Man started business with Sh 500 still hawking 20 years later

Martin Mburu, 45

I sell a variety of items like wallets, curtains, bed sheets, blankets and clothing items like undergarments for both male and female genders.

I have been in this line for twenty years currently. Initially, I ventured into farming after the high school and it was not realistic to live through farming alone owing to the much that went into inputs and the little realized in returns.

Post-harvest losses and middlemen also conspired to make farming less worth one’s investment.

With only Sh500, I set into the path of self-employment after buying a set of items and went about hawking them in Nakuru town streets and the suburbs.

I have never operated from a fixed position and had been an itinerant hustler always on the move practically all the time looking for customers.

Though walking is as challenging as well as rewarding, rainy seasons are a different story as my movements are highly curtailed.

Other than this, competition is much, with numbers of school leavers directly engaging in similar businesses or employed as sales agents.

Midmonth is when the sales are low owing to financial situation of many.

To pitch well and see stock moving, I have to convince potential buyers to buy like a pair or a set of few items and get a price discount. Income is not consistent on a daily basis.

Some days, I have to return home with much of the stock having made little sales.

On a good day, however, I make Sh3, 000 and as low as Sh500 on a bad one.