The first time you meet Faith Mumbua in the streets of Nakuru Town, you may dismiss her as any other hustler trying to make ends meet. But Mumbua, 28, is the proprietress of a popular eatery in the town.
Fei Food Café is located close to the Eldoret-Nakuru highway. It is popular with university and college students from nearby satellite campuses and mushrooming education institutions.
(PHOTO: PAUL KARIUKI/STANDARD)
And what has popularised her business most is targeting the low end market niche with pocket friendly menus.
With a staff of 10, she is reaping good dividends from her venture with profits of up to Sh100,000 per month.
As any other business, the downside is when colleges break for holidays. This dips her margin slightly but being a quick thinker, Mumbua has diversified her business to take care of these occasional low flows. She offers outside catering to people with special occasions to bridge the deficit.
The old girl of Kyethivo Girls’ High School began her career at Sarova Lion Hill Hotel in Nakuru before moving to Bweha camp at Soysambu in Elementaita, also in Nakuru County. She studied at Uzuri Institute of Management, Thika in 2008
At Bweha, she was a receptionist and kitchen assistant but the business was not doing so well with the fluctuations in the tourism sector from time to time.
She quit to venture on her own five years ago.
With a seed capital of Sh20,000, mainly from her savings, she began her hotel business in Nakuru Business District.
It was tough going at first, especially being a greenhorn in the town, but she persevered and soon things began looking up.
After three years in operation, the returns were impressive that she opened another hotel but was forced to sell it after a year.
Employees at both premises had connived to steal from her making it hard to manage two ventures at the same time.
Unrealistic expansion
“Other than employees stealing, the rent at the place was too high owing to its location in a commercial building within the central business district. It was unrealistic and I had to sell it,” she says.
It had cost her Sh100,000 to put up the second hotel on a space located within the first floor of a five-storey building. She sold it for half a million shillings, making good returns in the process.
Married to businessman, Charles Githii, the workaholic mother of two begins her day at 5am. Their children attend a high cost private academy.
Family, she says, has been her anchor in trying her hand in business.
Had it not been for her husband, she says, she would not be where she is today.
She describes him as the strongest pillar in her life who is always there to render her support and see she attains her business objectives.
And she is expanding.
An outside catering and tents business will be opening doors soon. This is besides diversifying in the real estate sector by putting up several self-contained rental units on a prime plot.
“It is essential for one not to put all eggs in one basket,” she says.
Investing in staff
And what advice does she give to those venturing on their own?
“Dedication and commitment can see you achieving success in whatever field you set to establish yourself in,” she says.
What she lauds as the great investment she has ever done is investing in her staff.
Some had come, been mentored in business and left to venture on their own or landed lucrative careers elsewhere.
She does not regard a former employee as a competitor or a business rival.
“Empowering others to be self-sufficient in this competitive world is my noble goal. I have a vision where staff members start their own businesses and in turn empower others who go on to creating employment opportunities for others,” she says.
Investing in her staff made them more dedicated and committed to their jobs hence meeting business targets daily.
Ladies should dare enough to start their own businesses in the male-dominated business world, she says.
“The place may be crowded but standing out above the rest is what counts.”
