopes to write and sell more books. He says it’s a good way of making money while still impacting the world.