Esther Kimani, the founder of Trendy Links, a garment and apparel business in Nakuru, learned a simple but sobering lesson early in her career: When you’re employed, your effort builds someone else’s financial portfolio. By the time you quit the job, your years of hard work may count for nothing unless you have been intentional about growing your own money.
It is said employment is not for everyone, and neither is business.
From employee to entrepreneur
The latter is where she found traction and financial freedom.
"I was employed in the manufacturing industry for long before I decided to leave employment for business. Drawing from the experience, I decided to get into garment making, and that's how Trendy Links came about," she says of the clothes-making factory located in Maili Sita in Nakuru County.
Like any startup founder, she didn’t get off to a smooth start.
"The business didn't pick up immediately. I focused on making clothes and did that for a long time before I began teaching the art of garment making. Today, we have a vocational and training wing known as Trendy Technical and Vocational Training Centre."
What motivated her to go in that direction? Esther saw a market gap and decided to fill it. The scarcity of quality products is what made her give it a try. That was way back in 2016. And the gamble paid off.
What started as a simple stitching plant that capitalised on the use of latest technology in the market expanded as the market widened to cater to the growing customer base.
Overcoming mitumba
But how did she break through the Kenyan market that is saturated with cheap mitumba products?
"The mitumba business has not disrupted the local manufacturing sector. Mitumba and quality garment making are not mutually exclusive. They serve different market needs. That said, the government should revive the manufacturing sector and invest in companies like Rivatex. Kenya has what it takes to sustain a thriving textile industry. If we revive this industry, the benefits will cascade even to cotton farmers, and this will translate to economic growth," she says.
Esther sources all materials locally. She doesn’t import anything. Her company makes an array of uniforms for schools and organisations, and heavy-duty gear for factory workers.
Her biggest challenge? Cartels in the industry.
"Most school heads direct parents to particular shops to buy school uniforms. Sometimes the head teachers are themselves in the uniform-making business so they insist that school uniforms be bought at their facilities. The good thing is that we offer high-quality attire at competitive prices. This disrupts the cartels."
The fact that the government has banned public schools from selling school uniforms has solved this challenge. “However, cartels are burning the midnight oil trying to find ways of reinventing themselves to continue minting money,” Esther says.
Training the next generation
Several young people from Nakuru have graduated from Trendy Technical and Vocational Training Centre. Some are employed in the knitting plant and others have started similar businesses.
When the previous Kitui County administration was setting up the Kitui County Textile Centre (KICOTEC), Governor Charity Ngilu sent a section of her staff to Trendy Links for a hands-on training programme.
When Covid-19 came, it was not all doom and gloom for Esther. She came up with a new strategy to stay afloat. She got the necessary licenses and certificates and began producing personal protective equipment (PPE) to help combat the spread of the virus.
"I've learned very important lessons along the way. Each mistake I have ever made has served as a lesson," she says.
Her parting shot?
"A successful business is not measured by how big its premises are or how large its bottom line is. It can be a small enterprise, but one that is supporting many families and offering consumers value for their money. Business opportunities abound all around us. What matters is where you put your focus, and how fast you can seize the opportunities that come.”
