Who, then, is her target market?
Wanja says her target market is everyone looking for quality clothing and hopes to stand out. Men are however her favourite gender to dress. She explains that men are more loyal and always come back if they like something. Also, they are very specific and are not easily deterred.
“I love dressing women too, especially because they are impulse buyers meaning they give me good business. However, it is tricky to keep up with women as their fashion is ever changing meaning you constantly need to keep up with the latest trend.”
Running the business is however not as easy as it sounds. External forces, such as competition from readymade clothes, especially from Eastleigh, and second hand clothes can be a headache. Although they offer a significant amount of competition, Wanja is not worried about them. “I therefore cater to people looking for quality; those are my primary target market.”
Today, Wanja’s business is worth well over Sh6 million.
As we conclude our interview, Wanja talks freely about her learning curve, especially her take on being in a family business having been in one before starting out on her won – her parents each own a business similar to hers along the same street.
She says that family businesses offer very big opportunities for all the players and should be harnessed. She however admits that decision making can be difficult and should therefore be done cautiously.
How then does she run her business differently from her parents? “The difference is not as big. But having gone to university to study has enabled me make more informed decisions and take greater risks in running this business.”
“Do you ever feel like you are missing out on the ‘big corporate world’ and being stuck in downtown Nairobi?” I ask her.
“I do, sometimes. But when I compare the opportunities that this job has given me with the opportunities my friends in the formal sector are getting, I end up appreciating my job and where I am in life.”
Wanja also offers advice to people hoping to get into her kind of business telling them to be specific on the kind of market they want to supply to and to not target the mass market. She also asks suppliers to not compromise on quality as it gives the person’s business a bad name and the industry at large.
