Alex Nyaga often describes himself as a cleaner, toning down the fact that he commandeers one of the leading cleaning services company in Kenya. Alex turned his love for cleaning into a profit making business when he founded Parapet Cleaning Services in 1998. He had just finished school and had no wish to become an employee. At the time, many companies didn’t outsource cleaning services, especially in Kenya.
“I think I am a visionary and I have a passion to do things that will have a greater impact on our society:such as creating jobs,” he said in a previous interview.
Here is Alex Nyaga story as told by WoK.
The Start of Parapet
The businessman pursued Hotel Management at Les Roches International in Switzerland. His first job was painting windows. Back in 1993, he would paint Christmas decorations on windows for $55 per window. At the time, he was still in high school.
On his return to Kenya from Switzerland, the idea of starting a cleaning service was born. At first, he wanted to get into the hospitality industry, perhaps by opening a restaurant. However, tourism had taken a dive and cleaning became the next best thing. Many expressed their skepticisms about him starting a cleaning business but the idea had already taken root. He raised raised capital for his business through bank loans and savings.
His first ever client was Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. According to the entrepreneur, he did not have any connection and landing this deal was through the hand of God. They saw an advertisement and applied and as luck would have it, the client was JKIA.
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Growth
Parapet Cleaners has been among Kenya’s top 100 fastest growing mid sized businesses. According to a 2016 Business Daily article, the company-with 4000 employees in Kenya, South Sudan, Rwanda and Uganda-turnover is between Sh70 million to Sh1 billion yearly.
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The company trains their workers to have passion for their work and to handle clients professionally. They are also taught to operate vacuum cleaners and pressure washers. Mr. Alex Nyaga said the employees are proud to introduce themselves as Parapet cleaners.
Parapet are a one stop shop that offer various services apart from commercial cleaning. They include washroom care, gardening and landscaping, fumigation and pest control, and garbage collection and waste management
As a reputable firm, they have been able to land jobs with some of the biggest organizations including Chase bank, United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), East Africa Breweries Limited and Barclays bank.
Parapet, is said to have about 450 consistent clients. They have previously partnered with big companies like Airtel and Chandaria. The partnership with Chandaria was for the purpose of imbuing self discipline among Kenyans so they could observe cleanliness in their offices, homes and even streets. Their slogan was love where you live, work and play.
Education
Like most established companies, they also chose to diversify their reach through the introduction of Parapet Hospitality and Business Institute in 2011. They offer diploma programs in management, hospitality, foreign languages and accounting.
Apart from heading Parapet, the father of two boys was appointed a trustee of the Kenya Youth Business Trust. This is an organization that offers training to entrepreneurs and funds them with up to sh200,000.
“I believe once someone reaches the top it’s only natural to reach to those at the bottom of the ladder and uplift them,” the Parapet CEO told a local daily.
