Form 4 Leaver Who Started Selling Mitumba At 17 Says God Raised Her To Wholesaler

• A Kenya lady who started selling second-hand clothes, commonly mitumba, at the age of 17 years has shared her success
• Jane Wanjiru said she developed a passion for the business, joining her mother after finishing her form four education, where she made savings
• Wanjiru managed to raise up to KSh 100,000 from the money her mother was paying her, which she used as her first capital

When you come across Jane Wanjiru at her shop in Gikomba market, you will think the beautiful lady had millions of shillings when setting it up.

That stands far from the truth - the beautiful laid up her foundation in the mitumba business from the little savings she made while helping her mother.

Immediately after completing Form Four education, Wanjiru joined her mother in the business, then at 17 years of age.

Wanjiru developed passion for selling mitumba

In an exclusive interview with TUKO.co.ke, the lady revealed that in her quest to make her own cash, she started selling thrift clothes for her mother in 2015.

As a bibliophobe, the vicenarian did not proceed to tertiary levels of education after completing her O Level and would help her mother sell the clothes with eyes on the ball - opening her own store.

"My mother was selling clothes in Gikomba. She inspired me to start the business. I started by working for her but always had a goal of having my store," said Wanjiru.

In 2018, the young lady moved to Thailand for greener pastures. While in the Asian country, she started teaching English, a hustle that earned her KSh 80,000 per month.

However, with the entrepreneurial spirit 'going wild in her', Wanjiru said she started looking for thrift clothes vendors in Thailand.

How Wanjiru started mitumba business

Seemingly dissatisfied, she quit the teaching job after seven months, returned to Kenya and resolved to start her own mitumba shop.

With no capital of her own, Wanjiru said her mother would give her bales on credit. She would sell and save about KSh 3000 to KSh 4000 profit she made.

"After seven months, I decided to come back to Kenya. I opened my store. Mum would buy me a bale of around KSh 30,000 and after selling it, I would give her the cash and save around KSh 4000 that I made as a profit," she added.

After saving for a while, Wanjiru was now able to stand on her own. She caps her capital at KSh 100,000.

As fate would have it, the young lady, while going about her business, met a Chinese trader who was looking for wholesale traders to import mitumba bales for.

She struck a deal with the trader and has since grown to where she imports clothes directly from China.

Now aged 24, Wanjiru boasts of a store nestled in the vibrant Gikomba Market in Nairobi, importing mitumba bales directly from China for resale.

Challenges of Mitumba business

Wanjiru named recurrent Gikomba fires as a huge setback to her business.

"The huge setback I face is the recurrent fires. I may build a stock but after a while, it goes up in flames and I have to start again," she said.

She also lamented about the high taxes while importing the bales, asking the government to regulate taxation to cushion traders.

Selling mitumba on Tiktok

Notably, Wanjiru markets her business on TikTok. She boasts of over 80,000 followers, a following she attributes to being honest with her clients.

"I market my business on TikTok, I share posts of new arrivals and people make orders while others come to the store. I have a huge following because I am honest with my clients. I have built trust in them," she said.

Wanjiru also helps her customers who buy her bales on how to go about with the business.

"I guarantee my bales are okay because I monitor their packaging and transport. I usually advise the traders who buy from me on how to go about the business. I usually inquire about their location and advice accordingly on the type of clothes that suites their respective areas. I usually want them to make something from the sales too," she said.

Tiktok is one of the social media platforms that creative Kenyans have used to create content and make money online.

One such content creator who's reaping big from the short-form video hosting service is Njoki Murira, who grew from a mitumba seller to a millionaire.