Eager to celebrate his birthday in style, Bruce Onduru visited a stylist in downtown Nairobi for a tailor-made suit, but when he picked up the garment a few weeks later, he noticed that the jacket and trousers were not exactly the same colour shade. As a student, parting with Sh8,000 for a poorly done job was very painful. He felt cheated and short-changed.
With this scarring experience, Dr Onduru began to develop an interest in tailoring and undertook an apprenticeship in bespoke suit making, which was not easy due to his busy medical studies at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
“The Covid-19 pandemic was a blessing in disguise because I used the lockdown period to upscale my skills on bespoke suit making and business development,” says Dr Bruce Onduru, the founder of Dulo Attires.
He says that building a strong customer base for his new shop in Juja town was an uphill task, and because of the distance from the city, he had to rely on fellow students as his initial customer base. But over the years, Dulo Attires' clientele has changed, as those who were in college are now early career professionals who need the tailor-made suits.
“Relocating to Kibera Drive in Nairobi greatly changed our clientele base because they could easily come to our shop,” says Dr Onduru.
He explains that the art of bespoke tailoring requires patience and resources, and that some clients expect to place an order and have it delivered a day or two later.
“Get the right tailor and a good fabric collection because quality and longevity depend on those. You need to take correct measurements too because people have unique body structures and sizing,” he says, adding that a client needs to go for the first fit because the pride of a bespoke suit is being able to fit before the final product is ready.
The pharmacist says that compared to off-the-peg suits, bespoke suits are expensive because of the fabrics and human resource required; the tailor needs to understand the craft and walk the journey with the client and not just tick the boxes.
“Not everyone who wants a suit understands them and it is my role to lead the client,” he adds, emphasising that good bespoke suits crafts-men are not cheap.
He is quick to point out that it’s not just the fabric that goes into a bespoke suit, but many other things as well.
Compared to imported or off-the-rack bespoke suits, Dr Onduru says Dulo Attires is affordable at Sh50,000, which has allowed the business to grow to an average of 50 customers a month.
With fellow industry players incurring losses when clients fail to collect their ready-made wares, Dulo Attires introduced a 70 percent down payment policy three years ago to cover the business and enable it finish orders and meet deadlines.
“From previous experience, clients who do not make down payments of whatever amount, never show up again to collect their wares and that is a cost to the business.”
He adds that the deposit policy has helped to establish the business and avoid liabilities, although some clients still fail to collect their suits even after paying the 70 percent deposit.
Dr Onduru says that the styling industry he operates in is plagued by issues of late delivery of orders and a lack of professionalism on the part of artisans.
“We are in an informal sector that lacks some level of professionalism, not sticking to deadlines, not going that extra mile to give clients some satisfaction. So, the challenge we have been facing over the years is building a reputable brand in a sector that has not been professional in a very long time,” he says.
He adds that although there are good craftsmen who can compete with their counterparts in Italy, Turkey, etc., many do not look at it from a professional point of view and that meeting deadlines and keeping your word to customers is key to gaining their trust.
The 27-year-old entrepreneur says that although Dulo Attires has put in place structures that allow it to run in his absence, total delegation can lead to a loss of control, hence his hands-on approach to the business. This, he says, ensures that customers get the quality products they need and deserve.
He says that when he was new to the business, he once bit off more than he could chew.
“I landed a big order from a certain church but the clients were initially non-committal and one day, they confirmed the order, took fitting measurements and gave me a week to deliver. It was out of my scope and since my business wasn’t doing well, it was not easy to decline the money, something that most people in this industry do,” he recalls.
Dr Onduru says that because time was of the essence, he outsourced. And because he couldn't control the quality of the work, it was a disaster and he lost the power of referral, which is the greatest strength of his business.
“I had sourced below par human resource and it greatly affected my chain of referrals because had that deal gone well, I would have capitalised on it. In hindsight, I wished I had declined that order because I would have maintained my reputation with those clients,” he adds.
He says his ambition for Dulo Attires is to be Nairobi's Savile Row – a street in Mayfair, London, known for its bespoke suits – and for people to equate bespoke suits with Dulo Attires.
“I need to teach this craft and people need to realise there is more to classroom knowledge in making money and uplifting one’s socio-economic status. For Dulo Attires to grow, we need more tailors to match the exponential growth, which we have experienced during the last two months,” he says.
The business is now making reasonable profits by capitalising on the fact that Kenyan consumers are willing and able to pay for quality products and services, a fact he is aggressively building on.
He adds that although consumer preference is a challenge as there are affluent buyers who still prefer imported suits, which are expensive due to taxes and other operational costs, they still look for local tailors to alter their sizes and most ready-made suits have no allowance for alterations.
“For bespoke suits, we measure every part of your body and give you a unique product unlike off-the-rack suits.”
He signs off saying that entrepreneurship is good, but not a quick money scheme. It requires patience, collaboration and seeing where the money is.
“Give it your heart and time and through professionalism, networking and sometimes luck, you may experience exponential growth. But allow yourself time and know that it’s only through effort that you can grow,” he advises.
