‘I have Uhuru as a client’: Start-up’s path to success in luxury leather industry

You are in your late 20s, bored and already thinking about retirement. What do you do? You take a break to try and revitalise yourself and find sense of purpose. Or, as was the case for Chebet Mutai, skip the holiday altogether and attend a women in business event organised by Google.

“I was just going there for the fun of it. I didn’t realise the magnitude of the effect that single day would have on my life,” she says.

During the event, a facilitator asked participating members what their passions were.

“I couldn’t figure out what my passion was for quite some time. How could I, at my age, not know what my passion was.”

But at least she was certain of one thing: the bank job she had at the time was not anywhere near her list of what she considered possible candidates for her passion. She did not see herself last long in the world of economic theories and business strategies.

“But I knew I loved clothes,” Ms Mutai says of a business she started straight out of campus in a bid to make ends meet.

“The hard part was convincing myself that my passion actually lay in clothes, and then converting that into a viable business model.

“I would buy men’s shirts in bulk and sell them at a profit. I used the money from my first sales to make trips to Dubai for affordable clothing to sell. What made people loyal to my products was the quality of what I was bringing in. I strived to provide the best quality at the lowest possible price. That way, I maintained a steady stream of clients.”

But she soon realised the model was not self-sustaining. 

“Male shoppers are a complicated lot. Their buying sprees are far and wide,” Mutai says.

She ended up with a lot of idle stock, translating into inaccessible capital. With cash reserves running low, she had to find a job.

“I closed down my stall and started tarmacking. That is how I ended up working in a bank,” says the Kenyatta University economics and French graduate.

But the entrepreneurial bug soon bit her again.

“The period I spent in employment showed me first-hand the challenges facing our country, and by sitting pretty day in, day out, I knew I would never be part of any solution. I wanted to be part of the narrative of retelling our success stories of beating poverty,” Mutai says.

“So I went back to my passion and looked at ways through which I could use it to bring positive change, not only to my country, but to the continent as well.”

Lifestyle brand

That is when she combined her passion and the newly acquired knowledge from her job to set up WazaWazi, a combination of two Swahili words to mean open mindedness. That was in May 2012.

“WazaWazi is an Afrocentric lifestyle brand out of Kenya that tells the story of modern-day Africa through art, culture, high fashion and superior craftsmanship,” she says.

At this second stab at entrepreneurship, a few things in her business approach changed.

“I moved from importing clothes from abroad to using locally available fabrics and materials to make my own,” Mutai says.

Leather is WazaWazi’s main medium of expression, and the company’s repertoire includes high-end leather accessories, such as handbags, belts, wallets, purses and travel bags. Prices range between Sh3,800 and Sh30,000.

“We are now all about functional leather art,” says the 31-year-old.

So what makes WazaWazi stand out?

“Each collection is designed and created with the intention of making a personal statement. Each art piece is brought to life by an artist who understands we are all about representing Africa’s essence. We create designs that are not only culturally expressive, but ones that are magnificent and unapologetic, too,” Mutai says.

After just three years, the company now employs eight people, with a turnover that is looking up. She counts among her clients President Uhuru Kenyatta, top athletes, and a growing number of Kenyans looking for unique, quality products that define their Africanness in a trendy way.

DIFFICULT journey

But, she says, getting to where she is now has not been a walk in the park.

“It has been a hard journey. But in spite of all the challenges, the important thing for anyone out there is to continue trudging on. As long as the business is founded on honesty, hard work and passion, it is just a matter of time before the stars start aligning,” she says.

“Of course, professional business training and identifying mentors also helps a lot.”

Ironically, her bank job entailed helping small enterprises access capital. In the first year of her business, she was to come head to head with the problems she was helping solve as an employee.

“To date, access to capital remains one of the biggest hindrances to the growth of small enterprises,” she says.

One of the solutions for this problem is the involvement of corporates in supporting local enterprises, Mutai believes.

“Large corporates have the ability to sustain many start-ups. They can make orders in volumes that would help small business owners grow their companies; we need to see them get more involved. This will then have a trickle-down effect, creating more business for SMEs, and more employment opportunities for the youth and women.”

For WazaWazi, she says, the key has been to not lose focus of the company’s vision and to have the right people interacting with the business.

“If your staff is not sold on what you do, then the journey can be treacherous,” she says.

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