Agatha Auma is a chips vendor working from her small eatery located in Lucky Summer within Nairobi County.
Having been in the business for over four years, the entrepreneur noted that she makes up to Ksh 5,000 per day from selling chips.
Auma has also employed people who help her with cleaning and serving clients in her shop.
Here is her story as told by WoK.
In an interview with Edmac Media Studios, Auma noted that she gets at the shop by 6 AM, and does some cleaning with her staff.
After cleaning, they will then start preparing chips as they wait for customers to start streaming in.
Auma further said that she went into entrepreneurship after unsuccessful trying to secure a job.
She had saved some money which she used to buy omena from Korogovho and hawk around Lucky Summer estate.
“I did the business and within a short time I had a lot of customers. I started buying them straight from traders at the lake
“I would place and order and when they would arrive, I supplied them to hotels around and in the evening sell to those walking by,” Auma said.
Auma noted that she stopped trading omen after a supplier conned her, detailing how she sent Ksh 9,000 only for the supplier to switch off the phone.
With Ksh 70,000 savings from her omena business, she used Ksh 50,000 to start an M-PESA shop, shortly before she started selling soft drinks.
“I operated the M-PESA shop while selling the soft drinks for a while but the profits were not enough, and that’s when I thought of selling chips,” she said.
She started the business with Ksh 1,500 which she used to buy potatoes, cooking oil, firewood and sauces.
However, just like any other business, she experienced challenges while starting off.
“The first week was not easy for me, for example, on the first day I sold chips worth Ksh 450 and remained with some,” she recalled.
Auma stated that despite the low sales, her mother kept advising her to keep pushing as businesses take time before they pick.
“Some times customers would come to buy chips but because of using firewood to cook, you’ll find that the chips is not well-cooked
“It was then when I started saving for an electric chip fryer. After some time, I left for Kamukunji where I was able to buy it,” she said.
She stated that some bad business habits that she had to leave include taking stock for her business in small portions.
“I had to start taking stocks in bulk because the problem with taking them in small portions, it will later force you to buy more when the demand arises,” Auma added.
Auma has employed two people who help her with preparing and selling the chips.
