We’ve talked about how to keep your money but how can you get some more? You need that Hustle Mentality!
Meet Anastasia Njeri Ngari, a 25-year-old recent graduate of Kenyatta University who started her cake business even before joining campus. Her passion for baking developed at a tender age of 9 when she saw her sisters baking for their Home Science classes. After high school, she took that chance and enrolled for a diploma in baking at the Valentine School of Baking as she waited to join campus.
After finishing her diploma, and using the equipment in her mother’s kitchen, she started the cake business. “I made a profit of Ksh. 360 on the sale of my first cake,” she tells me. She then went ahead and started advertising her business on a Facebook group called Soko Kuu. Because of the numerous daily posts, it was common for people to overlook her posts. It was then that she decided to create her Facebook page, BakeMYCakes. She has gained a substantial following since then, with a little under 900 likes so far.
“My startup capital was not a lot because the equipment I needed to start baking was in my mother’s kitchen,” Njeri says. Over the years as her client base grew, she saw the need to open a savings account where she put aside part of her earnings for more baking equipment, something she still does.
After joining campus, she no longer had as much time on her hands as before. One of her sisters gladly stepped in and offered to help her whenever she was held up with school-work. By now, cake orders were flowing in fast. Luckily, the high season fell on the months when she was on holiday making it easier for her to handle the demand.
As for marketing her work, she chose the oldest tool of that trade. “I didn’t use any money to market my business. I relied on word of mouth. To a large extent, I still do, and so far so good.”
For her parting shot, I ask her what advice she would give any student who has a business idea. “Follow your heart at do what makes you happy. You can never go wrong.”
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