| Nairobi Business Monthly October

Enterprise
&Ideas
CONTENTS The gifting business that keeps giving 54
700
Number of pieces Pauline
Karuwe was asked to
deliver by Safaricom for
her rst major order
The business
that keeps
giving
CREATIVE INDUSTRY
Kenyans cash in on the countrys
gift culture and celebrate local
artisans
BY AAMERA JIWAJI
S
mall businesses from the creative indus-
try are placing Kenya centre stage as
they exult in the countrys uniqueness
and diversity. As companies get more gener-
ous in impressing their clients and associ-
ates, picking appropriate gifts has become a
tricky aair. Entrepreneurs have spotted this
opportunity and are cashing in. Apparently, it
is an industry dominated by women, but we
managed to trace a gentleman who is making
a name in corporate gifts. Here are the stories
of three businesses that have carved a niche
in the market.
P K,
Davenport Limited
SEVEN YEARS AGO, Pauline Karuwe left her
formal employment to follow her dream of
owning a business. When I visit people, I
like to take gifts and wrap them, and I dont
want mine to look ordinary, Ms Karuwe says,
laughing at the memory of how her gift would
always stand out from the rest at a party.
With encouragement from her family and
Pauline Karuwe
October Nairobi Business Monthly |
friends, she started by preparing gifts for baby
showers and weddings, handling a maximum
of 50 gift items per event. A year and a half into
the project, she secured her rst big job: an order
for 700 pieces from mobile giant Safaricom.
I was so shocked when I received the order,
she says, but it turned out good and they were
impressed.
A business that started with Sh120,000, it has
grown nearly tenfold and attracts large orders,
especially during the Christmas season, a time
when many companies spend large amounts on
end-year gifts. Mass production of 200 pieces
up works better for me, Ms Karuwe says. The
margins dont have to be so high and I like what
I produce to look exactly the same.
She sources most of her gifts from China and
Dubai, both of which oer unique advantages in
terms of cost, quality and proximity. Products
from China, for instance, when comparing apple
to apple are 30% cheaper than other markets.
Dubai, on the other hand, is a more sophisti-
take advantage.
This experience was her turning point. All
along I was saying if I could just get into this
company and if I could just supply so and so ...
But then you get to meet them and you think, I
dont want to work with them, big as they are,
and as good as it would look on my portfolio.
Now Ms Karuwe has a platform to share such
experiences with similar businesses. She is a
member of an investment group of six women
who meet regularly and share lessons. From
modest beginnings, she now has three perma-
nent employees at her o ces in Kileleshwa
and during peak season she hires on average
18 casual sta.
Owning a business has changed her, she said.
If I could start all over, I would write a lot more
down. Im still not a very good judge of character.
But I am a good judge of business.
I K,
Zawadis Are Us
WHILE SHOPPING for a gift, Isaac Kanjaa was
struck by the monotony of gifts in Kenya. Shops
were lled with non-descript items, none of
which could be customised. So he started read-
ing about the gift industry to understand the
phenomenon. With his interest piqued, he
thought of starting his own business to address
the neglected need, and in 2009, his business
began. I started very small, very basic, he
remembers. I was very green and so it has just
been one experience after the other.
cated market which is more accessible.
Her advice to start-ups entering the industry
is to consult peers. You have to give some to get
some, she says. Dont try to make all the money
alone. If Im asking you for advice, why dont
you bring the product over for me? That way I
get the right quality, and I dont get competition
and aggression. Instead they recommend me
and I recommend them.
The latest trend in the Kenyan gift industry
which Ms Karuwe has begun to embrace is
sourcing items from local artisans and commu-
nity groups. She supports a group that produces
paper from leaves and binds them into a diary,
and baskets woven from hyacinth. I was given
a chance and now I need to give them a chance,
she says. When I was employed I was just work-
ing. Now I am empowering others.
Ms Karuwe empathises with other small
businesses in the creative industry. Accessing
credit is top on her list of di culties, especially
because the prohibitive interest rates quickly eat
up her prot. I still self-nance or borrow from
friends and family, which is especially di cult
if they dont believe in your dream or vision.
The other challenge that she continues to
face is the way in which her business is treated
by larger companies. Big companies like to
squeeze the smaller people, she says, narrat-
ing how a CEO of a large company tried to cut
her out of a deal and purchase directly from
her supplier. Big companies think you should
do it for less because they think you have less
overheads. And instead of supporting your
growth so you become like them, they want to
I was given a
chance and now
I need to give them a
chance... When I was
employed I was just
working. Now I am
empowering others.
Isaac Kanjaa
End year
gifts are big
business in
Kenya
| Nairobi Business Monthly October
The rst hurdle he experienced was changing
peoples mindsets: both on the kinds of products
that would make appropriate gifts and also in
opening up their approach to suppliers. People
are used to one sort of avenue, in terms of who
to buy from. When you approach a company,
they say I have someone and thats it. They dont
even ask what it is that you can oer. Sometimes
its understandable because their suppliers are
built on long-term relationships but you could
actually come in with something dierent.
The challenge then is that business in Kenya
continues to be more about who you know than
what you have to oer. Despite the resistance
to innovative products, Mr Kanjaa is convinced
that local is the way to go. By working with all
sorts of natural products including paper, wood,
leather, plastic, beads, acrylic anything that
comes to mind or across my path he has been
able to develop a number of original, quality
items that have been well received by Kenyan
companies.
The creative industry is coming alive. We can
make it here. We have the resources, he said.
Companies with which he has done business
include Equity Bank, Geothermal Development
Company and Kenya Medical Association.
There are a lot of young people in the crea-
tive industry who have good ideas. With others,
you need to tell them what you want but it is all
about a meeting of the minds. Yes, you have to be
patient to get the right quality, thats the biggest
thing. But these products can be made locally.
Ultimately, it is his conviction that keeps him
going. Not everybody can see your vision. As
long as youre focused and you work towards
it, soon it will turn around.
Mr Kanjaa compares his business to the
growth of a tree. When you start from the
ground like a tree, it is better because the
strength is in the roots. As the tree comes up,
the roots will stablilise it. And promoting local
enterprise, for him, is a way of strengthening
the roots of the country.
Enterprises
&Ideas
SuzMA AMo
SuzMAz PoAz,
Signature Kenya
S
helina and Shenaz Popat are sisters
who have successfully launched a
number of service-related businesses
in Kenya in the last 15 years. In 2001, they
opened Gift Village, which prepared around
10,000 gifts a year for 200 of Kenyas large
businesses, sourced mostly from markets
like Dubai, China, India, South Africa and
sometimes Europe.
Twelve weeks ago, Shelina, the founder
of the company, had a light bulb moment.
I realised that I am seeing too much of
China and Dubai and South Africa, and
that we, as Kenyans, are not doing our own
inspired gifts. So I went to Spinners Web, I
went to Banana Box and I saw a lot of nice
African made items but there was nothing
corporate. And I thought we need to corpo-
rate it, said Shelina.
She toured groups across Kenya and
Tanzania, and identied 11 artisan groups
from Kibera, Machakos, Ukambani and
Zanzibar. With her creative input and direc-
tion, together they developed a collection
of fully hand-made African inspired items
and she named it Signature Kenya.
Everything is local, she says. Its all
about Kenya. Thats why its called Signa-
ture Kenya. I am stuck on the success of
being Kenyan and having a Kenyan and
African spirit.
Her rst idea for a name was Buy Kenya,
which she hoped would work both as
Buy Kenya and By Kenya. It was, however,
already registered and so she developed
Signature Kenya, which was launched at
the end of August. We are actually selling
Kenya, Shelina says, displaying items
from the collection which were completely
Kenyan.
From tea, bar and desk sets, condiment
containers, wine holders, stationery boxes,
blanket throw-overs, towel sets, metal trays
to candle stands ... everything in the show
room was authentically Kenyan and was
prepared from local materials including
Not everybody can
see your vision. As
long as youre focused
and you work towards it,
soon it will turn around
Shelina Popat Shenaz Popat
October Nairobi Business Monthly |
bone, horn, shell, wood, leather, hide,
banana bre, fabric, soap stone, scrap
metal and calabash.
What sets the Signature Kenya collec-
tion apart from the cottage industries that
develop Kenyan pieces, Shelina says, is the
corporate touch. There are lots of people
in Kenya who can do artisan formations
whether it is Maasai beads, necklaces
or earrings but we are hoping that the
companies will feel inspired when they put
a stationery set that is locally made on their
tables. Thats why we want to go for the
corporate market which wants something
that is Kenyan made.
Never has there been a
business that launches a
product in Kenya made by
the Kenyan people for the
corporate market, she says.
Shelina and Shenaz have
big dreams and hope that the success of
Signature Kenya will allow them to invest
more into the local creative industry by
2013. I want to get 10 to 12 artisans together
and register a second company called
+254, the Kenyan code. The local artists,
artisans, painters will become sharehold-
ers in the +254 collection. They will buy
into the company and then the company
will grow.
Never has there
been a business
that launches a product
in Kenya made by the
Kenyan people for the
corporate market
that is Kenyan made.
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