“One day I was coming from the farm late in the evening. This was just after I cleared college. I met some neighbours who were dumping garbage three houses from where we were staying. I felt so bad because I could see that was an embarrassment. At that time in the estate, people could dump garbage at any corner. And when I went home that night I realised, that was a golden opportunity.”
With a capital of Sh3,400, Kirori immediately conceptualised a business idea and immediately started serving his 17 neighbours at a fee.
“My company was called Blue Bin and we collected garbage for very many estates in Nairobi like, Imara Daima, South C, South B, Nairobi West, Westlands, Parklands, Kileleshwa, CBD itself, Lavington and many other places,” he says.
But in 2004 Kirori quit the business due to competition and shifted to Green Pencils.
Some of his current clients include schools, mostly private and companies. He is also in talks with two major supermarkets in the country to have his pencils sold on their shelves.
One of his main challenges he tells me, is accessing the market adding that there is still so much importation in the country.
“The country that is generating the most millionaires and billionaires in dollars in the world is China. Why? because almost everything is made in China. Their manufacturing sector is very large. Here in Kenya, the agriculture sector has taken us up to so far. We need to start manufacturing things,” he says urging the government to come up with affirmative action to help local innovators by get local markets.
Apart from making pencils, Kirori is also involved in making road studs, still made from recycled materials. Dubbed ‘The Infinity Road Studs’, the idea is a new innovation in road fittings which not only meets global standards but a first time invention in Kenya.
His words to the young people? “Think and use the resources around you to make money. Most of the businesses that have succeeded did not start with capital, but money came after.”
‘I remember back in high school, I used to sell bread to my fellow students. I would borrow a shilling, buy full bread and cut it into four quarters and resell them. Then I pay back the shilling I borrowed and I remain with my profit,” he recalls.
