Peter Mwaniki is the founder of Juicy Treats, a company that produces various juice blends by mixing sugar cane with other fruits. Speaking to Hustle Yangu, the entrepreneur said he started the business in 2021 at the height of Covid-19 with an initial capital of Ksh200,000 capital.
During this period, a lot of people were into healthy concoctions especially Vitamin C to boost their immunity. In the course of time, he has watched his business in Thika grow into a favorite among many locals.
Here is his story as told by WoK.
Developing entrepreneur skills
The juice master believes he started developing business skills from his mother who was a mama mboga.
He only refined the skill through knowledge gotten in school. Peter Mwaniki learnt how to offer great customer service and maintaining customers.
A rocky start and growth
Initially, it was hard to operate the business. They were required to have Ksh30,000 for licensing before the beginning.
Since they did not have it, they would often close the business whenever they spotted city council officials.
Finally, they made payments as it didn’t make sense to close down while customers were lining up to get their juice.
They also began with minimal equipment gotten at an affordable price. Later, they bought quality stuff.
At the beginning, he would also do about 20 sugarcanes a day, at one time even five. Now, they crush upto 100 pieces a day.
Staying ahead of competition
While competition is stiff as many people are in the same business, he has managed to stay on top. For example, they started with five juice flavors but now have over thirty different flavors.
Some of these have been curated by customers who ask for specific blends. These get added to their collection.
The allow customers to see how the juices are prepared from cutting to the fruits, mixing-giving them assurance that they are getting what they ordered.
The businessman runs the business alongside his son who is a Certified Public Accountant.
While the son takes care of finances, he does the marketing. The two have mutual respect for each valuing what the other brings to the table.
Advise
While most people love watching football, he loves reading about nutrition. In fact, some have dubbed him a doctor as he makes juice blends that aid in promoting health.
His advise to youths is that they should value education even if they plan to start a business. They also need to exercise patience and things don’t just happen at once.
