Scaling Toiletry Delivery Services in Kenya with One Door-to-Door Vendor

In 2019, when the coronavirus pandemic struck, Lucy Murathime’s small grocery business was not spared. Her only source of income dwindled. She quickly adapted. During the onset of the pandemic, many consumers in Kenya opted to order items from the comfort of their homes to be delivered to their doorsteps. Murathime purchased a few rolls of tissue paper and baby diapers from distributors and began marketing door-to-door. A new company was born: Lucy’s. She currently has sales of a few dollars per day serving only a few households which she solicits daily; however, we see potential in drastically scaling that business through our network of entrepreneurs and advisors in the Giving Desk community.

With tough economic times due to a high rate of job loss and strict government regulations to contain the virus in Kenya, Murathime did not lose faith. She gained a few customers around her neighborhood in Nairobi. We identified Lucy’s business through our investment scouts. At the time, she needed a micro-investment and a bit of logistical advisory to purchase more supplies and set-up better, more efficient processes.

Lucy has been an entrepreneur for over ten years. She is accustomed to the challenges SMEs face. Besides (what many entrepreneurs in Kenya have described as) unfavorable government regulations for small businesses, most founders with irregular incomes have almost no access to micro-finance funding. We are excited to partner with Murathime to help bring her delivery business online with a bit of funding and technical support.