C-Wanjiku Interiors Enterprenureship.pptx

Case study of successful entrepreneurs in Nairobi

1. Group 5 GROUP MEMBERS Hans Gaya- 23ZAD108328 Tamala Rayola-23ZAD108385 Mary Dennis Mrihe-24ZAD108874 Angella Nyiha Wanderi-24ZAD109363 Stephanie Abayo-24ZAD109408

2. ABOUT C. WANJIKU INTERIORS Entrepreneurs profile and background of the Business - Stephanie Abayo Name: Cindy Wanjiku. Name of Business : C.wanjiku interiors. Industry: Furniture and Interior Designs. Location: Seasons, Kasarani. Launched: 2019 to Date

3. 1. BUSINESS IDEA AND START UP PHASE – STEPHANIE ABAYO INSPIRATION FOR STARTING THE BUSINESS Cindy’s business, like many others, was born out of passion. She knew she had a love for design,at first starting out with designing clothes and having a run with that before eventually launching C. Wanjiku interiors. VALIDATION OF THE BUSINESS IDEA Before starting her business, she knew she had a lot to do behind the scenes. She focused on the following to validate her business. Market research, conducting competitor analysis and validating her idea with experts. On market research, Wanjiku understood that she needed to gather proper information about the business she was about to get herself into. She also engaged with her competitors , to have a better understanding on how they were going about issues in their businesses.

4. BIGGEST CHALLENGE FACED DURING THE START UP PHASE The biggest challenge Wanjiku faced while starting up her business was lack of sufficient capital. She was venturing into the furniture business with no funds, to make furniture even to showcase to potential buyers. She decided to buy a ready-made bed from one of her competitors and use it as her own to attract customers, but it was still challenging to convince potential buyers to buy furniture from her with just one piece of furniture to showcase. MAIN SOURCE OF FUNDING The funding for C. Wanjiku interiors was from her saving part of allowance while she was in the University. Cindy started saving through Cooperative Bank, way before she knew she would start up her business and this is what came in handy for her during the launch of her business. REFLECTION ON THE START UP PHASE AND POTENTIAL CHANGES Wanjiku says every experience has been a learning experience thus far and she would not change a thing.

5. 2. MARKET AND CUSTOMER INSIGHT – STEPHANIE ABAYO HOW DID YOU IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET MARKET Wanjiku says she purposed for her business to be heavily social media oriented, and that was also her target market. The first thing she did was open up accounts across all social media platforms, with more focus on Instagram and Facebook to be able to reach out to potential customers.

6. WHAT STRATEGIES DO YOU USE TO RETAIN YOUR CUSTOMERS? To be able to record high client retention, Cindy uses strategies such as flash sales, offers and influencer marketing. On flash sales and offers, Cindy lowers the price of items so that customers can acquire them for a cheaper price. HOW DO YOU HANDLE CUSTOMER FEEDBACK BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE? Cindy values her customers, and therefore values their feedback, whether negative or positive. With negative feedback, she ensures to relay this information to her team so that they can have a better understanding on where they went wrong and can improve on next time. With positive feedback, she congratulates her team for a job well done and assures her customers for good service through and through

7. WHAT TRENDS DO YOU SEE EMERGING IN YOUR INDUSTRY? Wanjiku states that people are now more bold and fun when it comes to the furniture. When she started out the business, she received orders that were plain and basic, but now people are into loud colors and expressive statements. This has also made her work more fun, as she feels that they challenge her and bring her out of her comfort zone. HOW DO YOU DIFFERENTIATE YOUR BUSINESS FROM COMPETITORS? Cindy stays ahead of her competitors by having exceptional customer service, outsourcing quality and affordable materials so that her clients can get affordable but quality products. She also says that the flash sales and offers from time to time give her an added advantage.

8. 3. BUSINESS OPERATIONS AND GROWTH- HANS GAYA WHAT KEY METRICS DO YOU TRACK TO MONITOR THE HEALTH OF YOUR BUSINESS? Wanjiku manages business operations by delegating work to her and employees and gives a worksheet for everyone to be able to balance things out along with giving assignments to her employees in order to track their efficiency, She ensures that her operations are manually run and does not use automated systems as she stated she prefers doing things manually. She mentioned that she posts videos at a specific time and uploads her content at certain times. HOW WOULD YOU RUN THE DAY TO DAY OPERATIONS? She ensures that the workload is manageable for her employees by managing the amount of orders her employees can work with. Capacity depends on orders and profit being made; this corresponds to the amount of online orders she gets because her business has an online presence.

9. WHAT SYSTEMS OR TOOLS HAVE BEEN INTEGRAL TO YOUR SUCCESS? Mpesa. Instagram analytics. Google analytics, are some of the major tools used to receive money from customers, relationships with .customers and to understand how to better serve clients. AT WHAT POINT DID YOU DETERMINE THE RIGHT TIME TO EXPAND OR SCALE THE BUSINESS? The entrepreneur, felt that the right time to expand was when demand from customer's, became overwhelming for the human resource she had at the time. Cindy expanded her business, when she realized her workers were overworking, therefore not producing quality pieces because the workload was too much for them, as the demand had increased. She later decided to open another workshop and add her workers. CAN YOU SHARE STRATEGIES YOU USE TO MAINTAIN A WORK LIFE BALANCE? Ensuring that she sets time for herself to something that she enjoys. She intentionally sets this time apart once a week, each week.

10. 4. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT- ANGELA WANDIRI HOW DO YOU MANAGE CASHFLOW IN YOUR BUSINESS C.Wanjiku manages cash flow by having two separate accounts,one for her business and the other for personal expenses. By not mixing funds,she avoids confusion and spending money which was for the business. Cindy ensures that she /sticks to the budget according to the order that has been given to her to make. WHAT ARE SOME COMMON MISTAKES THAT ENTREPRENUERS SHOULD AVOID? Wanjku pointed out financial mistakes entrepreneurs often make. One of the biggest is overspending , which can put the business at risk. She also mentioned that not separating business and personal accounts can be challenging as one can use the funds for the business. Cindy emphasized on where to source and compare prices as a financial mistake which requires her to find suppliers for the materials or services her business requires ensuring she gets the best deals and avoid spending a lot of money . The last mistake she mentioned was paying in installments as it can lead to extra costs.

11. HOW DO YOU SET PRICING FOR YOUR PRODUCTS OR SERVICES? When setting prices for her products or services , Wanjiku looks at the cost of materials and the expenses involved. She also looks at what similar businesses are charging and considers what her customers are willing to pay. This helps her find a price that covers costs while staying competitive in the market. HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR ECONOMIC DOWN TURNS OR SLOW PERIODS? Cindy offers flash sales to her customers to excite and attract them during slow periods . Wanjiku also keeps a stock of ready-made items , so she can fulfill orders without delay and stay responsive to market demand. This minimizes economic downturns in her business. WHAT ROLES DO INVESTORS OR LOANS PLAY IN YOUR BUSINESS? C.Wanjiku shared that she does not rely on investors or loans because her business is self paying . She funds her business through the money she earns rather than taking loans.

12. 5. LEADERSHIP AND TEAM BUILDING – TAMALA RAYOLA HOW DO YOU RECRUIT AND RETAIN TALENTED EMPLOYEES? C.Wanjiku recruits her employees by giving them a pre-test. This can be a task such as instructing them to build a bed that is referred to as a piecework. Through this exercise, Wanjiku can evaluate their skills and deduce whether the employee can work for her. She adds that in this Jua kali field academic qualifications are seldom necessary, good workmanship is what is needed. Wanjiku says that retaining her employees can be a bit tricky sometimes due to orders being random and some carpenters may be impatient to wait for the next order. She however gives incentives such as buying them lunch occasionally and installing a gas cooker for them in their workshop to make lunch for themselves. WHAT QUALITIES DO YOU LOOK FOR WHEN HIRING STAFF? While hiring staff, Wanjiku looks for qualities such as good workmanship, good communication skills, respect, and integrity. She adds that integrity is key because some staff like stealing materials from their employers for their own side gain. She considers the latter a challenge at times.

13. CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR LEADERSHIP STYLE? The entrepreneur describes her leadership style as being strict and authoritative but also understanding. “Being a woman in this field, you really have to stand on your word.” Wanjiku says. Some carpenters tend to take her word for granted when she directs a certain item to be made and that’s why she needs to be strict, so that things go how he needs them to

14. HOW DO YOU FOSTER A POSITIVE COMPANY CULTURE? Wanjiku tells us that according to her, the key to a positive company culture is being interactive with your staff. Talk to them often and respond to the feedback that they give whether positive or negative. She also engages her staff in meetings to understand the atmosphere of the workplace. HOW DO YOU MANAGE CONFLICTS WITHIN YOUR TEAM? When conflict occurs in the workplace Wanjiku prefers to stay away from her staff’s conflicts. She though encourages them to sort it out on their own so as to foster a productive workplace.

15. 7. CHALLENGES AND LESSONS LEARNT - MARY MRIHE LESSON YOU’VE FACED IN YOUR BUSINESS JOURNEY? WHAT HAS BEEN THE TOUGHEST The toughest lesson Cindy learnt was not expanding her business when she needed to. She delayed the process, and this made her experience failure in the sense that she was unable to deliver pieces to clients on time. HOW DO YOU HANDLE FAILURES OR SETBACKS IN YOUR BUSINESS? Cindy states that with each setback, she learnt a lesson and strived to get better or improve. In the case where she noticed that she was falling back on her orders because of lack of sufficient human capital, she strived to get more workers and expand her business. Cindy states that she has made a positive turn with each setback that she experienced in her business.

16. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEONE STARTING OUT IN THIS INDUSTRY? Cindy states that with every business, an individual needs to be passionate. A business that is driven by passion will always thrive and be successful. This is because even during the tough times, the entrepreneur will remember the passion that made them establish the business. HOW DO YOU STAY MOTIVATED DURING TOUGH TIMES? Wanjiku’s way to stay motivated during tough times is stepping away from the business, and surrounding herself with positive people, to maintain a positive mindset. She also allows herself leisure time to enjoy and relax her mind. 

17. WHAT IS THE MOST VALUABLE LESSON YOU HAVE LEARNT AS AN ENTREPRENEUR? The most valuable lesson that Cindy has learnt is that failure is okay, and through that it has made her put more effort into her business through balancing her business in order to make it go well to avoid unnecessary failures.

18. 8. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND COMMUNITY IMPACT -MARY MRIHE DOES YOUR BUSINESS ENGAGE IN CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY(CSR  ACTIVITIES)? C . Wanjiku interiors currently does not engage in CSR activities. HOW DO YOU GIVE BACK TO THE COMMUNITY? C. Wanjiku interiors intends to start creating pieces with material that has been left behind from other jobs, for children's homes and other needy individuals. An example of these pieces are beds, chairs etc. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE WAYS ENTREPREN-EURS CAN HAVE A POSITIVE SOCIAL IMPACT? C. Wanjiku states that one of the ways entrepreneurs can have a social impact is by creating employment to the jobless youth. By doing, so they are getting empowered as well as ensuring they are being independent.

19. HOW DO YOU ENSURE THAT YOUR BUSINESS IS ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE? In the industry that Cindy is in, she says it is important that businesses are environmentally friendly. C . Wanjiku interiors is planning on venturing into boards that come from recycled plastics, to ensure that she will contribute positively to the environment.  HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR BUSINESS TO SUPPORT LOCAL COMMUNITY? It is  very important in order to grow local designers and in turn also improve the local economy.

20. PHOTOS FROM C.WANJIKU INTERIORS.

21. THANK YOU !!!!