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The idea: I am an interior architect so was designing spaces for adults when I was expecting our first child. I looked around for children's products and could not find anything suitable. First, safety was not a big concern and a lot of the stuff was imported so had foreign cartoon characters. I found that a lot of the furniture did not have local interesting content and saw an opportunity to create content that was inspirational, safe and well designed.
So Funkidz has a brand made of animals characters, we have various sub brands within us: technology and education for children then we recently launched a brand of dolls called Ndoto Zetu which is a partnership with Umba so girls can dream to be who they want to be because if you do not inspire girls at an early age you are doing an injustice.
What happened next: I first studied carpentry then researched modern ways of manufacturing. Finally, I started with two carpenters. The important thing was to start. But I did my research and design work because we have our own creative stuff. When you are starting, it's important to keep it simple. Now we have 23 employees and are exporting globally.
Running a startup: Choosing the right people from the beginning is key. I do not care if you got D's or E's what I look at is are you good at what you do and will you add value. It's not about academic qualifications – there are a lot of people with straight A's that I would never employ it's about being good and having the right attitude.
I also dreamed bigger, a lot of the times we imagine because we are a small business, we can export products but we actually can. For example, when starting out, I wanted to be a global brand and now we are exporting in the East Africa market and our dolls just this year alone have gone as far as Myanmar. In fact since we launched the dolls in March we are exporting to 10 countries around the world.
Where I am now: I have to remember everyday why we do what I do because it's not a walk in the park. I have to be ten steps ahead, like when making furniture, we are constantly asking ourselves ways of becoming more efficient. So we are continuously listening to our customers needs and creating products around that. Also I am constantly seek business knowledge, to be an entrepreneur you have to be good at what you do, so you have to learn business. I have gone to Strathmore Business School, Standford Seed Business School and even USIU.
My Tip: Do not listen to the voices in your head and the naysayers.
Fact Box
Launched: December 2010
Website: http://www.funkidz.co.ke/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/funkidz/
Location: First floor Museum Hill Centre, Muthithi Road, Nairobi, Kenya
Phone: +254 729 824344; 020-3740140
Email: [email protected]
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