HUMBLE BEGINNINGS, GREAT STRIDES

Raisa Akinyi
Sep 7, 2018 · 2 min read

When you meet Esther Williams, a participant in my class, for the first time you will probably underrate her capabilities. Even I was surprised when she told me had begun a lollipop business. This is because Esther is really quiet when she needs to express herself, but when it comes to conducting her business she doesn’t play. While speaking to her I found out that she had never thought that she would start, let alone run a business. When I spoke to her regarding the business she was a tad bit shy to divulge any information about it as she thought it was a small venture that would be short-lived.

Her motivation to start the business came up when we were learning about generating social enterprise ideas in class, she had a lot of ideas but she saw an opportunity when she attended the classes and participants had no refreshments during recess. She wanted a snack that a majority of the participants would not only enjoy but was also reasonably priced. She would also need an item that she could sell when she was at home and during attachment since she only attended school on Wednesday.

Esther then came up with the idea of selling lollipops to her fellow participants. The first time she came she sold a bag of lollipops which were a hit since participants were very excited to have a snack. She couldn’t believe that she sold all the lollipops, so she decided to scale up to two packets which she was able to sell to participants and at home to the children in her estate within Kisumu.

Esther had partnered with small scale shopkeepers in her estate as a supplier for lollipops, but once they realized that the lollipop business was profitable they stopped stocking her lollipops and started selling them as well. This has forced her to think of ways of being more innovative. She decided to sell the lollipops to her workmates at a local hotel where she is doing her attachment. She says the business is very profitable and on a bad day she manages to sell only 5 packets.

From her income Ms. Williams is able to cater for her transport, buy a few utilities and have some savings which she was unable to do before she started her enterprise.

She encourages her fellow participants to start their enterprises small and grow steadily. The money she has made selling lollipops has help fund her other business which is bag making using kitenge.

Raisa Akinyi

Written by

Daring Social Innovator.