When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country in March 2020, Charles Wachira’s saw mill business in Chaka, Nyeri, almost ground to a halt.
Desperate, he begun to search for business ideas that could supplement his dwindling income. Wachira, a long time businessman, has tried his hand at various ventures over the years, including the meat business, even selling French beans at some point.
In 2013, he ventured into the timber business. The business was thriving, but when Covid-19 rendered many jobless and killed scores of businesses, the demand for wood and timber went down significantly.
Desperate to stay afloat, he started looking for gaps in the market which he could capitalise on. He observed that government restrictions such as curfews and closure of social places had robbed people of spaces to unwind and relax after work or meet with friends, and were forced to get home earlier than they would have wanted.
Such people, he concluded, would appreciate an inviting place in their homes where they could relax and host friends and relatives.
“My idea was to build a modern thingira, a gazebo, which would create space outside for people to spend their time, have a drink and entertain their friends privately,” the 47-year-old says.
Having been in the wood work business for years, he had the raw materials to materialise his idea. Unsure of how good it would sell, he built his first gazebo, coming up with a design with the help of his carpenters.
“It was bought immediately and more people begun to call me, asking me to supply them with the same - that is how my business kicked off,” he says.
Wachira comes up with a design which he hands over to his employees for execution – his new venture has created employment for five, all carpenters.
He has a gazebo that can sit four people – this one has two benches and a table in the middle, another that sits two people, composed of two small seats and a table in the middle as well as a lover’s gazebo which has one seat that can accommodate two people sitting close to each other.
It takes a maximum of six days to complete a four-person gazebo and three days to complete the lover’s gazebo.
One of the gazebos design on display at Charles Wachira’s workshop along the Nairobi-Nanyuki Highway, Nyeri County.
Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi | Nation Media Group
Price ranges between Sh35,000 to Sh80,000 depending on the size, type of timber used and furniture fitted.
“We have different types of wood: soft wood, hard wood including pine, cypress, Meru Oak and mahogany, which determines pricing,” he says.
Some gazebos are ready made while other clients opt to have them customised. While the business may have picked up fast, it faces lots of challenges, especially lack of raw materials, mainly wood due to the government ban on tree harvesting.
“This has made timber very expensive, in return minimising our profits and delaying us from going large scale because you cannot hire more people while uncertain about the supply of the materials to do the job,” he explains.
“If I were licensed to source the wood directly from the source, I would be able to expand and employ up to 20 carpenters, enabling mass production because sometimes we get bulk orders.”
Another challenge is lack of capital, which has prevented him from expanding as well as hire a trained workforce.
“I prefer to work with trained people because they are easy to guide and they can materialise my ideas perfectly, but finding trained people has been a challenge,” he points out.
His most profitable customers are hotels, which order in bulk, followed by individuals who wish to have a place in their compounds to relax.
“Home owners are the reason why I started this business, therefore I go out of my way to give them what they want.”
Apart from gazebos, Wachira also makes kennels, chicken coops, doors, beehives, chairs and tables. He looks forward to the day when the Chaka Railway Station will be fully functional because it will be possible to easily transport his creations to Nairobi and Mombasa.
“Transporting the gazebos has been a challenge because while they are portable, they are heavy and cumbersome, but with the railway, transportation will be easier,”
