Thank God Wambura Linda is the founder and director of Healthy Pocket, a health and wellness business with branches in Lanet, Nakuru County, and Kikuyu sub-county.
I started my business with Sh500,000 capital in 2017. My first shop was in Rwanda. My line of business is a continuation of something my mother ignited. She raised us around a kitchen dominated by moringa, cinnamon, turmeric and black pepper. With a majority of people now turning to foods and ingredients that promote wellness, I felt that this line of business would be easier to start.
It took me three years to break even. As any rookie entrepreneur quickly finds out, a business on paper is very different from a physical one. When I started and later moved to Kenya, I learned that not too many people were as willing to embrace my products as I had envisaged. This was due to cultural beliefs, mindsets towards herbs and natural wellness, and brand loyalty towards a new business. In retrospect, I should have gone big and leveraged social media marketing to put my business and products out there. Three years on, though, the business became self-sufficient. Five years later, the business now offers psychotherapy services, aromatherapy, and other natural healing remedies using seamoss, bladderwrack, Tongkat Ali, and raw food and alkaline diets.
Always sign a legally binding agreement. This is so, whether you’re opening a business with a friend, relative or mentor. I learned this the hard way. I had a mentor with whom we operated a big hotel business in Nakuru. However, when the business started picking up, she became too domineering to the point where we started losing clients due to bad business decisions. It was either her way or the highway. I guess she felt threatened by my personality. In the end, she kicked me out of the business and shut it down. I walked away with zero remuneration for the months I had put in the work. I wouldn’t have been so muzzled if I had a binding contract.
I use mobile banking to save my money and lock in my goals. There are options that allow you to build your saving habits and gain interest by partaking in mobile savings challenges and fixed deposits. At the same time, I can easily transfer cash straight to my formal bank account or make a withdrawal when the business needs it. Previously, I saved in a Sacco. This wasn’t effective as my money didn’t grow and work for me as it does today. Old-school banking isn’t for everyone.
Entrepreneurship will always be a mile ahead of employment. It is the only way you can find a balance between your profession (what you are being paid for), vocation (what the world needs), mission (what you love) and vision (what you’re good at). I have previously been employed but employment has never worked for me. I always found myself quitting and trying small hustles. It is however not for everyone, which is why you must never quit your job to venture into business if there are no valid grounds.
In life and business, find your primary reason for your goals and purposes and be consistent to fuel your success. The ‘Why’ and consistency will always pay off. From running a business from a single outlet to numerous branches, I have come to appreciate the hard truth that delay is not always denial. The best results don’t happen overnight. They take time and this time can also include failures and retrials.
