Washington Njika is the founder and CEO of Stitch by Wash, a company that does interiors for cars. According to their website, they offer interior car services ranging from car seats, door panels, dashboard refurbishment, steering wheel covering, roof lining and floor to boot works.
Here is his inspiring story as told by WoK.
The passion
The entrepreneur fell in love with the art of stitching cars after watching videos online. At the time, car stitching was not a common thing in Kenya. Hence, he would watch how it was done in other countries. He started by stitching his own car and loved the results.
Stitch by Wash
He bought a stitching machine which he stored in his house. In 2019, he officially started Stitched by Wash. The business got its first client and who was very happy about the finished product.
This inspired them greatly and they began to go big on advertisements. Initially, he had brought his brother to assist him in the business business but they ended up hiring more staff.
Whenever a client visits them, they go through their expectations and then take them through the designs.
Afterwards, they recommend what they think is good for the particular client. Appearing on KTN, he said it’s easy to work with clients who are flexible and not rigid. This gives them a chance to be creative in their designs.
The company is able to work on a car between 3 to 5 days. Ideally, a car can take a day while a full size SUV can take from three to five days. Older/ Classical vehicles take the longest as they require a lot of things and replacements. These could take up to a month.
The company currently employs over fifty people spread across their Nairobi main office and their other branches in Mombasa and Eldoret.
They pride themselves in providing quality services. According to the CEO, they are always looking for ways of delivering quality services at an affordable price and automating services, giving them an edge over their competitors.
Challenges
Staffing was a big challenge. Hence, they decided to train their own staff to produce the best quality. There is also the fact that some raw materials are very expensive in the country forcing them to import.
Initially, it was also hard to find upholstery companies although this has improved over time.
Materials
They have several types of materials, such as fabric, rexin and leather. For leather they have locally made pure grade 1 leather and imported.
The local one can last up to 15 years and is comfortable. The imported one is softer, hence easy to work with and more comfortable. It lasts between seven to eight years. There is also an imitation of pure grade 1 called PU leather.
Advice to those starting out
For those wishing to get into business, he advised that they need to have a passion and start small. There is also need to research and identify new ways of doing things.
“Once you’re passionate about something push and go for it because the idea might start small. You might think it’s such a small idea and people out here need that service that you’re offering..” he told KTN.
