Agatha Nkirote is a Kenyan content creator and interior designer.
She also tried a hand in the lucrative mitumba business but she failed due to inadequate research and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a video on her YouTube channel, Nkirote narrated how she quit her job and invested in the mitumba business only for it to flop.
Here is her story as told by WoK.
Content creation
Nkirote boasts a following of over 10,000 followers on his Instagram page and over 48,000 YouTube subscribers.
With a viewership of over 3.3 million, the interior designer creates content on lifestyle as well as vlogging her day-to-day activities.
Nkirote is also a mother to a beautiful daughter.
Quitting employment
In a video on her YouTube channel, Nkirote explained that she would always complain about her job.
As much as she was paid well, she stated that she was not content and for that matter, she started preparing for her exit.
“I remember I was always complaining about my job. I was working for a certain company and they paid fairly but I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t content and I could complain about it everyday,” Nkirote said.
Nkirote’s plan was getting into the lucrative mitumba business after quitting her job and while still in employment, she started saving.
“I started saving… And while talking with a friend, we thought about mitumba business. I settled on mitumba business for baby clothes and we started researching,” she stated.
Nkirote eventually left her job and got into business.
Together with a friend, thhey rented a shop at the busy Toi Market and paid deposit and 6 months rent upfront.
The next task was stocking the shop.
All was well until they got to the shop with their bales and most of the clothes were rejects; either torn or too old.
“We managed to secure a shop in Toi Market and even paid for six months rent and we started stocking. We visited a certain Indian guy and got the bales
“We didn’t know the best bales to buy. So we bought the Ksh 13,000 bale and kept some money for next time. When I opened the bale, I almost cried. Almost the whole bale was rejects,” Nkirote explained.
However, she managed to sell the remaining clothes and made Ksh 4,000 from it and resorted to get another bale.
“I got another bale and it was looking promising. The next weekend I sold Ksh 5,400 and I was so happy and I couldn’t lack Ksh 1,000 or Ksh 500 within the week from passers by,” Nkirote said.
COVID-19 pandemic
After the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, a viral video claiming that secondhand clothes from abroad contained the virus surfaced.
This rumour resulted to people refraining from buying mitumba clothes with Nkirote being the most affected since she dealt with baby clothes.
“We could open the business and we’re all there as traders, you wait for a single client to pass but nobody was passing,” she said.
Her breaking point came when the government introduced social distancing in matatus which doubled the fare.
At this point, Nkirote would spend and average Ksh 800 per day yet there was no business.
“Within a month, I was broke to the point that I couldn’t even get fare to go to the shop. I would go to the shop on Thursday, Friday and Saturday but still no people were coming
“That is how I ended up closing down the business because at some point, the stock stayed at the Port of Mombasa for a while because their was a problem that saw the bail arrive 3 months later,” she said.
Nkirote packed all her belongings and closed down the business.
