“My love for fashion was ignited when I came to Nairobi to work for the government.

Here I found that women paid attention to the way they dressed and I soon followed suit and got compliments for my sense of style. I particularly loved West African fabric and I dreamed of starting a business designing and selling clothes. I even bought two sewing machines to that end, but my dream to be a designer never took off. I settled into my administration job and stayed at it for 15 years.

Nevertheless, I still dreamt of starting a business.I got an opportunity to do so when I started a side hustle, going to Dubai to import household goods, clothes and shoes for sale in 2000. Those days there were not as many people in that business, so business was so good that I thought to myself that if I left employment to concentrate on it, my business would thrive.

I quit my last job as an administrator at a non-governmental organisation in 2008 to focus on my Dubai hustle. I did it for four years, and initially things were good, but soon many other people got into it, and because they were importing truckloads of goods, they were able to flood the market with what I was offering and at a cheaper price. I was selling from my car boot, so I couldn’t compete and soon I had to hang my boots and get something else to do.

I decided to try my hand at organising events. However, that proved challenging because most events happen on Saturdays, which happens to be the day I go church, so I had to abandon that idea too.

Next I tried a dance school to teach children ballet and ballroom dance. Most people I asked welcomed the idea, so I thought I had finally found my niche. However, when I started the classes, the clients were hard to come by and I had to close the school after a year.

BACK TO BASICS

“I was back to square one. I started toying with different business ideas. Then one day by chance, someone asked me if I could supply football uniforms for a school team and I said yes. After that I also supplied uniforms for a hotel. It occurred to me that this was it, so I started telling people that I do uniforms. I would get an order, get someone to produce the uniforms and then hand them over to the client. It soon occurred to me that I could be the producer.

That is when I remembered my two miserable sewing machines that I had once wanted to start a fashion business with. I dusted them off and went into the uniform business full throttle.

I decided to focus on upcountry clients who are left out by the big uniform makers, who prefer to focus on the major towns.

I also realised that the small jua kali producers did not have good quality uniforms so I decided to capitalise on quality. That was in August last year. The lessons came hard and fast. First, nobody knew me except my friends and family, who didn’t need uniforms.

I knew the big names have all corners covered so I was trying to hustle for small jobs, but even those were hard to come by.  You find that people either want to go with the big names, or with the jua kali producers who make uniforms at a cheap price.

I remember waking up on some days wondering if this would work, especially in the first few months when I was paying rent and utilities from my pocket. But I learnt that nothing comes easy; you just have to keep pushing and with time it gets better, especially as you build your network and learn how to get around in business.

Moreover, every undertaking has its challenges; you just have to persevere as you work on carving out your niche.

TOUGH BEGINNING

“Our first job came at a time when every job we tried to get was slipping through our fingers. Sometimes I felt as if I was the most competitive bidder but then I would end up not getting it. I got the feeling that many of these deals are not clean, top-of-the table deals.

However, five months after we started operating, after two months of pushing, my persistence paid off and I got a tender to supply two schools with uniforms. That encouraged me to keep going.

My other challenge has been maintaining my team of 15. I often have to deal with the turnover of employees and look for replacements.

But by and by business has grown, though there is still room for more growth. I am still waiting for my big break, which would be if I got a tender to supply the uniformed forces or even a big public hospital.

Moreover, in the next few years I want to push over the big fish and create as much employment as I can. In the meantime I am happy doing the best I can and working on my goals without focusing too much on my competitors.”

HOW SHE DID IT:

•                 Do something that you like because it makes it easier to hang in there during the hard times, but keep in mind that the things you like are not necessarily the things that will work.
•                 Do your homework well. Find out who else is doing it, their challenges and prepare yourself. Don’t go into something because everyone is doing it.
•                 Have a good relationship with the people you work with and have a mutual understanding about the way the work should be done.
•                 You can never be too ready to go into business; just plunge  in and learn as you go.
•                 Leverage your network and use it to get business deals.

After being declared redundant from her top management job, Wacu Gatoto did something that she never imagined she would ever do: She opened Washoo’s Washer, a car wash, in Nkoroi in Kajiado County, and it is growing from strength to strength.

“I never imagined I would be washing cars for a living. But looking back at the spark of events that brought me here, I am amazed at what I have achieved.

“My undergraduate degree was in procurement. I remember an interview after my graduation in November 2001, where one of the gentlemen in the panel told me something that would shape the course of my career. He said, ‘Your personality doesn’t match your degree. You are too confident for it.’

Well, I worked for two years as a procurement officer anyway. But it wasn’t until I stumbled into the hospitality industry, in 2004 – and quickly rose up the ranks to management – that I realised where my strengths lay: in my personality and how I managed people.

The gentleman was right. I worked in this industry for six years, then worked my way into property management, then a security firm.

 Career crumbles

“It was while at the security firm that everything I had achieved in my career thus far crumbled. The firm was new to the market and was struggling financially. In early September 2013 – seven months in and two promotions later – the CEO called me into his office to tell me my position had been declared redundant.

I laughed. A long hard laugh. Was this a joke? No, the CEO was dead serious. He summoned HR to explain things. I don’t recall what she said because I was in deep thought: What was I to tell my family, my kids? Had I been foolish to be content and comfortable with the promotions? It was now all gone.  I picked up my things and left.

“I spent the next several days at the poolside of a local club switching between reading, swimming and thinking things through.

I was lost – I was too old to apply for other jobs, too distraught to get back into employment. I wasn’t warm to the idea of business yet. What now?

 Time to regroup

“A small security firm in Nkoroi invited me buy shares in their company and pioneer their new products. This had been my niche.

But the six months as their sales director were the least inspiring period I ever had in my working life. So I quit. Then I returned to the poolside to regroup.

“Running my own business was the next option. My first idea was to run a male spa. I got space in Nkoroi, but banks wouldn’t lend me the money for capital. ‘We don’t finance start-ups,’ they said.

My next idea was a carwash – it would be less capital-intensive and bring in more steady returns than a male spa. I got a shed right off the highway.

I booked it then waited for the end of the month to settle my deposit. But by the time it was end of the month, the landlady had already given it away. ‘You delayed,’ she yelled into the phone.

“Now here I was again, stuck – I wanted to run a business but there was no business to run. I wanted to give up, but a close friend advised me against it. ‘Now is the best time to start because you are on fire. You are angry and afraid. You cannot give up now,’ she said.

“So I went back to the ground. I got yet another carwash that was letting. It was a strip of land, no bigger than a corridor.

And the rent was far too high for the area. But I knew I needed to start. With the pooled resources from my husband and my savings, I built a temporary mabati structure as the washing bay and upgraded the equipment.  Washoo’s Washer opened shop in May 2014.

“In the first five months of business, I grew a clientele which kept coming back for the excellent service – both the customer service and the carwash service.

I wanted more women to wash the cars but the few I got lacked the passion and patience to grow with me. Either way, my team of four guys and I managed to pull over 900 carwashes and 300 loyalty-card customers.

“I invested all I was making back into the business. I invested in my staff by having professional car experts and engineers train them often. I invested in high-end machinery and equipment. I invested in research for products. My staff was on salary, I wasn’t. “The banks still wouldn’t finance my working capital because they considered me a start-up.

I relied on shylocks – the beauty about my business is that it returns cash to me on a daily basis; so I could settle with the shylocks on time, and earn a good credit rating for me to return to them for more money. Product suppliers were also of great support; the trainings and trade discounts were good.

“The business was growing, but my corridor of a washing bay was far too small to expand our services and clientele as I envisioned. I had to hit the ground again.

I got another place right off the highway. Not an ideal location but it was a much bigger space for less money – I had room for a wider washing bay, a customer lounge and a few extra spaces to rent out.  But I didn’t have the capital to expand. Shylocks couldn’t finance me to that extent. The banks were out of question.

My husband said he could support me with only a fraction of what I needed. The only solution to fill the gap was to part with my car, something I had vowed not to sell ever since I got laid off.

“We started construction in early November 2014. Our first wash was in December. I achieved my goal for the New Year – to move to a bigger space – before we closed the year. That’s a huge plus. We are up and running, but still a long way off from calling it done.”

HOW SHE DID IT:

• Start a business which will return cash on a daily basis. Even on the quietest day of business, I know I will still take something to the bank.
• Shylocks are the financing solution for the short-term and for start-ups, not banks. So find a shylock and build your credit rating with him.
• Run your business yourself. At least for the first six months, be there to run the show yourself – manage your staff and build your client relationships. Let your customers feel your presence.
• Involve your partner in what you are doing: My husband has given me the financial and moral support to keep me going.
• Don’t give up on whatever you envision for yourself or your business: Try and keep trying. Read the story about WD-40 – it wasn’t until the fortieth try they got the formula right.