I make packaging bags using photocopying papers.
When plastics bags were banned last year, I noticed that businesspeople in Nyahururu, Laikipia County, were struggling as they didn’t have non-plastic packaging for their products.
I decided to quit my teaching job at a technical institute – I was a computer instructor – and started making packaging bags using photocopying paper.
I purchase a ream at Sh500 and modify the papers into packing bags using a square-shaped metal, and later seal the edges using an adhesive.
My clients are mostly shopkeepers, cereal and grocery traders and agro vets.
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I’ve found plenty of demand in Nyahururu and its neighbouring towns. I make the bags on order and in a day I can make about 3,600 bags.
I have six employees who help me prepare the bags, and market and sell them. I sell them in 100-piece bundles at Sh300, which earns me Sh1,000 in profit per ream.
I believe that if more young people worked towards self-employment, the chances are high that they’d create the opportunities that their peers need.
(Ismael Wachira, 29)
