Esther Muriuki: Entrepreneur Who Started Successful Mitumba Business With Ksh1,000 After Quitting NGO Job

Esther Muriuki was employed by in a non-governmental organization (NGO) but she chose to leave citing a toxic work environment.

She then started hawking second hand clothes before she got her breakthrough two years later when she started selling the clothes online.

Here is Muriuki’s story as told by WoK.

Employment

Before venturing into business, the 28-year-old was working as a local administrator officer for five years.

Muriuki later quit her job at the NGO and decided to pursue the clothing business which was initially her side hustle.

“I left employment because I was in a ‘toxic workplace’. So I ventured into business. Because I have a good taste for clothing, I plunged myself into the fashion business which had initially been a side hustle,” she told The Standard.

Setting up her business

Muriuki started small, she used Ksh 1,000 as her starting capital and got a few tops from Gikomba market.

She sold her first batch of the second hand clothes and reinvested the little profit that she had made from the first sale.

“I bought a few tops and hawked them from shop to shop and got a small profit. I reinvested the whole amount back in business and began growing it from that point,” Muriuki said.

Going online

As she hawked clothes on the streets, Muriuki set up social media accounts on different platforms for her business.

She put her business online as Pewamu Trends, dealing with ladies’ dresses, tops, sweaters, blazers, trench coats and shoes.

Muriuki explained why she specialized in ladies wear and not more of men’s.

“The modern woman is more fashion conscious than a man and loves glamming in the latest fashion trends to look good and I saw this as the niche market to try,” she explained.

The entrepreneur stopped hawking the clothes and fully shifted her business online after getting more customers online than on the streets.

“Orders started coming in from the growing fan base and customers were from near and far. For the near customers, like those in Nairobi and its environs, I was and still, I’m the sales and delivery agent. Those far off get their orders through courier services,” Muriuki stated.

Muriuki said clients who have to pay for delivery services are, sometimes, hard to deal with or those who make orders and cancel at the last minute.

“Some clients can make or break a business. I definitely face difficulties but I’ve learned to be patient with customers but for those who are too much, I politely distance myself,” she said.