Pandemic blessings: Four young entrepreneurs earning profits from a passion

Susan Ngolo pastry business

When they say you have a good head over your shoulders, literally, perhaps you need to thank Valentine Auma. She is a masterful hairdresser, and at 21 looks like she has had a lifetime of experience. Because she has had. As a three-year-old, she practiced making her doll’s hair often and knew she had it in her fingers.

Valentine the hair weaver

She serves up to six clients a day. Out of more than ten bookings a day, she will manage half. Had Covid-19 not come, she would probably not be making half the money she mints a day, and her gifted hands would not be put fully into use.

“When schools closed (in March 2020), parents expected us to go back home. If you opted not to, then you had to cater for all your expenses. It was hard paying the bills,” says Auma. Her father had lost his job.

But necessity prompted innovation. Within no time, she had rekindled her love for braiding.

She started mobile hairdressing, that is, going to the clients’ homes. But she was spending a lot on transport and few tipped her. It was tough, and she was only able to serve a limited number of customers.

“With time, through referrals, the clients increased. Inversely, the pinch I felt spending on fares and other business needs declined,” she says.

As her client base broadened, two friends joined her to help, and work got easier.

Now, with what she calls unique prices, she is able to style up to six people in a day. Her average charge is Sh1,500, which she says is a few hundred shillings below what your local salon will demand from you for the same product.

When schools reopened briefly, Auma says she had to disappoint some of her clients as she juggled between work and school.

“I used to work over weekends. It was not enough for them,” she says.

Auma, @Valentinohairdos254 on Instagram, is doing what she loves and getting paid for it, thanks to the pandemic.

Ms Ngolo THE CHEF

In Bamburi, Susan Ngolo lost her job in April 2020 when the branding and printing company that had employed her relocated to Nairobi.

She was an administrator and was tasked with collecting orders, conducting customer meetings, maintaining the company’s social media accounts, managing relationships with customers, and providing administrative support to sales representatives and senior management.  

During Ramadhan, just a month later, Ms Ngolo and four of her sisters staged a cooking competition amongst themselves. She had always loved cooking and baking, and it was no surprise when she floored them all after showcasing superior culinary skills.

“I decided to go pro. It was an opportunity to start my own thing. I always had had love for the kitchen and with support from my mum, who taught me a myriad of skills, and other family members, the business kicked off,” says Ms Ngolo.

She started baking and posting the products on her social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Her nephew, Ahmed Said, has helped her with social media and marketing.

Susan Ngolo pastry business

“Family and friends were the first customers. Soon, I was sponsoring ads and with a wider reach, I got more customers. Customers who bought from me never left; they actually got me referrals, and I realised I was growing.”

She one day processed and delivered an order for 100 people. That was the ultimate test of her abilities, and she was enchanted she had made it.

“I felt energised and suddenly had new motivation, that I could do it. I felt I really belonged in the pastry world,” she says.

There was no turning back.

What she did not learn from her mother she learnt from YouTube. And here she was making steps, even though she still bakes from home.

In a good day, she makes Sh15,000. And once she has deducted her expenses, she might take home Sh9,000.

Muthengi the gaming master

Her business, Snackly Gateaux, which goes by the same name on social media pages, has given her joy and peace of mind through a troubled period.

In April 2020, with Sh400,000, Timothy Muthengi started a gaming hub in Kahawa Wendani. He bought four playstations, four screens and licenses and kicked off.

But he was soon wondering what took him to that investment and almost closed immediately he started it after Covid-19 threatened to stall the business.

“For three months struggled but I didn’t give up and continued to pay the rent. I opted to turn to hiring out the gaming sets when I was not opened, I reopened and it turns out campus students were back to school, the high school students were still home and boredom made them seek entertainment,” says Muthengi. 

He is a footballer most of my clients were teammates, and friends of teammates.

“I have maintained customers by being close to them, creating WhatsApp groups and discussing about football in such groups, creating tournaments, training new members and I make them feel like they belong to the community,” he says.

So far, the business is “very sustainable”, he says, and it pays his rents and maintains him.

“It is not a mega business. It is just for medium earners but it is something worthy giving my time. I plan to start a bigger venture, with all types of gaming, that’s Virtual Reality Playstation, and even create a competitive site where individuals who feel they are at their peak can compete professionally and earn money playing against each other.” 

The only regret he has is why he did not start early enough. He only has one employee. “This has helped me ease my mind through the adversity of Covid-19 and also helped me grow well financially. The biggest worry is that the government keeps on adding more taxes both from county and central governments. They get too high, this will kill many young dreams and many people will forfeit business,” he says. 

Sylvia the queen of chilli

 Sylvia Otieno makes, and sells, chilli sauce. She started it after losing her job at the height of the pandemic. Someone had gifted her a blender and it was time to put it into good use.

“I noticed that chilli was fast moving. I love chilli. So many people were making sauces at the time, It was a good idea,” she says. She started her marketing online, attracting family and friends among the first customers.

Ms Otieno, who also started a cloud kitchen in November where clients make orders for any kind of food, produces the chilli sauce on order.

A 580ml jar of chilli costs Sh370.

She plans to expand this business further in the future.

For many like the trio, what started as a desperate gamble to survive the Covid-19 turbulence has turned into a job worth holding onto.

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